Page 28 of Echos and Empires
The warm island breeze caressed her face as she walked out of the clinic, and she let herself pretend it was her mother’s hand. Emma placed a hand on her still-flat stomach, marveling at the tiny life growing inside her. She couldn’t help but smile, imagining the looks on her lovers’ faces when they found out they were going to be fathers.
Tears of happiness pricked at Emma’s eyes. This was really happening - she was going to be a mother, and these wonderful men were going to be fathers. Together, they would face whatever challenges lay ahead, united by their love for each other and the child they had created.
ELEVEN
Bash’s armwas draped casually over Emma’s shoulders as they sat together on the leather couch. The familiar theme music of Indiana Jones filled the room, but Bash’s mind was only half on the movie. He glanced down at Emma, her head resting against his chest, her breathing soft and even. In the flickering light of the TV screen, her delicate features looked almost ethereal.
It was moments like these that made everything feel surreal, like he had stepped into an alternate reality where the horrors of the past few years had never happened. The island had everything the rest of the world lost. Yes, the conveniences were small in number, but they existed when they shouldn’t.
There were stockpiles of clothing, of food that couldn’t be grown or produced without factories. Medicine seemed to come from nowhere, and there were even board games and more. It was a damn fallout shelter, but next level. Even cellular service was a marvel here. Somehow, people moved very quickly to set this all up…or they’d been setting it up in advance.
Bash ignored that thought and looked back down at Emma. She was the marvel, not the technology or the serenity here. Thata woman as frail as she appeared, was a warrior fiercer than almost any he’d ever met.
And she’s the reason for everything.
Emma had thrown his entire world upside down with a single choice. His unit went from adrenaline-filled missions, to protecting the most precious cargo in the world, to defying the U.S. military they’d sworn to serve with their lives.
Without Emma they unit would be just another military unit moving from mission to mission, searching for a way to find happiness when surrounded by death on earth. They’d be five men instead of five men and a woman. He’d still be lost, devastated.
Alone.
Emma had changed him. Before her, he’d been a hardened soldier, focused solely on survival and completing the mission. His world had been black without Brooke. Emotions were a liability in a broken world, but Emma had awakened something inside him, a capacity for love and tenderness he thought had died along with Brooke.
With Brooke, Bash had been possessive, jealous. The thought of another man even looking at her would’ve sent him into a rage. But with Emma, sharing her felt as natural as breathing. Knowing that the woman he loved more than anything would never be alone, never be scared, never want for anything, was all that mattered to him.
When Chris had brought up the idea that the group should only entertain woman they couldn’t all share nearly three years ago he’d been against it, but agreed because he needed a good fuck every now and then.
When they’d met Emma, she’d gotten under his skin in a single moment, and for a moment, he’d been afraid he’d hurt his brothers-in-arms to be one to love her.
But that wasn’t the way of it, and even when they had their moments alone like this, it never left him jealous knowing she had these with the others, even if he did think about all the ways his life was different because of their love.
Each of them loved her in their own way. William, with his unwavering loyalty and quiet strength. Alex, with his playful affection and ready smile. Liam, with his gentle touch and soothing presence. Chris, with his fierce protectiveness and single-minded devotion.
And Bash? He loved her with a fire that consumed him, body and soul. A love that had risen from the ashes of his past and given him new purpose. Emma was his redemption, his reason to keep fighting in a world gone mad.
Bash’s mind drifted to the days before Emma, when the rush of adrenaline from combat had been his only anchor in a world gone mad. The thrill of the fight, the satisfaction of a mission accomplished, the bond forged with his brothers through blood and sweat and tears. It had been a harsh existence, but one he’d embraced fully, pouring all his rage and grief into the heat of battle.
Now, the adrenaline came from a different source—from the way Emma’s eyes sparkled when she laughed at one of Alex’s jokes or the fierce determination in her stance as she practiced hand-to-hand combat with William. From the soft sighs that escaped her lips as Liam massaged away the tension from her shoulders. The fire in her gaze when she and Chris argued, their wills clashing like steel against steel.
And the way she melted in Bash’s arms, her body fitting perfectly against his, as if they were two halves of a whole. Every touch, every kiss, every breathless moan was a shot of pure adrenaline straight to his heart.
As if sensing his thoughts, Emma stirred against him, her hand coming up to rest over his heart. Bash covered her handwith his own, marveling at the delicate strength in her fingers. She had the hands of a healer, a nurturer, yet he knew firsthand the damage those hands could inflict if provoked.
He tightened his arm around her, relishing the warm weight of her against his side. With the five of them watching over her, Bash knew Emma was the safest she could be. They would lay down their lives for her without hesitation. She was the beating heart of their unconventional family.
She’d still been sick, but it was getting better. He only wished he could completely take away what they’d cleared caused being too rough or too vigorous in bed.
As the movie played on, Bash let himself get lost in the moment. The feel of Emma in his arms, the steady rise and fall of her chest, the soft scent of her hair. These stolen pockets of normalcy were precious, a balm to soothe the jagged edges of their brutal reality.
Tomorrow they very well could find themselves in a place where they needed to take up arms, to fight tooth and nail for their survival. But tonight, in the warm cocoon of their island sanctuary, they could simply be. A man and a woman, bound by a love that defied the odds.
The spell was broken as the door swung open and Liam strode in, his usual grin replaced by a frown. Chris followed close behind, his jaw clenched tight and eyes flashing with irritation. Bash straightened up, instantly on alert. Something was wrong.
“I’m telling you, we need to deal with Warrington now, before he becomes an even bigger problem,” Liam growled, his eyes flashing with barely contained fury. It wasn’t like Liam to be furious about anything.
Chris ran a hand through his air, frustration evident in the way his cheeks glowed red. “And I’m telling you, we can’t just go in guns blazing without a plan. Why are you so impulsive? That isn’t you.”
Emma tensed against Bash, her body going rigid with anxiety. He tightened his arm around her, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on her shoulder.
