Chapter 20 #2
Zenko finished what he was doing and crossed the courtyard toward them, automatically quieting his steps as he approached. Shaun was still intent on Max’s screen and didn’t seem to notice him coming, which presented an opportunity Zenko had absolutely no intention of wasting.
He stepped in close behind him and lowered his voice near his ear. “What you doin’, babe?”
Shaun tensed before turning his head enough to glare at him.
“Jesus, Zen. You are even quieter out here than you were back at base. You scared the shit out of me a couple of times in Turkey, but out here you’re fucking ridiculous.”
“Being silent keeps me alive.” Zenko rested his chin on his shoulder and felt him go still for a second when he deliberately let his breath brush the shell of his ear.
Yeah, his guy noticed that. The temptation to see exactly how much further he could push him was fucking strong, but Noble was already raising hell over the MREs, and he had enough sense not to start something he couldn’t finish in the middle of their makeshift TOC. “I’m staying out of the line of fire.”
“Noble’s on a rampage, huh?” Max asked without taking his eyes off the screen.
Zenko felt Shaun shift against him before Max abruptly snatched his hand away from whatever he’d been reaching for beside Shaun’s leg.
Shaun looked down at the movement, then back at Max. “Huh?”
“You’re standing a little too close to me, dude.” Max finally dragged his attention away from the screen and gave Shaun a pointed look. “I don’t want to feel the hard-on you get just because Zenko is pressed up against your ass.”
Zenko bit back a laugh and lowered his mouth closer to Shaun’s ear. “I’m pretty sure Noble doesn’t want him feeling it either.”
It took Shaun a second to catch his meaning, but when he did, his eyes widened before his gaze shot toward Noble and then straight back to Max. He turned his head slightly and raised an eyebrow at Zenko in silent question.
Zenko nodded once. He’d been questioning what he saw on the plane ever since Noble pressed that kiss to the top of Max’s head, but he sure as fuck wasn’t imagining the possessive edge that had been creeping into Noble’s behavior around him.
Shaun’s lips parted slightly as Zenko’s gaze dropped to his mouth, and the temptation sitting right there was too damn good to resist. He leaned in and pressed a quick, smacking kiss to the corner of Shaun’s mouth before forcing himself to pull back.
He straightened before the temptation to kiss Shaun properly overrode what little common sense he had left. They had a mission to prepare for, and unlike fucking MREs, their dive equipment wasn’t something either of them could afford to discover a problem with when they were already underwater.
“We need to check our dive equipment. When you are done playing with Max and his toys, come find me.”
Shaun’s attention lingered on him for another second before he turned back toward Max and Betty. “Sure.”
Later that evening, Zenko sat beside the small fire Noble had allowed them and looked around their makeshift camp.
Everything was in place, their equipment had been checked and double-checked, and the frantic activity from earlier had settled into the familiar lull that came once there was nothing left to do except wait.
Drax and Reese were already out, propping each other up while they snored quietly.
Saxon and Roman had somehow scrounged up a New York Times crossword and were arguing softly over an answer.
Across the fire, Castiel had his headset on and was trying to destroy what remained of his hearing with rock and roll loud enough that Zenko could make out the beat from where he sat.
Zenko stared at him for another few seconds before giving up on the possibility that Castiel might turn it down on his own. “Do you really need to play that shit at that volume, Cass?”
Castiel didn’t even bother pulling the headset off. “It’s cool, man, chill.”
“Jesus Christ.” He shook his head and let it go.
Bitching at Castiel about his music was as much a part of preparing for a mission as Castiel ignoring him.
They all had their routines, little things repeated so many times over the years that nobody questioned them anymore.
He knew damn well none of it could guarantee they would come home, but that had never stopped any of them from doing the same shit before every mission.
Changing something now would feel wrong, and none of them needed that sitting in the back of their heads when they stepped off.
Superstitious bastards.
He glanced across the fire, past where Shaun was sleeping quietly on the ground beside him, and found Noble and Max talking softly together.
Before today, he wouldn’t have given the sight a second thought.
They had been friends and teammates for years, and the two of them talking alone wasn’t exactly headline news.
Except now Zenko found himself watching the space between them and the way Noble angled his body toward Max.
He strained his ears, trying to catch enough of the conversation to figure out whether there was anything there or if his imagination had been fucking with him since the plane.
He’d seen Noble kiss the top of Max’s head.
He was damn near certain of it. Then there had been Noble’s reaction earlier when Shaun got too close to Max.
Yeah, something is definitely going on between them.
How the hell did I miss that?
“Zen?”
Shaun’s sleepy voice immediately pulled his attention away from Noble and Max. He looked down to find him watching him through barely open eyes. “Yeah?”
Shaun shifted slightly on the sleeping mat and tucked an arm beneath his head. “Are you one of these guys who doesn’t sleep before a mission?”
“Nope.” Zenko stretched out beside him, and when Shaun lifted his head without being asked, he slid his arm underneath it.
That small, automatic movement did something warm to his chest. There had been no hesitation from Shaun, no question about whether he intended to sleep beside him.
He’d simply made room for him as if this was already something they did.
He settled closer, wrapped his other arm around Shaun’s waist and linked their fingers together. “I was just thinking is all.”
Shaun relaxed back against him and curled his fingers through Zenko’s. “About?”
Zenko glanced around the camp before lowering his voice.
There wasn’t a chance in hell he was mentioning Noble and Max with half of Red Squadron close enough to hear him breathe.
“I’ll tell you when we are not surrounded by a bunch of earwigging gossips.
” Shaun’s laughter rumbled through his chest and into Zenko where they were pressed together.
He smiled against the back of Shaun’s head and squeezed the fingers threaded through his. “We better get some sleep.”
“Yeah.” Shaun shifted a little closer, settling more comfortably into Zenko’s hold. “Night, Zen.”
“Night, babe.”
Sleep came easier than he expected. One minute he was listening to the quiet sounds of the camp with Shaun warm against his chest, and the next Drax was nudging the sole of his boot and telling him it was time to get his ass up.
The fire had burned down to embers, the sky beyond the ruins was beginning to lighten, and Red Squadron was already moving around them.
Shaun grumbled something decidedly unfriendly when Zenko pulled his arm out from beneath his head, but within minutes they were both on their feet and packing away the sleeping gear while Max checked the latest images Betty had brought back.
By the time the sun cleared the horizon, the ruins looked almost exactly as they had when Red Squadron arrived.
Their sleeping gear had disappeared into packs, the fire pit had been cleared, and everything they needed for the next stage of the operation was loaded into the Jeeps.
Max’s recon had given them enough detail to build a mock-up of Sheridan’s compound and run Zenko and Shaun through the approach until both of them could have walked it blindfolded.
Now there was nothing left to rehearse. Zenko checked his gear one last time before climbing into the rear of the Jeep beside Shaun, leaving the temporary TOC behind as Saxon pointed the vehicle toward Kuwait City.
Beside him in the rear seat, Shaun shifted for what had to be the fourth time since they left the ruins.
Zenko couldn’t blame him. Saxon and Noble had been arguing over the missing MREs for long enough that he was starting to consider reaching between the seats and banging their fucking heads together.
Shaun had gone suspiciously quiet several miles ago and was staring straight ahead with the expression of a man contemplating murder.
Zenko nudged his knee against Shaun’s. “Whatever you’re thinking about doing to shut them up, babe, make sure it doesn’t involve that K-Bar. Blood is a bitch to get out of upholstery.”
Shaun turned his head and stared at him for a second before the corner of his mouth twitched.
“I was going over the pump house, asshole.” He dropped his voice beneath Noble and Saxon’s continuing argument.
“Entry points, room layout, where we use flash-bangs if we don’t know what’s waiting behind a door.
Figured it was safer than listening to those two for another five minutes and deciding Rock won’t mind if I come home with a couple of extra kills on my record. ”