Page 41 of Protected By The Green Berets

My breath caught in my throat to be so close to him with all that intense energy focused on me. If only I didn’t have to start a fight. This would be the perfect time to lean forward and kiss him. I almost did until his raspy voice brought me back to the moment.

“Why the fuck did you wake me?”

Oh good. He’s just as ornery in the morning as he is throughout the day. Lucky me.

“None of you woke me for watch.”

One dark eyebrow arched up. “You don’t need to stand watch.”

I huffed out an affronted breath. “Am I a part of this team or not?”

He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to rub the sleep away or the frustration with me. He wasn’t the only one irritated in this tent. Only I kept getting distracted by the bunching muscles in his arms and chest. The cover of the bedroll was riding dangerously low on his trim hips and my mouth watered as I took in the sharp slash of muscles that made up that sexy ‘v’ that guys had.

“There’s no need-”

“If she wants to keep watch, let her,” Alden snapped from behind us. “Anything to shut her up so I can go back to fucking sleep.”

I bit my bottom lip to smother my grin at the put out look on Keller’s face to be getting orders from us. Alden’s grumpy mutterings didn’t bother me.

“Fine. If you want to lose sleep,” he said with a shrug and rolled, giving his back to me.

My heart sank. I may have won that battle, but victory in the war slipped a little further out of my grasp. I stared at the line of his back, wishing he wasn’t so far away. Not physically, of course, since I just had to twitch and I’d be brushing his warm skin. No, he was holding back from me.

I saw the way he’d been watching us all yesterday. He knew what was going on between me and the rest of our teammates, but his cold demeanor made it clear he didn’t plan on joining in. It shouldn’t hurt my feelings. He was allowed to make his own choice and this kind of situation was a lot to ask. I had a feeling it wasn’t in these men’s natures to share, at least not long term. They were the type to fight it out and drag their prize off over their shoulder.

None of us had clarified what this was exactly. When it would end, or how. It’d started over here in Iraq—or in Seoul for Alden and I—but did that mean it had to end once we got back home? I didn’t know and it was too depressing to think about now. I was going to enjoy as much time with them as I could.

Alden tried to hold me against him when I went to scoot out of his grasp. As soon as I’d flipped to speak to Keller, Alden’s huge arm had draped over my waist. With these men around I’d never feel lonely while sleeping again. They liked to tuck me up against them and hang on. I didn’t mind it. Far from it, I really liked it. There was something about all the muscle surrounding me that made me feel safe.

I managed to scramble out from under his burly arm and dressed as quietly as I could. They’d be getting up soon anyway. The sun was just cresting the horizon as I climbed out of the tent. I wasn’t sure why I’d woken so early, but I decided to roll with it as I approached Torque.

His brows shot up as I approached. “You’re up early, Kitten.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up for my turn?” I asked. They all needed to understand that as a part of this team I needed to pull my share of the weight. Otherwise, I’d never really belong.

“Your turn?” He frowned.

“To take watch.”

“You…want to stand watch…”

I folded my arms under my breasts and scowled at him. “Anything you guys do, I want to do.”

He blinked at me for a few seconds, then nodded. “Alright. You can water the camels. There was a sparse area Keller found for them last night, and he staked them out there instead of letting them go to the river nearby. We’re lugging water back and forth for them.” He pointed toward where the river was. Standing, he picked up a square water jug with a screw on cap and set it in front of me.

I picked it up, then spun and walked off toward the river. I was grateful he was giving me something to do. I could see that the camels were still loaded up with our supplies as I walked by. That explained why they weren’t bringing the camels to the water instead of the other way around. This way was more labor intensive for us, but it was safer for them. If they got into the water with all that on their backs they could drown. The guys hadn’t wanted to spend the extra time unloading them, just to load them again this morning. Even the camels who’d carried us were still wearing their saddles.

Trekking the short way to the river and back woke me up fully and gave me a chance to stretch. The water container only held a gallon, so I had to make a lot of trips before the camels drank their fill, but I knew I’d be cooped up on the back of a camel for another few hours today. I appreciated the exercise. It also gave me a task to focus on while I pouted over Keller’s response to me.

What was my problem? The man didn’t want me and I had three others who were willing and ready to be with me, so why did his rejection feel so awful? I was being greedy and ungrateful. Deciding to be appreciative of what I had, I headed back over to our camp. The guys had woken up on my twelfth trip to the river and had begun breaking down camp. They were loading the tent and supplies we’d used last night back onto the pack camels.

I fell in line with them, helping to carry the rest over. I caught their amused glances, but none of them commented. They just worked me into their routine. I expected there to be some bumps in the road. They’d been working together for years and I was a new addition, but as long as they tried to include me, I’d be happy.

We stood waiting at the camels’ sides while Keller and Torque kicked dirt over the area we’d stayed. Hands wrapped around my hips and I was plucked off the ground as easily as a grape was removed from the vine.

I was in the saddle glaring down at Alden before I could say a word. “I can mount on my own,” I told him.

“Saw you do it yesterday,” he said in agreement.

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