37. Roman
CHAPTER 37
ROMAN
Since Carson came to Landstuhl, I’d been working days, going home to see Margot, and then sneaking back into his room after putting her to bed. Tonight was no different. Only when I walked into Carson’s room, I nearly swallowed my tongue.
As was the norm, his teammates were there. Only they weren’t in hospital garb like they normally were. Instead, they wore jeans and a variety of Navy t-shirts. Where the clothes came from, I didn’t know, but holy smoke show. The eye candy would make Willy Wonka jealous.
“Am I interrupting?” I asked.
Foster smiled and shook his head. “Nah, doc. We were just saying auf Wiedersehen. We’re on the next flight across the pond.”
A quick glance at Carson told me he wasn’t happy. About what, I wasn’t sure, but the easy guess was he didn’t like being left behind. I didn’t know what to do.
“Carson will be following you soon.”
“Not soon enough,” Carson grumbled.
I tried not to take it personally. I really did, but I couldn’t help but feel the bite of his words. We’d just stepped into… whatever we were labeling this thing between us.
“Awww, the baby ensign is gonna miss us,” Finlay joked as he tousled Carson’s hair.
Carson smacked his hand away. “Fuck off.”
“All joking aside, Carson, do you need us to check on anything for you?”
He shook his head, waving around a cell phone. “No. Adam’s been taking care of the place.”
“Good. He needs something to keep him from going stir-crazy. There’s only so much they’ve released him to do.”
A knock sounded at the door before a nurse popped her head into the room. “Buses just pulled in to take you to the airfield.”
Carson sat up on the side of his hospital bed, and Finlay and Alex bro hugged him before moving out of the room. “We’ll see you down there, LT.”
Foster moved to Carson, holding his hand out. Carson looked down at it, then back to Foster’s face, confusion written across his features.
“Admiral Holt asked me to thank you, and to tell you the entire Holt family is in your debt.”
“What for?”
“You kept your head and got Celeste out of the chopper and to safety before it blew, despite a broken leg. You found us shelter and water, then protected us all.”
“I just did my job.”
“We’d all be dead if you hadn’t ferreted out that spot. It gave us a chance to regroup and strategize. Plus, you made sure the guys we lost got back to their families.”
Carson opened his mouth.
“Don’t argue with me. That’s an order. And so is this: let us know when you’re headed home, and we’ll have someone waiting for you when you land.”
Carson nodded, saying, “Yes, sir. About the other thing…”
“I’ll keep you updated. I hate to think…” Foster side-eyed me, then stopped.
“Same. I’ll let you know if I think of anything else.”
Foster nodded and gripped Carson’s shoulder before turning to me, his hand outstretched a second time. “Captain Ott, thank you for everything. The team is indebted to you.”
“Like Carson said…”
“Don’t pull that with me. I can’t issue you an order like I did him, so please just accept our thanks. Hopefully, the next time we meet, it’s not here in Germany, with part of the team busted up.”
“You’re welcome, Captain Holt.”
Foster nodded at me and left the room with a wave. The door closed behind him with a soft snick, and I looked back at Carson. He pushed to his feet with the crutch next to the bed. As much as I wanted to rush to his aid, I held myself still. I learned early on that he would push me away if he thought I was attempting to coddle or do for him.
“Move the crutch to the other arm.”
His jaw popped as he gritted his teeth before looking up at me. It was clear as day how he felt about even that little bit of coaching. He could suck it. I refused to let him hurt himself by doing it wrong.
He moved the crutch and asked, “Happy?”
I nodded, and he moved toward me slowly, careful to keep as much weight off his leg as possible. A wince pinched his face, so I knew he had to be in pain, but I didn’t say anything. He’d refused meds since the first day, and I knew better than to offer. He’d taken off the head of two doctors and as many nurses for doing the same.
As he reached me, he stopped and gave me a small smile before lifting his chin. I pressed my lips to his, and they opened for me immediately. I loved the feeling of his lips against mine. I wrapped my arm around him.
The urge to pinch myself rose within whenever we kissed. Disbelief that this was my reality now filled my every waking moment. And some of the non-waking ones, too.
“Sorry I didn’t greet you when you first got here,” he whispered when we parted to catch our breath.
“No worries. You had visitors.”
“They know.”
I nodded. I figured that one out myself. I didn’t care. Not with the way the team rallied around Adam and Brock. If they didn’t have an issue with them, I didn’t think they’d give a damn about Carson and me. And if they did, we’d have to deal with the fallout. I refused to let fear of the consequences keep me from loving this man.
“I didn’t mean to out you…”
“I’m not angry with you. Your team is amazingly accepting. I remember when Adam was here last year. They kept a close watch on that room. To give them privacy, I assume?”
Carson nodded. “Yeah, we wanted to make sure they had time to reconnect. They’d had a rift not long before that op, and then Adam nearly died in Brock’s arms when we rescued him. We wanted them to work their shit out.”
“It was very nice of them.”
“We’re brothers. We protect each other with our lives.”
“I’ve figured that out, too. I’ve never had that, really. You and your brothers were the closest I’ve ever come to that.”
“We missed you when you left for school.”
“I missed all of you, as well.”
“Don’t disappear on me again, doc.”
“No chance. Now, what was the crypticness between you and Foster.”
Carson stared at me, not saying anything, and I sighed. “You can’t say.”
He shook his head, still not saying anything. “No. I don’t know what we’re doing here or where this is going, but even if we’re just friends, you need to know there will be things we can’t talk about. Not ever.”
“I know. I’ve always been a busy-body. You know that.”
Carson burst out laughing, snorting as he said, “Oh, I know. You are worse than my mamaw ever thought about being. At least you’re self-aware enough to admit it.”
“Fuck you. Your grandmother was way worse.”
The laughing hyena faded away, burned out by the fire that ignited in his eyes. The switch was abrupt and hot as hell when followed by a slow blink. His eyes dropped to look between us, then meandered their way back to my mouth. He licked his lips, leaving them shiny and wet.
“Yes, please.”
My dick filled in an instant from soft as a pillow to hard as a jackhammer with nothing more than a damn look. Had we been anywhere else, anywhere that would have given me a modicum of privacy, I’d have been balls deep faster than a jackrabbit.
Instead, I cleared my throat and stepped away from him. Closing my eyes, I tried to rein in the thoughts. There was no hope of that because an orgy of us played in my head.
Visions of taking him filled my head, flashing past so fast it left me dizzy. One after another, they played like an old-time movie projector set at twice the normal speed. The images were a cornucopia of porn. The volume turned up high, echoing as the sounds of us bounced around inside my skull.
Blowing him.
Eating his ass.
Watching him bounce on my dick.
Bending him over.
Tossing him on his back.
Throwing him on the floor.
Shoving his face down and holding it there while I reamed his ass.
And in every one, I fucked his virgin ass raw and bred him like a fucking animal.
Shaking my head, I growled, “You’re a fucking menace.”
“Just call me Dennis.”
He had the audacity to smirk at me.
To hell with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
To hell with the military and decorum and everything else.
I had to have him.