Broken Surrender (7 page)

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Silas stared at his phone in shock Monday
afternoon when Sarah’s name popped up on the screen. He’d been
dying to call her ever since they left her apartment Friday, but he
and Jeremy agreed that she needed to be the one to make the next
move. They didn’t want to scare her away by coming on too strong.
To find her calling him out of the blue made him giddy with
excitement and shock.

“Answer it already!” Colby complained from
the passenger seat of the ambulance. “Good grief. Who sets a song
like “Girl Crush” as their ringtone anyway?”

“Shh,” Silas hissed as he pressed the
button. “Hey sweetie.”

“Um, Silas?”

Her hesitant voice made his skin tingle, and
he grinned as he responded. “That’s me. How are you?”

“Good, thanks. I, well, I just wanted to
thank you for putting in a good word with Claudia Thompson for me.
I think the job is going to work out great.”

“That’s fantastic. So I guess that means
your first day went well?”

“It was a rocky morning. Apparently, their
son has a squeamish tummy, and I’m not exactly used to being around
infants.”

Silas laughed. “Sounds unpleasant.”

“Not really, actually. I think I’m falling
for little Denver. He’s got the sweetest smile when he’s
happy.”

Her tone was almost reverent, and Silas had
to bite back his first response. He wanted to tell her that she
wasn’t the only one falling for someone, but he knew she wasn’t
ready to hear it.

“I’m glad you like the job, but I swear, all
I did was tell her you were looking. She took the idea and ran with
it.”

“Yeah, she seemed a bit desperate for help.”
Sarah said with a laugh.

“So, any chance I can convince you to have
dinner with me to celebrate your great first day?”

She was quiet for a moment and then said, “I
want to, but…”

“But?”

“Can I have a rain check? My back’s
bothering me after sitting for four hours with Claudia, and I want
to put some ice on it and rest.”

Silas was stunned once again, but he heard
himself say. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being honest. For taking care of
yourself. I’d never be upset with you for taking care of yourself
first. In fact, why don’t I bring dinner to you? You can rest and
ice your back while you eat some takeout.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she protested,
but he could hear the longing in her tone. Yep, she was interested,
even if she wasn’t brave enough to admit it yet.

“Not another word. I get off at seven so
I’ll be at your place by eight with food in hand.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“No thanks necessary, sweetie. See you
soon.”

They hung up, and he couldn’t stop grinning
as he drove toward the ambulance bay.

“Was that the girl from the parking lot last
week?” Colby asked.

“Yep.”

“So I take it she’s off the market?”

“Yep.”

“You’re not going to spill anything are
you?” Colby grumbled.

“Nope.”

“Damn it. I’m pushing fifty; at least let me
live vicariously through you.” Colby was a nice enough looking man,
Silas figured, but his penchant for science fiction and comic books
seemed to deter the ladies, so he didn’t have much of a social
life.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” Silas offered.
Colby looked over at him. “Jeremy thinks she’s damn near perfect,
too.”

“Jeremy? Oh, no. You two aren’t thinking
about shagging her together are you?” Colby groaned. “Just what
Stone River needs, another group-love moment.”

“Shagging? Seriously? You’re from San
Antonio not England, man. And what’s the big deal? If we both love
her—”

“Love her? How can you love her already? You
just met her. And I just don’t get how brothers could be okay with
sharing a lady.”

Silas shrugged, “It just feels right. Like
we’re two legs of a tripod, and we need a third to help us stand
upright.”

“And she’s cool with it?” Colby asked, “What
am I saying? Of course she is. She gets two men for the price of
one.”

“You’re a dick.” Silas snapped. “This is why
I didn’t want to tell you anything.”

“Whatever dude, you’re the one who wants to
share his woman with his brother.” Colby slouched out of the
ambulance and wandered off the moment Silas put it in park.

It wasn’t so much that Silas cared what
Colby thought, but he was realistic enough to know that most of the
world viewed ménage relationships in the same way—like it was
something terrible. He just hoped Sarah wasn’t one of those
close-minded people.

Silas considered calling Jeremy and inviting
him along, but he really wanted to have some time alone with Sarah.
It wasn’t that he was uncomfortable with his brother around, but he
needed to be sure she felt the same way; the only way to do that
was to ask.

His stomach was in knots when he knocked on
her door later that evening, but the moment he heard her call out,
“It’s open, Sarge, come on in,” he instantly felt reassured. She
wanted him here; otherwise, she wouldn’t have welcomed him.

Pushing the door open, he found her
stretched out on the couch on her belly with a bag of ice draped
over the small of her back. She wore a pair of short-shorts that
showed the length of her sexy legs and made them look a mile long.
He felt his tongue dry up and his heart stutter as he stood staring
stupidly at her from the doorway.

“You gonna come all the way in or stand in
the doorway all night?” she teased, giving him a big smile.

“Just admiring the view before you sit up to
eat dinner.”

She ignored his compliment and focused on
the bag of food in his hand instead. “What did you bring?”

“Reuben sandwiches and queso fries.” He set
the bag on the end table. Still in uniform, he felt a bit awkward
and stiff sitting down on her girly furniture. Sarah sat up,
letting the ice drop to the sofa and arched her back with a
groan.

“Hurting a lot, huh?”

“No more than normal, really. It’s always
worse in the evenings,” she said with a shrug as she went to put
the ice away. Silas admired the view of her sexy, round ass in
those snug shorts as she walked away and her plump breasts pressing
against her t-shirt when she came back. His body reacted to her
without any invitation, and wearing his uniform pants, the problem
was going to become all too obvious if he didn’t get it under
control.

“Did you take something for it?” he asked,
diverting his desire into concern for her well-being.

“I try not to. Pain meds make me groggy, but
I do take anti-inflammatories. That helps some. I’ll be fine, Si, I
promise,” she insisted, accepting a sandwich from him. “This smells
delicious.”

“It is, I promise you. It’s my favorite meal
the chef makes at the diner, but it’s not on the menu, so you have
to know the right people to get it.” He winked at her and set a
small cardboard dish of fries covered in cheese and peppers in
front of her. “And these will not only clear your sinuses but make
your belly hum with delight.”

“Or misery, depending on how you look at
it,” she said with a laugh. “Good thing I like spicy foods.”

He nodded, “I remember. You used to add red
pepper flakes to everything the mess hall served.”

“Or Tabasco sauce,” she added. “That was the
worst part about being over there. The food. It was horrible. I
used to pray every day that a new box of goodies would arrive from
my parents, and when it did, I’d be in hog heaven.”

“You were lucky to get packages. A lot of
the guys didn’t get shit.”

She nodded and a few curly locks of dark
hair fell from her messy bun. “Yeah, there were a couple of girls
in the unit that I teamed up with because they didn’t get much. I
shared what I could.”

They were both silent for a moment as they
ate and indulged in their own memories. Silas didn’t know much
about her personal experience overseas, but he figured it was a lot
like his. Miserable, and wonderful.

“Do you miss it?” she murmured.

He met her eyes, and nodded, “Sometimes.
Over there I felt like I was in control of things because I knew
what was expected of me. I was the CO of my unit, so I made
decisions that impacted people. Here I just sit in the bus with my
partner, Colby, all day long, wondering if Mrs. Ademire is going to
slip and break a hip today, or if Frank Turner is going to call
about his trick knee. It’s not the same.”

“But?” Her eyes searched his, and he saw his
own emotions reflected there, so he answered.

“But I don’t miss the fear. The sleepless
nights.”

“The sound of bullets.”

“The sound of screams, or tears.”

“The heat.”

“The bugs.”

“Oh, my god, the bugs! I hated the bugs,”
she agreed with a laugh. “I miss having a purpose, too. I don’t
know who I am without the military.”

Emotion laced her words, but he wasn’t sure
how to respond. He knew what she was feeling, but he didn’t figure
that was what she wanted to hear right now.

“It takes time to heal,” he murmured,
balling up his sandwich wrapper and tossing it in the empty bag. “I
don’t know how long because I don’t figure I’m healed from my time
over there.”

“I still have the nightmares.” She spoke
softly, her cheeks turning a little bit pink. “Not every night, but
sometimes.”

He nodded in understanding. “Me, too.
They’re getting better though. Jeremy found me one night behind the
living room couch with the DustBuster in my hands pointed at his
chest like it was a rifle. It took him almost twenty minutes to
talk me out of that episode.”

She stared at him with wide eyes and nodded.
“Have you talked to someone about the PTSD?”

“Sure, but they can only help me so much.
What about you?”

“Therapy is required before they let you out
of the hospital now.” She grumbled. “Didn’t help me much,
either.”

“You know, we’re not the only vets around
here. Maybe we should start a meeting of some sort.”

“Like a support group?” she asked, wrinkling
her nose.

“Yes and no. More like a commiserating
group. We can sit around and bullshit and gripe about the good old
days. Nothing too deep, just something…” His words drifted off.
When she remained quiet, he figured he’d pushed his luck too far.
It was stupid to try and get her out with people when she’d made it
very clear that she wasn’t much of a people person since her return
from duty.

“I’d like that.” She gave him a tentative
smile. “It would be nice to meet a few more people, especially if
they’ve served too.”

Jubilant, he surged from his seat and
plopped down next to her, tugging her over for a hug and laughing.
“Fantastic! I’ll arrange everything.”

“Easy Sarge or you’re going to be carrying
me to the bed.”

Her words sent a shaft of desire through
him, and when he tipped her face up to his, she realized what she
said and stuttered.

“Er...I mean...well, because of my back. If
I get hurt and you have to carry me to bed...er...to my bed, so
that I could sleep. Before you leave, I mean...”

She was rambling, so he followed his
instincts and shut her up with a kiss. What he didn’t anticipate is
how that one kiss would completely rock his world. Her mouth was
soft and pliable under his. Her hands cupped his head, her nails
digging into his scalp. She was hungry for him, and the more she
tugged and whimpered against his lips, the less control he had over
his own response. He fought to keep his hands in place at her waist
so that he didn’t push her farther than she wanted to go, but she
pressed against him, easing him back against the back of the couch
and taking what she wanted.

It told him exactly what he needed to know,
and he hurried to give her more. One of his hands went up to tangle
in her hair, knocking her hair clip to the floor, while the other
hand slid over the curve of her ass, squeezing the rounded moon
firmly. Her hips rocked and she sighed her pleasure into his mouth
as his tongue invaded her mouth, teasing and taunting her into a
fencing match that neither cared to win.

She tasted like the food, but under that,
was a subtle flavor of deliciously sweet woman. It was almost like
tasting sin itself, and his cock throbbed against her hip. There
was no way she could miss how much he wanted her, so he was almost
devastated when she broke away and took a gulping breath as she
backed up a few inches.

Staring into each other’s eyes while they
panted for air, there was a crackle of sexual tension surrounding
them, and they still held each other tightly.

“Do you want me to stop?” he managed to
growl out. Every fiber of his being hated to ask, but he knew he
had to.

Her lips curved up slightly, “No, but we
can’t do this on the sofa. I don’t want to stop in the middle of
something because my back seizes up.”

“Damn. You’re right. Okay then, let’s go.”
Jumping to his feet, he scooped her up in his arms and turned
toward the two closed doors. She was laughing as she told him which
one, and he pushed into her tiny bedroom. The bed was barely bigger
than a twin, and he frowned at it critically. “My place next time.
I have a bigger bed.”

“Are you complaining?”

“Fuck no.” he hissed, setting her on her
feet, and capturing her mouth again. “I’m in heaven baby, just
don’t stop kissing me.”

She took him at his word, and they feasted
on each other until they were both writhing for release. His hands
were under her shirt, cupping her braless breasts as she scraped
her nails over his abs in return. When she reached the button of
his uniform pants, she froze and pulled back.

“Do you have condoms?” she asked, her voice
husky with desire. It took a moment for her question to click in,
but when it did, he cursed violently.