Page 44 of Hazard

“Fuck you doubly twice.”

Skull chuckled, then looked at him, then looked at him more closely in that speculative way of his.

Hazard scrubbed a hand along his jaw and released a frustrated sigh.

A dark brow arched over one of Skull’s dark brown eyes. “What’s really up with you…” His eyes widened and he groaned and shook his head. “Oh, fuck. You had sex with her, didn’t you?” His voice carried and echoed in the large structure. Thank God they were the only two people in here. “Geezus, now she’s messing with both your heads.”

“Why don’t you shout it, or better yet, put it through the comms so Ice, Preach, GQ, and Kodiak can hear you?” Hazard looked away and realized too late that by breaking eye contact with Skull he’d just answered all his questions with a strong, firm yes.

“I’ll be damned. They were right. When you fall, you fall.” Skull shook his head, a comment about another one biting the dust.

Hazard closed his eyes. Leigh was still thrumming against his heart, and how much he wanted to be there for her, and how much havoc she wreaked on his hormones. He shook his head hard to dispel the tantalizing image of her going down on him, that bone-melting sensation and sharp pleasure her mouth gave him. This woman was going to be the death of him, or he was going to fall so helplessly and hopelessly in love with her, making every day without her excruciating. He was sure he was going to die from the agonizing, all-consuming sexual tension driving him slowly insane.

“Man, you’re one of the fallen brothers now.” Skull followed that up with a smirk.

“Shut the fuck up,” Hazard said, unable to stop the goofy smile from surfacing. “I’m never going to hear the end of it.”

“Yeah, the ribbing is going to be intense,” he said, then more laughter. He sobered. “Seriously, bro. What happened? It’s not like you to, ah, give in to your baser needs.”

Their team was so close-knit they didn’t shy away from discussing more intimate things between them. They were still guys, though, and even if they did some of their best thinking out loud, they talked about everything. Pretty much nothing was off-limits, even sex. It wasn’t casual conversation, because these guys were his best friends. He was comfortable talking to them about personal finances, mental health stuff, or other monumental changes in their lives. They had earned that level of intimacy.

“I think I was a goner from the moment I met her. I was just thrown by her?—”

“Protesting, orders, demands, and sheer insufferable opposition, her courage, resilience, quick-thinking, and sheer balls?”

Hazard laughed, his voice husky when he replied. “Yeah.”

“Oh, that draws a soft yeah. Does she feel the same way…? Goddammit, Archer, I don’t want to see you jerked around,” he said fiercely. “That would suck.”

“I have no fucking clue. We haven’t discussed it. You know what it’s like when you are attracted to someone. Sometimes physical shit is easier than emotional crap. You know, the dick gets hard, leads you around, and you fucking go willingly.”

“It’s the Dick Disconnection Syndrome. Cuts through all the shit and crap you mentioned. The dick is the boss man.”

“Fuck, yes. That’s what it is,” Hazard groused.

Skull’s expression brightened. “He outranks your ass.”

“That explains the saluting.”

They both broke into deep laughter, throwing their heads back. “What a conversation. My mom and commanding officer would be so proud.” Hazard managed to get the words out around the laughter. His stomach hurt. He expelled the last of his laughter on a deep sigh, his eyes meeting Skull’s. “The truth is I’m so in over my head with her. I’ve spent like forever resisting her, sparring with her, lusting after her until it all culminated with bedding her. Somewhere along the way, she won me over so hard, I couldn’t escape the riptide.” He thought for a moment, and everything got more serious. “Beyond the intense desire and the aggravation she evoked in me, I think my body gave up before my mind got what the hell I was doing and feeling. What I feel for her is no longer hidden somewhere in my once-intelligent, overstimulated brain.” He couldn’t seem to find the remorse that should be there. He’d screwed up, yet it didn’t feel like any kind of mistake. “I’ve crossed over personal and intimate boundaries that should have never been breached. I even thought we had no future—West Coast, East Coast, Navy SEAL deployed all the time. I realized it would be crazy to get mixed up with her beyond that damn attraction, but being with her on a temporary basis didn’t feel good. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“I can’t say I do because I haven’t been in your boots, brother. But, apparently, every strong and valid argument you had with yourself didn’t make you stop wanting her.” He pointed at himself, then looked at Bones. “I pegged it. He can’t disagree. Can he Bones?” He grinned. “Yeah so, man, you’re fucked.”

“I am fucked, aren’t I?” he muttered as Bones gave him a hangdog expression. What the hell? Even their MWD knew the score. Why did it feel so damn good, then?

A huge grin curved up the corners of Skull’s mouth, and his eyes glinted with sympathy. “Ten ways to Sunday, man.” He patted Hazard hard on the shoulder. “Ten ways to Sunday.”

Twenty minutes later, he was relieving Boomer, who reported that she was still sleeping, a little restlessly. “Hey, bro. Isn’t she on your side of the room?”

“Yeah, she is.”

“Ha. Fuck me. Another one bites the dust.”

He shoved Boomer. “Go. I’m sure you must be starving and dying to out me to those four happily-ever-after guys.”

“Oh, yeah. You know it.” He sobered, then said, “But I always have your back, Haz. Women troubles aside.”

Hazard nodded, and they touched knuckles, then Boomer left.

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