Elite Dragoons 1: New Recruits (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

Brooke rose to her feet and held her hands out for Kayla. Trace placed her daughter into her hands, and she cuddled her close to her chest. “Think of your children’s future. By helping to train recruits you will be helping to save the innocents of the world. You don’t have to do this forever. In fact, I’m sure Tony has said you can quit anytime you like. Am I right?”

Coulter nodded and smiled at his wife’s insight.

“All right, ladies, let’s go and see what goodies Martha and May have for us in the kitchen and leave the men to hash things out.”

Wolf, Seton, and Lander helped Janie to her feet and didn’t let go of her until she was steady. Janie was so big it was a wonder she could move, albeit with a waddle. She was eight and a half months pregnant with twins and looked about ready to pop. Her babies were very low down in her pelvis.

Alicia took Johnny from Stedman and followed the other two women toward the kitchen.

Codi helped Nyssa to rise, and then Linton and Bryden clasped her arm and hips when she swayed on her feet. Codi jumped from the sofa and tilted her face up. “Are you okay, baby?”

“Yeah, I just got up a bit quick. I’m fine, stop fussing.” Nyssa kissed each of her men on the cheek and then walked out.

Coulter and the men began to discuss the pros and cons of becoming trainers to the new recruits. By the time they had decided that they would indeed help out, two hours had past.

The men stood and walked toward the kitchen where the aromatic smell of food drew them. Martha, Coulter, Trace, and Corbin’s mother, and May, her best friend, had been cooking and cleaning for the Elite Dragons Team from day one and loved every minute of it. Now that all the men were married, Martha and May were in their element caring for everyone. Not to mention how they doted on the babies and women.

“Wolf, did you see how pale Nyssa is? God, I’m so worried about her. She hasn’t been well for the last few days.”

“Has she been sick?” Wolf asked.

“Yes,” Linton answered with a frown. “By lunchtime she is totally exhausted and as pale as a ghost. She’s thrown up around the same time every day.”

“I’ve even lowered my empathetic shields so I can feel what she is feeling.” Bryden glanced toward the doorway as if he could see his wife. “She’s extremely tired and queasy nearly all the time.”

Coulter glanced at Wolf and then smiled when he saw the glint of humor in his friend’s eyes. Usually the Healys were pretty quick on the uptake, but it seemed where their wife was concerned they were totally bamboozled.

“Hmm.” Wolf rubbed his hand over his chin as if trying to work out what was wrong with Nyssa. “I think your wife will be fine in another month or two.”

“What?” Codi barked and stepped close to Wolf. “What the hell is wrong with her?”

Bryden clapped Codi on the shoulder, a wide smile on his mouth. “Our wife is pregnant.”

Codi stared at Bryden, and then he, too, smiled. His whole face lit up with love and excitement, and then his smile fell. “That’s it. From now on she naps every afternoon and there is no way in hell she is going riding until after the baby is born.”

“Codi, if you’ll think back, Nyssa hasn’t ridden for over a month,” Linton said.

“Shit. How could we have not known?” Codi asked his brothers, and they both shrugged but kept right on smiling. Codi turned to Wolf. “Did you know? Has she been to see you?”

“No she hasn’t been to see me,” Wolf replied. “But when you gave me her symptoms it wasn’t hard to work out.”

“She is in so much trouble,” Codi said in a growly voice. “If she wasn’t pregnant I would put her over my knee.” He turned to his brothers. “I can’t believe we are going to be fathers.”

“Me neither,” Linton and Bryden replied and then scurried toward the kitchen and their wife.

Food was laid out on the tables, and just as all the men sat down with their wives, Nyssa jumped up from her chair and bolted from the room with a hand over her mouth. Codi, Linton, and Bryden went racing out after her. The Healys eventually came back, and all of them were smiling, even Nyssa, who still looked pale and tired. Once the meal was done the women helped Martha and May clean up.

Coulter looked up at Janie when she groaned and gripped the table while clutching at her belly.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Seton hurried toward her. Coulter placed a steady arm around her waist in case she was in danger of falling, but her men were at her side moments later.

“Contraction,” Janie whimpered.

“Shit.” Lander took her hand in his and then kissed the back of it. “Don’t you worry, honey, everything will be okay.”

Seton lifted Janie into his arms and went striding out of the room with Wolf and Lander hurrying behind. It looked like Janie was about to become a mother. Lucky for her, Wolf was a medic and they had all decided that Wolf would deliver their babies, but a helicopter was on standby in case of an emergency.

Coulter withdrew his cell phone from his pocket and called the helicopter pilot. He knew the Garmans would feel relieved to have the helicopter onsite.

Fourteen hours later Janie gave birth to identical twins. A girl they named Melody Martha Garman, who weighed in at five pounds, two ounces, and a boy they named Michael Mitchell Garman, who weighed in at six pounds even. Both mother and babies were doing fine. The fathers were ecstatic, but they looked like they had been through the wringer by the time they settled down for some much-needed rest in the infirmary.

The rest of the team had spent the night pacing the living room in the main house waiting on news from Janie, the babies, and her husbands. Now everyone looked really happy, but tired, since none of them had gotten any sleep except for the kids. The sun was just coming up and Coulter knew that the new dawn was indicative of more happy times to come.

The Elite Dragons’ lives were forever changing, and all of it was good. One of the best days of Coulter’s life had been the day he had rescued his wife. He took Kayla from Brooke and breathed in her clean baby scent and smiled as she snuggled up against his chest. His comrades had children of their own or babies on the way. Life couldn’t get much better as far as he was concerned.

“Stop looking back and use your fucking senses. Move, move move,” Trace Thornell yelled.

Whitmoor Cartwright turned back to the front after he’d looked over his shoulder to make sure his brothers Hayward and Dalton and the rest of the team were with him every step of the way.

He, his brothers, and the other new recruits had been going over the obstacle training course for what seemed like hours—and actually had been—and since their strength and stamina were much better than the average human male, he was still full of energy.

His muscles were pumped and adrenaline was running through his system. It had been over six months since he and his comrades had volunteered for the military experimental program. He eyed the twelve-foot wall in front of him, gave a burst of speed and then leapt. Excitement lent him wings and he felt almost euphoric as he easily cleared the obstacle and landed on the other side without so much as a stumble. He should have been used to his enhanced abilities by now, but every time he used his body he felt wonder. But Whit was still in awe of the way he and the rest of their team could read other people’s emotions.

They were also empathetic, and even though they had all learned how to block out others’ emotions by building walls as a shield, they had a little more training left to do.

He loved living on a ranch again, too, and although it was in nowhere, North Dakota, between the towns of Langdon and Belcourt, near the Canadian border, and a cover so that their Elite operatives team would blend in to civilian life, it was a godsend as far as he was concerned.

Whit drew to a halt as he crossed the finish line to the training course. Still amazed that he wasn’t gasping for breath after completing the route.

“Okay, you guys have done an exceptional job so far. I wouldn’t hesitate to call on any of you if the situation arose, but I’ve noticed quite a few of you aren’t using all of your senses. You’re looking back over your shoulders to see where your teammates are instead of lowering your shields. Start trusting your fucking instincts, guys.” Trace snapped. “Hopefully by this afternoon you’ll be able to lower your shields completely and filter out what you don’t need and connect with your team members more, but for now it’s time to take a break. After lunch you can concentrate on honing those empathetic abilities.”

Coulter stepped forward. “You have worked hard over the last six months and are nearly ready to go out into the field. Trace is right about the empathy. You need to be proficient so you can rely on each other if the situation warrants it. Learn to fucking trust yourselves as well as each other.”

Corbin clapped Coulter on the back and smiled at everyone. “Tomorrow will be spent with Stedman, Ward, and Bronsin Tiltman learning the ins and outs on how to set up alerts using computer software and other gadgets. And last but not least you’ll be spending the afternoon with Codi, Linton, and Bryden Healy fine-tuning your empathetic skills and learning about all the new devices that Tony sent a couple of days ago.”

Coulter drew their attention when he began to speak again. “I’ll be calling Tony tonight and letting him know you’re more than ready for the field. I know you have all been into combat before but with your newfound skills you are definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

The three Thornell brothers stepped forward and shook each of their hands. When he got to Whitmoor he released his hand and then slapped him on the back. “You and your brothers have shown that you have the skills to organize as well as natural leadership tendencies. My brothers and I, as well as the rest of my team and Tony Sullivan, feel that you, Hayward, and Dalton should be the team leaders to your group. We’ve already discussed it with your other team members and they agree. So congratulations, team leader Whitmoor, it’s time you chose a name for your team.”

Whit had never been as humbled yet as proud as he was right now. He shook Coulter’s hand and then his brothers’. “Thank you, sirs. We’ll do our best to prove you all right.”

“I know you will, Whit. Go and clean up and get some lunch. I’m sure you’re all hungry after such a vigorous morning. I’m going to spend the rest of the day with my wife and daughter. Just remember if you ever need anything don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

“Thank you, sir.” Whit saluted Coulter, Trace, and Corbin, as did the rest of his team, and then they watched as the three brothers headed back to their horse stud.

“Can you believe that?” Hay asked and then turned to face the rest of their team.

Whit turned to face the nine other men he considered friends with his brother Dalton on one side and Hayward on the other. “Thank you all for the recommendation put in to have us made as your team leaders. We really appreciate your faith in us and we hope we don’t let you down.”

“Nah, you’re too much of an arrogant ass to let us down, Whit,” Calbert Garton called out.

Cal’s brother Fletcher moved to stand next to him. “Can we go and eat now? I’m starving and we all know how much of a great cook May is. I can’t believe she was good enough to volunteer to cook for us when she could have stayed over at the stud farm with all the others.”

“You’re always hungry, Fletch.” Cal chuckled.

“Hey, we burn a lot of calories training every day. We wouldn’t be able to do that without fueling up.”

Their other brother Lawford chuckled and slapped Fletch on the back. “Yeah, we are very lucky to have her. I think she likes taking care of us all, and with so many women over at the stud I think she wanted to feel more needed. I heard her and Martha talking about it one day. The other women are always pitching in and helping out and she said she was beginning to feel like a third wheel.”

“Well, I am damn glad she decided to move over here.” Thorpe Lathan chuckled. “That lady is one fine cook, and she seems to like taking care of us. Plus she can go visit the others any time she likes.”

Whit and his team walked into the house and went to clean up. By the time he entered the dining room the food was already being laid out on the tables. He snagged May around the waist as she was bringing the last platter over and took it from her hands and kissed her on the cheek. “You’re a marvel, May. You take such good care of us. From now on we will take it in turns to clean up.”

“You don’t have to do that, Whit. I like to feel needed.” May patted his cheek.

“We definitely need you, May. I’m not sure about the others but my cooking isn’t something I want to eat let alone present to anyone else. Please let us show our appreciation by taking over the cleanup while we’re here. We know that eventually we’ll be called up for duty so take the bit of rest while you can.”

“All right.” May stepped away from Whit. “I would like to go and see all the babies. I haven’t seen them since yesterday.”

“Good.” Whit carried the platter to the massive dining room and placed it in the center of the large wooden dining table. It was big enough to seat at least thirty people, but they were only using one half of it at the moment, trying to make things a little easier on May. Once he was seated and everyone began eating, he looked at all his men and he made sure to include May in the conversation. “Okay, we need to think up a name for our team. Does anyone have any suggestions?”

“I think we should keep the word Elite in our team moniker in respect for our trainers and the retired Elite Dragons Team,” Huntley Lathan suggested.

“Good idea,” Hay acknowledged.

“Any other suggestions?” Dalton asked.

When none were forthcoming, Whit said, “Okay, let’s think about it and if anyone can come up with a good name then let us know. We won’t make the final decision. I want everyone to be unanimous on the name.”

They finished up lunch, and then everyone pitched in to clean up. By the time they were finished it was almost time to meet with Seton, Wolf, and Lander.

“What about the Elite Dragoons?” Ty Bayhard suggested.

Whit looked over at Ty and then to his brothers, Rand and Bromley. They were watching him without any expression on their faces but he could tell they were holding their breath. Brom pitched his voice so that all the team members could hear him.