Total Surrender (26 page)

Piper’s breath stopped. Plain and simple, she stopped breathing. “Thirty minutes?”

Matt nodded. “If we plug in, we only need a few seconds, right?”

Jory shook his head. “Absolutely not. We are not putting all of us right where the commander wants us. Not for me.”

“We’re going.” Matt nodded to Shane and Nate. “Right?”

“Yes,” Nate said.

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Shane said, determination filling his eyes.

Jory shook his head. “No. Hell, we don’t even know where the correct cord is. There might not even be one.”

“Oh, there is one.” Matt turned and loped toward the stairs. “You know the commander has one somewhere.”

“He won’t tell us where it is,” Jory argued.

Matt turned back, all semblance of the good-natured brother gone. “Oh. He fucking will.”

Piper shivered at the tone and backed away a step.

Nate and Shane followed Matt up the stairs, leaving Jory and Piper alone.

She reached out and ran a hand down his arm. “You’d do the same for them,” she said quietly.

“I know.” He stared at the now empty stairwell, his chest vibrating. “But I can’t let them go.”

She was pretty sure nothing would stop them. “I’m going, too.”

“Hell no.” He turned on her, grabbing her arms. “No way.”

“Yes.” She leaned up and kissed his whiskered chin. “If you’re on the table, I’m needed on the computer. Just in case. You know it.”

He shook his head. “I won’t put you in danger like that.”

“Thank you for caring.” She recognized the order for what it covered. “But I’m needed.” For once, she was going to give all for a man. One who might not even live through the next day. “I’m all in, Jory Dean.”

The scrape of furniture over wood floors echoed down the staircase.

“Damn it.” Jory took her hand and led the way upstairs to where Matt directed the boys in widening the table for several leaves and more chairs. It easily fit the fourteen people now in the room. Nate wheeled in an old-fashioned white board with markers.

Jory shook his head. “We are not doing this.”

Matt focused on Chance, who was sitting between his brothers at the far end of the table. “We need the layout of the Utah compound.”

Chance lifted his chin. “I’m going with you.”

“No.” Matt shook his head. “This mission is for brothers aged eighteen and over.”

“You need me.” Chance met his gaze head-on. “I know the place better than anybody.”

The ex-senator reached out a gnarled hand and patted Chance’s. “Just give the info to the boys. That’ll be a big help.”

Chance slowly turned his head to meet the senator’s gaze. “Um, thanks, sir.”

“Jim. Grandpop Jim.” The senator patted his hand again. “I’m grandpop around here, so get used to it.”

On the far side of Chance, Wade leaned over to see past
his brother. “We’ve never had a grandpop.” Hope filled his dazed eyes.

“Two.” Earl spoke up from next to a tousled-looking Rachel. “The senator and I make a great team, and I’m a grandpop, too.” He scrambled in his pocket and drew out several pieces of butterscotch candy to push across the table. “See?”

Wade slowly nodded and then elbowed Chance in the ribs. Chance nodded, frowning. With a happy grin, Wade then took a piece of candy.

Jory cleared his throat. “I think I’ve lost control here. Listen, everybody—”

Rachel reached for a piece of candy. “I think I’m more of a Nana Rachel than a Grandma Rachel.” She unwrapped a piece and focused on the kids. “What do you think?”

Kyle cleared his throat, his green eyes sizzling. “We get to stay?”

“Of course. We’re family,” Rachel said, glancing around the table for anybody to disagree.

Matt cleared his throat. “Listen up, gang. We’re all family, and after we save Jory’s as—I mean butt, then we’re staying put. Building houses, hanging out, doing normal family shit people do. Nobody is going anywhere else—and we’ll live happily ever fucking after. Freaking. Happily
freaking
after.”

Piper bit back a grin. The crude words said with such impatience settled the kids as nothing else could have. Wade took another piece of candy—this time without waiting for Chance’s permission.

And
that
… that was family.

Kyle smiled at Rachel. “I like Nana Rachel.”

Rachel clapped her hands. “Excellent. Nana Rachel it is. I paint, you know.”

Audrey pushed back from the table, her hand clapping
over her mouth. Nate was instantly by her side, helping her up. Turning, she ran for the back.

Rachel wrinkled her nose in a purely sympathetic gesture and stood. “Morning sickness sucks.” She nodded at Jory. “Grab me a ginger ale, would you?”

Jory paused and then slowly, deliberately opened the fridge and fetched a soda can to hand to Rachel. With a murmured “thanks,” she hustled out of the room.

Earl stood. “I’ll go help.”

The senator stood. “I should probably help, too. She likes people to make her laugh when she’s down, so we should be funny.”

The two men disappeared down the hallway.

Piper tried to enjoy the moment, but so much tension emanated from her lover that she found it difficult to breathe.

Jory cleared his throat. “Matt? I’d like to speak with you and Shane. Alone.”

Matt turned. “Let’s go back downstairs and plan. I’m not sure how, but I believe I’ve lost control of this briefing.” He leaned down and planted a loud kiss on Laney’s mouth. “I’ll be back up in forty-five minutes to fight with you about your going into the battlefield. By the way. You’re not.” He pivoted and headed downstairs.

Piper opened her mouth to speak, and one look from Jory froze the words on her tongue. Scary, badass soldier back in serious form.

“Give me forty-five minutes,” he asked. Well. He kind of asked.

“Fine.” She turned to Josie and the boys. “How about we dish up something interesting for dinner?”

Wade’s eyes widened. “I’m always hungry.”

Jory gave her a half hug. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

J
ORY WAITED UNTIL
Nate joined them downstairs in the computer room, carrying the white board. They sat in top-of-the-line leather chairs, the four of them, everyone quiet.

Matt leaned forward. “Go ahead.”

“I can’t ask you to risk your lives. To give up what you’ve found.” Jory shook his head. “It’s too much—” He paused. With his senses, he could hear a heartbeat on the stairs.

Matt turned his head toward the sound. “Chance? If you’re going to join us, do it. Please.”

Chance loped down the stairs. “I, ah, thought I should join in.” He kept his chin up and his voice level, but his heart beat hard enough Jory wanted to wince.

Matt kicked a chair the kid’s way. “Have a seat.”

Relief. It poured out of the kid. “I need to go on the mission. To end this. Please.”

Jory rubbed his chin. “Nobody is going.”

Nate set his elbows on his knees. “I have no problem knocking your ass out and throwing you on a helicopter, Jory. Just let me know if that’s the path here. If not, shut the hell up and use that freaky brain to keep us safe.”

“My brain isn’t freaky,” Jory muttered.

“We need you.” Shane spoke softly and straight-up. “The last two years, not knowing if you were alive or dead.” His voice cracked on the end. “We fucking need you.”

He might as well have hit Jory in the chest with a sledgehammer. “No—” Jory began.

“Yes,” Matt said quietly. “Growing up, you were the
youngest brother, and I know that came with issues. We protected you, and I trained you until you must’ve hated me. I get it. You wanted to save us, to be a badass soldier like you think we were. But you already saved us, Jory. You definitely saved me—all through our childhood.”

No, he hadn’t. Jory shook his head.

“You did. Always made us laugh, always gave us something to hope for.” Nate leaned toward him. “You hid your fears, and you hid your doubts. For us, you tried to be a kid. I get that, and I like that you’re expressing yourself now. Probably because you found Piper.”

A lump formed in Jory’s throat. So big, he didn’t think he’d ever swallow again. And Matt was right. He’d found himself because of Piper. “Right, and you have too much to lose now, Mattie, so I can’t risk you.”

Chance rubbed his eyes. “You guys always so girly?”

Jory burst out laughing. The tension dissipated. Matt shoved at Chance’s chair, rolling him toward Nate. “Smart-ass.”

Chance grinned. Then he quickly sobered. “I know the layout of the facility, and I’ve studied the troops.”

Jory smiled. Smart kid. He eyed his brothers. “I can’t talk you out of going?”

They met his gaze levelly, nobody saying a word. Sometimes there just weren’t any words. “All right.” He sat back, knowing he couldn’t talk them out of the mission. They were his brothers, and they never went in all alone. “We need a good plan, then.”

Chance sighed. “Hate to beat a dead dog, or whatever that expression is, but five of us don’t stand much of a chance against the commander’s troops.”

Jory nodded. “We’ve been out for five years.”

“So?” Chance lifted a shoulder.

Matt scratched his chin. “If you would’ve gotten out, what would you have done?”

“Run hard and fast as far away from the place as I could.” Hollow hopes and killed dreams rode the kid’s strong words.

Nate nodded. “What if you had kill chips embedded in your spine that would detonate in five years?”

Chance rubbed his nose. “Well, hmmm. I guess I’d spend nearly five years preparing for war. Just in case.”

Jory nodded. “Welcome to Sins Security—the company of ex-soldiers we’ve built over the last five years.” He rolled his shoulders. “I guess you’re part owner now. You, Wade, and Kyle.” He turned toward Matt. “Right?”

“Definitely. Every brother gets a share.” Matt kept his voice level.

Chance shot a jerky hand through his hair and sucked in several deep breaths of air. He blinked rapidly, slowing his breathing. A mere moment later, the kid eyed them all, back in control. Tough, wasn’t he? “Great. Let’s go to war,” Chance said.

Four matching sets of gray eyes all focused on Jory. Waiting.

He let his brain go through the problem, and their decision made no sense. So he let go of thinking and opened his heart. They belonged together, and when one was missing, they all hurt. Finally, he gave in. They had to save him as badly as he’d wanted to save them, and he was just as important to the family as anybody else. He mattered. “I get it. Let’s plan for war.”

Nate stood by the board, marker in hand. “We need to diagram the layout first.”

Jory sat back, and within half an hour, they had a plan. It took fifteen minutes to put the first part in action—mainly, they called in their employees. The master plan would be risky and quite possibly involve treason and death.

He was already facing death.

Exactly an hour after starting to plan, they all trooped upstairs.

Matt paused. “One hour, and then we suit up.” He faced Chance. “You’re right about going, and I’m leaving it up to you. But make peace with Wade and Kyle just in case something goes wrong, they’re okay. I’m not taking them—too young.”

Chance nodded. “I don’t want them to go. Neither has killed yet, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Jory didn’t move and kept his expression blank. As did Matt. “Good,” Matt said, shooting Jory a hard look.

Yeah. He’d killed by Chance’s age, so it shouldn’t surprise him. Yet something in his gut hurt. Bad. They’d have to deal with that if and when they returned. For now, he had to talk to Piper. To tell her what she meant to him.

He found her in his bedroom, staring out the sliding glass door at the darkened sky. For once, the night was clear. Stars dotted the night, showing hope, although midnight and death waited for him mere hours away. He opened the door and gestured her outside into an unseasonably warm night.

She stood in the moonlight and turned to face him. So damn beautiful his chest hurt. “Did you come up with a plan?”

“Yes.”

“Which is?” she asked.

“To attack, find the cord, and take the chip out.” He wanted to touch her, but he wanted to commit the moment to his heart. Of her in the moonlight, love and concern in her eyes.

She smiled, her lips trembling. “Sounds easy enough.”

“I know, right?” He moved toward her, needing to touch. Gently, he ran a knuckle down the contours of her face. “I couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful than you.”

She slipped her hands beneath his shirt. “Oh, I can.” A low hum whispered on her lips as she shoved his shirt up.

He ducked to help her take it off. “I’ll do my best to get back to you.”

“I’m coming with you.” She leaned in and licked his right nipple.

He shivered. “No.”

She nipped. “Yes. I’m the hero of my own damn story, Jory Dean. Protect me all you want, but this once, I’m needed with you. War or not.”

If something happened to her, he’d fucking die. Well, if he didn’t die in a few hours, anyway. “I can’t do what I need to do with you there.”

“I’m a hacker, Jory. Even with the right cord, we may need to hack into the chip.” She nibbled up his chest to kiss under his chin. So gentle and so damn sweet.

“I don’t want you to see me like that.” To see the real him, the one that could turn off all emotion and kill so many damn ways.

She sighed, her eyes luminous. “I love all of you, Jory Dean. Every facet, the dark and the light. And I won’t let you die. You need me there.”

Worse yet, she was right. He might need a hacker.

His brothers could hack, but chances were they’d be busy shooting and preventing the commander’s men from getting into the infirmary. With a jolt, Jory realized that not only was Piper needed on the mission, but so was Laney. Would Matt realize it? If not, they’d have to make do. Matt would have to cut out Jory’s chip.

“Fine,” Jory murmured, grateful for any extra moments with her, even spent in battle so long as she stayed safe. “But you’ll follow orders. You’ll be armed, and at all times, you’ll be surrounded by guns. Can you handle it? Agree or it’s off.”

“I agree.” She grabbed his hair and yanked his mouth down. “I’m glad you’re seeing reason.”

He ripped her shirt apart, nearly shocking himself at the raw need to keep her safe. To take her and make her his. No matter what—forever. “Remember how I imagined us?”

She gasped and glanced around. “Yes.”

“Good.” He stepped back. “Take off your pants.”

Her eyes widened, and she shoved off the worn jeans. Her bra and panties were next.

Yeah, she was perfect.

He shucked his clothes, watching her watch him. With curiosity and need—and a small amount of trepidation. Good. He liked her off balance. Getting Piper out of her head, even temporarily, was a challenge he’d love to meet every single damn day.

So he tangled his fingers in her hair, effectively tethering her. A soft gasp whispered from her when he twisted. Then his mouth took hers.

No persuasion, no gentleness—just a hard and fierce claim. He thrust deep, tasting her, taking what he wanted.
She
was exactly what he wanted.

She pressed against him, her hands flattening on his pecs, trying to get closer. Accepting who he was, what he wanted, and giving even more. The woman gave everything.

He lifted her, laying her down on a settee on his patio. She reached for him, and he flattened a hand on her abdomen. A couple of kisses to her thighs were all the warning he allowed before tasting her.

She hissed out a breath and lifted her hands to her face.

He grinned and sucked her clit into his mouth.

She gasped and writhed against him. “Too much. Toooooo much.”

“Nope.” He spoke around the small bundle of nerves, knowing his timber would vibrate deep inside her.

She groaned, and a fine tremble cascaded through her spectacular thighs.

He licked her again. Spice and woman—his. Keeping up a quick rhythm without enough pressure to force her over, he pressed a finger inside her. Then another one. She gyrated against him, trying for more, but he kept it light as he played. As he enjoyed her.

Minutes passed. She moved against him, her hands now in his hair, trying to force him down.

He chuckled against her, and she ground out a threat or two. “What?” he asked.

“More,” she demanded.

“Why didn’t you say so?” Truly enjoying himself, he nipped her clit and crisscrossed his fingers inside her. She nearly shot off the lounge, and ripples cascaded through her abdomen.

He prolonged the orgasm as long as he could, finally stopping when she smacked him on the top of the head and went limp. Man, she was fun.

Then he stood, the ache in his balls nearly unbearable.

She glanced up and shoved her unruly hair from her eyes. Taking a look at his raging hard-on, she smiled. Slow and satisfied. “Well. What should we do now?”

For answer, he reached down and flipped her around to her hands and knees. She gasped and struggled to find balance. When she did, he grabbed her hips.

“Now?” He leaned down and nuzzled between her shoulder blades before standing back up. “Now we go with my idea.”

Piper clutched the fabric of the lounge, acutely aware of the man grasping her hips. The fully erect, ready to rumble, man. She looked back over her shoulder. “Well?”

He pressed at her entrance and slowly—so damn slowly—entered her. She bit her lip against the exquisite pleasure. That quickly, that easily, he stroked the desire in her higher than before. Hotter than before. She pressed back against him, allowing him to lead. To take them both where he wanted to go.

One huge hand flattened between her shoulder blades and caressed down, touching every inch of skin. As if he wanted
to know all of her. His hands roamed around and cupped both breasts, tugging gently on her nipples. Sparks of electricity zipped from her breasts to her core, and she convulsed once around his shaft.

He groaned and tugged again.

So much. Jory Dean was so much as to be too much. Yet she wanted him all. So she released her hold and leaned down onto her chest.

His sharp intake of breath made her smile.

His hold returned to her hips, and he slid out and then back in. So damn deep. Holding tight, keeping her in place, he began to pound. Fierce and hot… and so full. The slap of his skin against hers echoed through the peaceful night. Friction sprang alive inside her. She tried to move against him, to fall over the cliff, but he held her in place.

She’d never met a stronger man. Add in his intelligence, and Jory Dean was the full package. “I’m keeping you, Jory,” she murmured against her arms.

He paused inside her, pulsing. “You’ve got me.”

Yeah. She did. For how long? She gave him what she knew he needed. “You’ve got me, too.”

The control she could always sense in him snapped. Hard and desperate, he started to pound. To take her—without his usual carefulness—without his usual containment. Jory Dean in full force. A completely delicious man.

Heat cut through her, a rapid fire of an electrical storm. She held her breath and promptly detonated. Everything inside her exploded out, around him, into him. He thrust harder, paused, and came against her. Waiting until the shocks stopped shaking her, he withdrew and turned her around, flattening her on the ottoman.

The chill of the night had nothing on the warm male sprawled lazily over her.

She pushed his dark hair away from his face. “Jory.”

“I love you.” He kissed her so gently, tears filled her eyes. “Keep that—”

“You aren’t going to die.” She tightened her hold while her entire body began to ache with dread. “You can’t.”

“Thank you for making this week the best of my life.” Vulnerability and love glimmered in his mysterious eyes.

Well, if that didn’t slice her heart in two, nothing ever would. She breathed out. “I love you, too.” So he had to stay alive. She had him, and she’d meant it when she’d said she was keeping him. He was one of a kind, and he had to live. What if she couldn’t save him?

He kissed her one more time. “Our hour is up.”