Page 10 of Following Their Heart

“Um.” She licks her plump lips. “I just wanted to say that I really miss you. And my choice tonight is because of something Rev and I talked about. It’s…I mean…I think the Working needs me to be with Doc and Shep tonight.” Her tone goes up at the end, like she’s making it a question.

“He mentioned that.”

“He did?” Her face brightens, and she looks relieved. “Okay. I…um…I just want you to know how much I appreciate everything you’re doing to keep me safe. If you need anything from me, I’m all ears.”

She inches closer and reaches up for a hug. Her brows make worried wings over her wide eyes.

And just like that, I melt for her.

It’s not her fault I have to share her with six other dudes. It’s no one’s fault but mine. It’s also not her fault that I can’t see into her heart, like I can with everyone else.

“She’s not Miranda.”Rev’s words from a few days ago come back to me. I can’t see into Cora’s heart, so I can’t make a judgment about her. That doesn’t mean she’s a cheating liar like my ex-wife. Cora’s not going to nag and nag me to put a ring on her finger then, once I do, turn around and sleep with my goddamnbrotherbehind my back.

Cora’s heart is hidden from me, but nothing else about her is hidden. She’s sleeping with other men—my brothers, not by blood, but by trial and tribulation—but it’s not going on behind my back. Hell, it wasmydecision. She’s taking Doc and Shep to her cabin tonight because of me. And she’s checking in with me after our little cuddle to make sure I’m not—what—too jealous?

Jesus. She’s being more mature than I am.

When she lifts onto her toes to wrap her arms around my neck, I drag her to me and hold her like I’m drowning, and she’s the only life raft in sight.

I feel her exhale with relief, and I feel guilty as shit. I make this woman doubt herself. I make her as tense as she makes me. It’s a wonder she pays me any attention at all.

She searches out my mouth with hers. It’s a peck she’s after, but I fall headlong into a kiss that becomes more ravenous than she was prepared for. She makes a little surprisedmmmpfas I lift her into the kiss and take what I suddenly need from her. When I finally set her down, I say, “Have fun, tonight.” Then I pat her ass and send her off to Doc and Shep.

The stress of the day drifts away as she turns to stare at me in disbelief. I find myself winking at her and smiling—actually smiling, and she smiles unsteadily back.

Damn,this girl. I’ve been trying to keep her at an emotional arm’s length because if I let her close, she’ll cut me, like all women do. But by pushing her away, I’m turning the knife on her.

Gonna be better for you, kitten.

Soon as this Raptor asshole is dead and in the ground, I’ll pour all my attention into making sure she feel safe with me. Not just physically but emotionally too, my own baggage bedamned.

Cora returns to the couch to sit between her two cabinmates for the night. All eyes are on her. I can practically see the wheels turning behind every speculative gaze. Cora has chosen two men tonight. This is the first time she’s shown any sign of being open to that. Well, if you don’t count the little interlude Rev and I enjoyed with her yesterday. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out the resulting math. If she takes more than one guy to her bed at night, that means more Cora-time for everyone. My guys might not have to wait a full week between nights with her.Imight not have to wait a full week between nights with her.

My voice is on the gruff side when I call everyone to attention. “Alright, listen up.”

My men are all here—Rev in his armchair, Scrap sitting on one of the faded arms (of course), Brawn taking up a whole couch by himself, and Grim with his arms folded, standing apart from the others. They tear their attention from Cora and turn to me. Because they’re good soldiers. When their leader speaks, they listen. It’s a good thing, because we’ll have to be organized to beat what’s coming.

“We meet like this every night after dinner until further notice,” I say. “Everyone comes to dinner. No no-shows.” I nod at Grim, who likes to eat in his camper, and he nods back. “We made good progress today, but there’s still a lot to do. We’ve got an enemy setting his sights on our territory.” On our woman—but I leave that part unsaid. “That shit does not stand.”

My men all grunt their agreement, and I get to brass tacks. I summarize what’s been done today. Then, I hand out jobs for tomorrow. The work is hard, and the days are going to be long, but not a single man complains. Even Cora nods, like she plans on doing just as much work as everyone else.

“Early warning is gonna be key,” I say. “I want to know as soon as possible when these assholes are coming. We think we have a week, maybe more, but I want toknow.Scrap, how’s the radar system coming along?” Today, he and I made several runs to the summit, setting up a radar satellite dish and the related computer equipment.

“Good, boss,” Scrap says. “Got it running. Just nothin’ around to test it on. Think it’ll work though. Should pick up anything in the air short of a friggin’ Stealth bomber.”

“Doubt there’s anyone left alive who can fly one of those,” Doc chimes in. He’s got a hand on Cora’s knee. “Specialized aircraft like that?” He pushes out his lower lip and shakes his head. “Nah. Might get a chopper or two, though, or low-flying prop planes with gunmen. That’s what I’d be focused on if I were them. If they’re smart, they’ll know we’ll have all ground routes boobytrapped, so they’ll have better luck coming by air. Smaller craft make for smaller targets, and they can get low enough to surveil and lay down fire. I can put a chopper up anytime so Scrap can test the radar.”

Doc’s former Army. I trust his assessment. He’s describing what I would do, too, if I were in Raptor’s shoes.

“Good. Do that,” I say. “You two work out when to run the radar test. That brings me to the missiles. Rev, where do we stand?”

He leans forward in his armchair. “Got six SAM trucks stored down in Bozeman.” He’s talking about the surface-to-air missiles we transported from the base up in Malmstrom back when we were still getting to know the area. Each truck holds two small but effective missiles. We hoped we’d never need them, but damn are we glad we have them now. “Optimistically, I can set up and arm one truck a day with Brawn’s help. That’s if we post them in places where roads or solid trails already exist. If we have to do ground-work to get the trucks in, it’ll take longer.”

“OK. Get on it. Let’s shoot for all six trucks posted around the mountain by week’s end. Four oriented to the south and two to the north. Stick to areas with good footing already established.”

Rev exchanges a look with Brawn. “We’ll do our best.”

Brawn nods his agreement.

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