Soldiers of Pearl 6: A Touch of Fear (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “Maggie. That’s her name. She’s Cynthia’s friend. I remember her from the hospital when Cynthia was recovering from her injuries. Look, there are Dee and Cynthia now,” Stack added.

  Bandit watched Maggie as she struggled with some boxes then wiped her brow. It was hot out, and she looked a little overheated as the sun blared down onto her and the table. He noticed an older couple sitting in chairs next to the table, with the large umbrella tilted over them.

  “Lets go say hello,” Bandit said to Stack.

  Stack shook his head, and Bandit gave him an annoyed look. Stack never liked to socialize at all. The only reason he was here right now was because Sunny had invited him, and they had all served together at one time or another. There was camaraderie there, and it was special.

  Bandit headed over toward the table where Cynthia, Dee, and Maggie stood talking. He noticed Maggie holding onto the table as Cynthia and Dee smiled and talked. Before he was able to interrupt and say hello, Maggie locked gazes with him, her eyes widening then looking way up at him. He was a tall man, six feet three, and she was petite, maybe five feet four. She had a hell of a body on her too.

  “Bandit. How are you?” Cynthia asked and then gave him a hug hello. They all greeted one another, and Cynthia introduced him to Dee and then Maggie.

  “I remember you and your team. Sunny said he invited all of you to the barbecue at our place later,” Cynthia said.

  “Yes, ma’am. We’ll be there. We were just checking out the festivities and other things here at the fair.” Bandit kept his eyes on Maggie. She looked a little off-kilter, and then he noticed her lose coloring in her face.

  “Maggie, are you okay?” Cynthia asked.

  Bandit moved around her quickly and caught Maggie in his arms just as her eyes rolled back.

  “Oh God,” Dee stated, drawing more attention to them.

  “What happened? Is she okay?” Stack asked, immediately joining them. “Cold water and ice. Have any?” he asked Dee. She looked around and then Sunny was there, carrying a cooler.

  “Maybe she got overheated?” he said, bringing the cooler closer.

  Before anyone could move, Bandit was brushing the hair from Maggie’s overheated cheeks. Stack pulled off his shirt, dunked it into the ice and water in the cooler, then brought it to her cheeks lightly. She started blinking her eyes open.

  Bandit whispered to her, “Come on, Maggie. Open your eyes, sweetie.”

  He glanced at the way her breasts poured from the cream-colored bra she wore under the purple tank top. She felt so feminine and light in his arms. He and Stack hovered over her, and he had an instant protective feeling consume him. He and Stack wouldn’t let anyone close to her. It was so weird yet felt completely natural.

  He heard Logan’s voice and then Breaker’s as Bandit locked onto Maggie’s gorgeous green eyes. He smiled softly.

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  She went to move but he held her, and Stack reprimanded her movement.

  “Lie still. You passed out, probably from heat exhaustion. Sip this.” He brought a cold water bottle to her lips. She took a sip, and then she cringed.

  “This is so embarrassing. I’m okay. Thank you,” she said as they helped her into a sitting position.

  Bandit didn’t want to let her go. It was the craziest sensation he’d ever had. Then she looked at him, and she swallowed hard.

  She feels it too. Holy shit. I just found the woman of my dreams.

  * * * *

  Maggie was shaking, and it wasn’t because she was overheated and passed out as much as it was from the sight of two very sexy men holding on to her. One of them was bare chested and using his shirt to dab cold water against her skin. The other was just as big and looked so caring and sincere as he cared for her and made sure she was okay. She saw the crowd of people gathering round, including her friends Cynthia and Dee, smirking. Sunny looked angry, and then Wyatt arrived.

  “Maggie, are you okay?” he asked.

  Anna stepped around the crowd and made her way between the men and Maggie.

  “Let’s get her inside where there’s AC so she can rest.”

  “I’m okay. I don’t know what happened. I guess the heat got to me.” She tried to stand up but felt so funny and dizzy.

  “I’ve got her. Lead the way, Anna,” the one guy said and lifted her up into his arms, shocking her.

  “You don’t have to carry me. I can walk.”

  He went to open his mouth, but the other guy spoke firmly next to her.

  “The hell you can. Let him carry you, and then we’ll check you over inside.”

  She gulped at his tone of authority and annoyance. She really was embarrassed.

  As they got her into the sheriff’s office, which was closest to the vending table, the man, who looked vaguely familiar, set her down on a couch in Wyatt’s office.

  “We’ll get you some more cold water.” Anna said, leaving her with Wyatt and the two men.

  “Are you okay?” Cynthia asked from the doorway.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be any trouble. I don’t understand what happened,” she said to them, but the one guy with the big brown eyes, jet-black hair, and bulging muscles smiled at her. He brushed the hair from her cheek.

  “You need to drink a lot of water in weather like this. You have to stay hydrated.”

  “I was drinking water. I think I overdid it picking up the heavy boxes with the promotional stuff in them. Plus this older couple was really feeling the heat, so I offered them both chairs to sit in and then I tilted the umbrella over them so they were shaded for a bit.”

  “You should have worried about yourself too,” the other one snapped at her.

  She glanced at him. He was hard, from his personality, tone of voice, and expressions to his muscular body, which was superb. She saw the faint lines of scars and what looked like bullet wounds on his chest and on his ribs. He had been shot?”

  “Rest as long as you need to, Maggie, and then we’ll check you over before you head back out,” Wyatt said with a smirk and then winked before he left the office.

  She was alone with the two men she didn’t know.

  “Well, thank you for your help. Whoever you two are,” she said and then sat up and took a few breaths before drinking the cold water. With each sip, she felt the dizziness subside and the heat leave her body. Well, not entirely. Not with the hunk of a man with muscles, tattoos, and war scars staring at her and holding a damp shirt.

  “I’m Bandit, and this is Stack. We’re friends with Cynthia’s and Dee’s men.”

  “Oh, wait, I remember you now. You were at the hospital when Cynthia was recovering. You served with the guys?”

  “Yes.”

  She nodded. “Well thanks.”

  “Hey, Stack, catch.”

  She heard the deep voice then turned toward the door to see two other men there. One tossed a shirt to Stack, and he didn’t change expressions or even say thank you. Obviously Stack had a chip on his shoulder. He’d basically reprimanded her for offering the umbrella and the chairs to two elderly people instead of keeping them for herself.

  The other two stared at her, looking her over, and she wondered what their eyes were locked onto, and then, as she placed her hand over her chest, she realized her tank top was awfully low revealing more cleavage than she would ever expose. She gasped and re-adjusted the top.

  “You don’t have to stay with me. Join your friends and enjoy the festivities. I’ll just wait here a little longer,” she said, voice cracking. These men were so tall, big, and intimidating.

  Stack put on the new shirt and left the other one next to her. “Keep that on the back of your neck and your wrists to cool you down.”

  “Oh, that’s okay. It’s your shirt. That was very kind of you to use it.”

  “You looked pretty bad. I’ll get it back from Wyatt.” He walked out of the room, and then the other two men looked at Bandit.

  “I’ll catch up with you guys in a bit,�
� he said, and they looked shocked.

  Then the one with the blond hair and light-colored eyes crossed his arms. “We can wait, too.”

  “I’m going to go talk to Sunny,” Stack said, and then he and the other guy—Breaker, she thought his name was—walked out.

  “I’m Logan.”

  The blonde introduced himself and then held out his hand for her to shake. She hesitated. She didn’t want to make physical contact with him. It was bad enough that Bandit had affected her and she found herself attracted to him. This wasn’t good. She didn’t like feeling on guard and on the defensive. Men did that to her.

  She reached out, and when their hands touched, she felt the spark of awareness. So did Logan, as he squinted, looking almost shocked and angry, and then he pulled away and placed his hands into his pockets.

  She felt so aroused and uncomfortable she started sipping the water bottle just to avoid their stares.

  “Slow down, baby. Too much too quickly isn’t good either,” Bandit said, placing his hand over hers that held the bottle.

  She widened her eyes shocked at how he called her baby, surprised at the way it made her gut clench and her pussy spasm. This was crazy.

  She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “You two don’t have to stay. I’ll be fine now. I already feel a hundred percent better.”

  “You’ll sit a little longer, and we’re fine waiting with you, Maggie,” Bandit said, and Logan took the seat on her other side.

  “So, you’ve been friends with Dee and Cynthia for long?” Bandit asked.

  “Two years,” she said, remembering coming to Pearl and meeting up with Dee first. “How about you guys? You’ve been friends with Sunny and his team and Perkins and the gang for a while?”

  “Years,” Logan said and held her gaze.

  They were both just watching her. She couldn’t handle this. It made her feel on guard and insecure. Why were they watching her like that?

  “Well, I think I feel like heading out to hang with my friends.” She stood up and teetered a little from getting up so quickly. Both men reached for her to steady her, and she immediately took in the sight of how huge they both were. They could hurt her with one small squeeze from those mega-large hands. She felt panicked as she pushed from their hold and stepped aside.

  “Well, thanks again. It was nice meeting you and very neighborly to help me out.”

  “Wait. Are you going to be at Sunny’s later?” Bandit asked her, and she panicked.

  “Not sure. I may just head home. It depends how I feel.”

  “Well, we’ll be there. Maybe we can talk some more? Get to know one another?” he suggested.

  She twisted her fingers together and lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry, I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

  “Why not?” Logan asked, and she looked way up into his big blue eyes.

  Every part of her said to say yes and get to know them, and then came the fear of being touched even gently.

  She shook her head. “I’m not your type.” She started walking out. She felt the hand touch her hand, and she gasped and held it to her chest, stepping away. Logan did the same thing and squinted at her as though something was wrong. Why was she so scared of men? They weren’t like Corbin. She had to get over this fear.

  “Maybe you’ll change your mind,” Logan said, stepping back.

  She’d made him step away. He probably thought she was some kind of freak. God, I need to talk to someone about this. They’re so good looking, and Bandit was so kind.

  “Maybe. We’ll see. Thanks again.”

  She walked out of the office, and they followed. Bandit opened the door for her, and she joined her friends, but they disappeared. Disappointment filled her belly. She was never going to feel safe ever again. Life sucked.

  * * * *

  “That was strange, don’t you think?” Logan asked Bandit as they walked down the street looking for Stack and Breaker.

  “What was strange?” Bandit asked.

  “Don’t bullshit me. You saw it. Hell, you felt it. The way she pulled back on the defensive like she was scared. Something was up with her.”

  “She probably was, Logan. We are pretty big men, and older. She’s young, and she’d just passed out from a little heat stroke.”

  Logan thought about that, but his gut clenched, indicating there was more to her reaction.

  They were quiet, and Logan watched Bandit turn back around.

  “You like her?” he asked.

  Bandit looked at him. “What’s not to like? She’s gorgeous.”

  “She’s young, Bandit.”

  “Not too young. Plus, she felt the attraction too. I’d like to see her again.”

  “Really?” Logan was shocked. They didn’t really date. None of them did. Not with their line of work and the schedules they kept doing private investigative work. They also were trackers, and that sent them out of state and even overseas sometimes for the right amount of money. They were hard men. Not the commitment type at all.

  “Sure. There was something real sweet about her. It felt good to hold her in my arms like that.”

  “You were there at the right time to stop her from hitting her head by catching her. It’s what we do. Rescue people who can’t save themselves. It was just an incident that hit close to home, nothing more.”

  “I don’t think so, Logan. What’s your problem anyway?”

  “I don’t have a problem, but we are a team. Decisions are made as a unit. We don’t date or do girlfriends. Maggie is the take-to-the-movies, hold-hands-walking-down-Main-Street kind of girl, and she’s classy too. We kill people for a living. We hunt killers. We find assholes and bury them and bring justice to people’s families. That’s what we do.”

  Bandit stopped walking, placed his hands on his hips, and gave Logan a mean look.

  “Well, maybe I’m getting tired of that kind of life.”

  “Since fucking when?”

  “A while now.”

  “Bullshit. You see one sexy piece of ass with big tits, a damsel in distress, and you want to throw away a twenty-some-odd-year career? Give me a break.”

  “First of all, I didn’t look at her as a piece of classy tits and ass, and neither did you or Stack. You’re just denying what you feel and what has been coming our way for months now. We’re all getting burnt out. We’re all getting tired of having no one to come home to.”

  “You can come home to a woman every fucking night if you wanted to. We’ve never struggled with finding women to alleviate our needs.”

  “Jesus, Logan. Listen to yourself. You know what I mean. You’ve seen what Sunny and Perkins and those guys have. You’ve seen a lot of our friends over the years find a woman and make her their own.”

  “And what? You think that Maggie chick is her? She wouldn’t even let me touch her.”

  “She doesn’t know you. And, like I said, we’re big, intimidating men. She is petite and shy.”

  “Not my type at all.”

  “Whatever, Logan. Do what you want. Deny what you felt looking at her and being in that small space with her. I saw your reaction. I saw Stack’s. You find her attractive too, but you’re not ready to admit that. I am.”

  Logan watched Bandit walk away just as Stack and Breaker crossed the street, passing him.

  “Hey, what’s up with him?” Breaker asked.

  Logan shook his head. Everything Bandit said was true. They were getting burnt out. They were getting tired of coming home to find nothing or no one special. They were a team, and they did everything together. Maybe they could have normal lives like their friends? Maybe it would take the right woman. But was he ready? Was his team ready for that? Who the fuck knew?

  Chapter 2

  “Don’t look now, but your knight in shining armor arrived, and he spotted you immediately,” Cynthia told Maggie as they sat by the island in the industrial, gourmet kitchen. Georgia licked her lips as Maggie refused to turn around and look. “Oh my God, that is some deli
cious eye candy. My God, Maggie, you could get lost in his arms. He’s huge.”

  Dee chuckled.

  “Stop saying things like that. She may pass out again,” Cynthia teased.

  “Very funny, Cynthia. It was the heat, and I didn’t sleep well last night.”

  Cynthia clutched Maggie’s shoulder. “You should really talk to someone about that. It could help you get over whatever is causing them.”

  “What is causing them?” Georgia asked.

  Maggie lowered her eyes. “I don’t know. I just can’t shake them.”

  “Maybe being in Bandit’s big, strong arms might help,” she teased. Cynthia and Dee chuckled too.

  Cynthia touched her hand. “Take your time. Whatever is going on, just know that we’re here for you if you need to talk. Oh, and don’t be intimidated by Bandit or the others on their team. They’re great men from what Perkins has told me.”

  “Plus, they were the ones to save your life, Cynthia,” Dee pointed out.

  “Let’s not talk about that. I’m finally sleeping well enough to not have to take the sleeping pills.”

  “I bet your men are the best medicine around,” Georgia said then smiled.

  “They sure are.”

  Just then Dugen came up behind Cynthia, wrapped his arm around her waist, and nuzzled against her neck. She giggled, and Maggie could see the love in their eyes. She admired their relationship and wished she could let her guard down and get rid of the fear. But it just didn’t seem possible. Men made her nervous. Big men freaked her out, and getting intimate might never happen. A twenty-three-year-old virgin was what she was. There was no hope for her.

  “Hey, Bandit, so glad you could make it. Are the others here?” Dugen asked, shaking his hand.

  “They’re around,” Bandit said, but his eyes landed on Maggie.

  “Hi, Maggie.”