Chapter 5

Sam was trapped. He tried to crawl out from under the door. It was so fucking hot, and his back felt like it was on fire. He looked to his left and saw Richie Berkovitch lying there, staring at him with dead eyes. The back of his head and left side of his body were gone. Bullets continued to impact his body. In a panic, Sam yelled for De La Cruz. She’d been sitting beside him, in the back of the transport. Berkovitch had been in the front. Jesus, she was such a rookie, she wouldn’t know what to do. Where was she? Why couldn’t he get this damn door off his back? He yelled De La Cruz’s name again, but his voice was no more than a hoarse squawk. He tried to get his arms under him to push up against the weight of the door. The pain that shot through his left arm made him scream. With his right arm he reached out for Berkovitch. He grabbed the front of his vest and tried to drag him over, out of the line of fire, calling for De La Cruz the whole time. He heard a woman call out his name. Was it De La Cruz? He still couldn’t see her.

“Sam, wake up,” a man’s voice said. Sam looked around for the person speaking, but couldn’t see him. The voice was so damn familiar.

“Where’s De La Cruz?” he asked. She’d been so fucking scared to go out today, like she’d known something bad was going to happen. But hell, it was Afghanistan. Bad shit went down every damn day.

“She’s not here,” a woman said calmly. “Wake up.”

“You talked to her two days ago, Sam,” the man told him. “She’s fine. Let go of Jane.”

Who the fuck was Jane?

A soft hand smoothed the hair off his forehead. “Sam, everyone is fine,” the woman said. “You can relax now. Let us take care of you. The situation is under control.”

“Berkovitch,” he rasped. “He’s dead.”

“We’ll take care of him, too,” she said calmly. “Wake up and help us take care of him.”

Her voice was familiar, too. Were they medics? Black seeped around the edge of his vision. He couldn’t pass out now. “De La Cruz,” he said again.

“We’ve got her,” the man told him. “She’s fine. She got out.”

That didn’t sound right, but Sam was suddenly so tired. He closed his eyes and let the blackness take him.

“Don’t wake him,” Jane said quietly. “He’s not dreaming anymore.”

King took a deep breath and his shoulders slumped. “Shit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think it would happen, you know? He’s been fine for months. Are you okay?” Sam still had his arm wrapped around her, her back pressed tightly to his front. He’d mumbled something about dragging Berkovitch’s body before he’d grabbed her. King relaxed his hand around Sam’s arm, but he didn’t let go. He’d tried to pry him off of Jane, but the brother was fucking Superman in those dreams.

“I’m fine. He wasn’t trying to hurt me, he was trying to protect me. Or De La Cruz or Berkovitch. I’m not sure which one he imagined I was.”

“Berkovitch.” King wiped the sweat off his upper lip. “A friend of his in his unit who died in the same incident where Sam was hurt.” King had been sleeping in the chair, his feet on the bed, when Sam’s nightmare started. Sam had been so deep in it they couldn’t even wake him. That was some shit in his head.

“And De La Cruz?” Jane asked softly. “Who was she?”

“She was new to the unit,” King explained, slumping in the chair. “Sam sort of took her under his wing, like a little sister, yeah? The day they got hit she was thrown from the transport, behind some fallen building or something and he couldn’t find her. Thought she was dead.”

“Was she?” Jane didn’t sound upset. Just curious. She snuggled back into Sam and pulled his arm tighter around her and Sam began to snore. King smiled and started to take his hand off of Sam’s arm, but Jane put her hand over his, keeping it there. She smiled at him and patted his hand as if telling him to leave it there, so he did.

“No. But she had a pretty serious head injury. She’s got some issues now, like she can’t say what she’s thinking. She can talk, but she can’t articulate what’s in her head. It comes out a little disjointed. She speaks in short sentences, writes some stuff down, but she has trouble with that, too. Gets really frustrated. Sam calls her like four or five times a week.”

“Traumatic brain injury,” Jane said, stroking Sam’s arm. “She has aphasia, not uncommon in brain injuries.”

“Yeah,” King said with a sigh. “She’s a pretty girl, seems nice. It’s sad.”

“She may still recover more of her cognitive abilities,” Jane said. “But then again, she might not. How’s she coping?”

“Pretty well, considering. I think Sam is her rock. And as long as she needs him, Sam holds it together.”

“He hasn’t had a dream in months, you said?” She adjusted the covers over her and Sam. King was ashamed that he was disappointed. This was no time to be copping a look.

“No,” King answered her, looking away. She had been so hot fucking Sam earlier. When Sam had gone down on her she fucking loved it. Came all over his face and King had to recite last season’s statistics not to come with her. King had a bad case of blue balls after watching the two of them. He never thought he’d get off watching Sam with someone else. Just goes to show, right? Try new things. Damn right.

“Well, this is the first time he’s been this close to a woman since then, I assume,” Jane said pragmatically. “I’m sure that I triggered that memory. Not a surprise. I hope it doesn’t scare him off sex. He seems to like it a lot, and it relaxed him.”

“Maybe you need to remind him why he shouldn’t give it up,” King suggested, trying, and failing, not to sound too hopeful. Jane laughed.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not leaving without one more round. It’s been a long dry spell for me, too.”

Sam woke up slowly, feeling groggy and disoriented. He squeezed the warm, plump flesh in his hand and a woman moaned. Was he in bed with someone? The events of the night before tumbled through his mind, a little out of order, but he got the picture. “Jane.”

“Mmm,” she hummed, placing a hand over his on her breast. “You’re awake.” She snuggled back against him, wiggling her hips against his morning wood. “All over.”

Sam laughed. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“I’m not,” she purred like a sex kitten, rolling over in his arms to press her breasts against his chest. She threw her leg over his hip and he could feel her wet pussy hump his thigh. “How do you feel about morning sex?”

“The same way I feel about night sex,” Sam said. “Bring it on.”

“Sweet,” she said happily. “I’m going to ride you like a cowgirl.”

“Yee haw,” he said, earning another laugh. Jane pushed him onto his back and shoved the covers back. She leaned over and bit his nipple and he yelped playfully.

“God, I’m so wet,” Jane said, climbing on top of him. “Even asleep you make me horny.”

“Is that a good thing?” Sam asked, getting a grip on her hips. A movement by the bed caught his eye and Sam glanced over in alarm to see King sitting on a chair right next to them. “Why are you…” he began. The look on King’s face was answer enough to the unspoken question. “Oh, shit,” he said, his heart pounding. “I had another nightmare, didn’t I?” He began running his hands over Jane, checking for bumps and bruises. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

She slapped his hands away. “No, you didn’t hurt me. Just the opposite. You tried to save me, which consisted of smashing our naked bodies together and holding me tightly, so it’s all good.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Sam asked King sharply, angry at King for getting him involved in the whole situation in the first place. “I knew this was a bad idea.” He began to look all over for the picture. Had he damaged it? Lost it?

“We tried,” King said simply. “We couldn’t wake you.” He put a hand on Sam’s shoulder, forcing Sam to look at him. “It’s in your pocket. We never took it out.” Sam’s heartbeat slowed down and he took a deep breath.

Jane bounced on top of him. “Hey, still here. And this was not a bad idea.” She leaned over and took his face in both her hands, forcing him to look her in the eyes. “No lie, this has been the best night of my life. So far.” She shrugged. “I’m young. But seriously: Best. Sex. Ever. So, no regrets. I’m fine. You’re fine. Let’s do it again.”

“Yeah?” Sam said sarcastically, trying to gently jostle her off and failing. “And what if I go crazy again?”

“First of all, you didn’t go crazy,” Jane said, clearly getting exasperated. “You had a nightmare about a traumatic event in your past. Totally understandable. I’m a woman,” she said and pointed to herself. “And there’s a woman in your dream. She’s an important part of the dream. If you spent more time around women, then being close to one might not trigger the memory. You ever think of that? Also, a few softly spoken words, a brush of my hand”—she demonstrated by brushing a lock of hair off his forehead—“and you were fine. Okay? And King was here. He was right here by our side, he helped to calm you down—”

“No brushing of hands,” King said, holding his hands up in the air defensively.

“Good,” Sam said drily.

“And he’s right here now,” Jane went on as if they hadn’t spoken. “He’s going to watch very closely to make sure nothing goes wrong. Right, King?” Her tone was sly and flirty and Sam’s heart kicked up a notch. Did she know he’d liked it when King watched them last night? Whoa. Did he just admit that he actually liked the idea of King watching him fuck? He was so fucked-up. Seriously.

“Very closely,” King agreed with a wink. “It’s hot. And, you know, the safety issue.”

Sam coughed to cover his laughter. “I don’t know, man. I don’t know if I can do it with you so close,” he lied. Jane cupped his face again and pointed his gaze at her boobs.

“Just focus right there,” she said. She moved his gaze down to her pussy as she rubbed it against his stomach. Damn, she was wet. “Or right there. Let me do all the work.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. She gave a little shiver with a secret little smile and Sam was so turned on his dick stood at attention.

“Now, King,” she said, her voice all husky and flirty, “you better look over here, too. You know, the safety issue.” She leaned over and grabbed the condom that King was holding out helpfully. “Maybe you need to be a little closer.”

“Yes, ma’am,” King said, and she shivered again, never losing that sexy smile. King scooted his chair so close to the bed his knees were pressed against it. Knowing that King was watching Sam’s dick as he fucked Jane made Sam shiver with awareness, too.

“No foreplay?” Sam asked.

“Been there, done that, just want to fuck,” Jane said merrily, as she slid the condom down his dick.

“Um, okay,” Sam said, wondering if all women were like this or if he’d just gotten really, really lucky last night. Luckier than he’d ever dreamed, anyway.

Jane didn’t waste any time climbing on board. When she slid her wet cunt down on him he moaned and arched his back. “That feels just as amazing as the first time I was in here,” he told her, gripping her hips tightly. Last night she’d liked that a lot. He’d been worried about leaving bruises, but she didn’t seem to give a damn.

“Tell me about it, stud,” she purred, grinding her hips in a slow circle. “Just an FYI. I am not going to last long.” She turned to King. “Hey, come closer,” she said. Sam wondered what she needed, and King had a concerned look on his face.

“Is something wrong?” King asked, leaning toward her. She reached out and stroked a hand down his hair and then wrapped it around her fist.

“Yeah,” she said, tugging his hair, pulling him so close Sam thought she was going to kiss him. He wanted her to kiss him. “You’re still too far away.”

The sight of her holding King prisoner by his hair like that while she rode him kicked Sam’s arousal up to eleven. He thrust up into her hard, making her buck against him.

“Hey,” she said with a laugh.

“You said you wanted to ride me like a cowgirl,” Sam said breathlessly. “You’ve got a hold of the reins. So ride me.”

“I didn’t know I was going to get to watch this closely,” King said, laughter in his voice as he grabbed Jane’s wrist. Jane didn’t pull away, but she didn’t let go of his hair either. She flexed her thighs and pulled up along Sam’s dick and then slid down with a trembling sigh.

“Help me, King,” she said, dropping her head back on her shoulders with her eyes shut. “Don’t let me fall.”

King glanced down at Sam, his cheeks pink. He’s blushing, Sam thought. He likes it, but he’s a little out of his zone, just like me. “Do it,” Sam said, thrusting up hard again. “This is about to get wild.”

King gingerly wrapped his arm around Jane’s waist. He was so close he was almost on the bed. Jane hummed and smiled. The smile was smug and so full of feminine satisfaction that Sam felt a completely inappropriate sense of pride at making her so happy. His head was seriously fucked-up, all right. What guy felt like that because the woman riding him was turned on by his best friend? Who, incidentally, was close enough that Sam figured this would count as a threesome in anyone’s book.

Jane started to ride him hard, grinding on him, giving little gasps and short, sharp cries of pleasure every time she pushed onto him. He got her rhythm, learned the places she wanted him to be, to rub, to press against. He gave her everything she wanted, as much as he could, anyway. She was pushing his limits, taking him places he’d never gone in a fuck before. Hell, what little sex he’d had in his life couldn’t even compare to the last twelve hours with Jane.

Jane lifted one hand off Sam’s stomach, where she’d braced herself, and cupped her breast, squeezing it roughly. It threw off her rhythm and she groaned in frustration. Sam was holding her hips, helping her move on him, and he was afraid if he let go they’d have to slow down and he damn sure didn’t want to do that. He wanted to fuck hard. “King,” he said. Jane ground the head of his dick somewhere sweet inside and he bit his lip to keep from coming. “Tits,” he gasped.

King knew what he meant. He reached out and pushed Jane’s hand away. Then he cupped her breast and squeezed like she’d been doing. He pinched her nipple between his big fingers and she arched her back.

“Oh, yeah,” she moaned. “Yeah.” She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pushed his head down. “Mouth,” was all she said. She drove her hips against Sam and all he could do was nod at King’s look. King leaned over and licked her neck, then slid his mouth down and sucked in the nipple he’d been pinching.

“Fuck, yeah,” Sam said, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight. King’s dark skin and hair against Jane’s pale breast was so fucking hot. Sam was panting, and he used his hands to force Jane’s hips to stay still so he could just fuck her hard and fast. She was moaning nonstop and then Sam felt her come. She grabbed a fistful of King’s hair again and held on as she gave the same high-pitched screech she’d made the night before.

“She’s choking my dick, she’s coming so hard,” Sam panted.

King wrapped his arm tighter around her and pinched her other nipple with that hand while he kept sucking the other. Jane cried out and Sam felt her pussy clenching again. He couldn’t last any longer and rammed his dick home as he felt the heat of his orgasm rush through him. He bit his lip and moaned, grinding up into her, King in between them.