Page 40 of Crucified By the Dark
“Thank you. For letting me take a moment to breathe.”
Jeremy reclaimed her lips and groaned as he pulled away and slowly stood. “If we don’t leave the room now, there is a good chance we won’t for a few more hours.”
“Never heard of a quickie?”
“Not with my cock.”
“Ohhh, I see.”
They broke into laughter, and it felt so damn good to laugh. Even to smile had felt like another lifetime. When was the last time Morry truly let her guard down?
“You ready to face Stephen,” he asked as the laughter died.
“If not now, then when? Let’s do this, and then I need to make a few more calls about Kyle.” She went to step away, but Jeremy wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back into his body.
Bending low, he whispered into her ear. “You never need to be embarrassed in front of me, not ever, no matter what.” He laid his lips over the jumping pulse in her neck and then walked past to open the door.
It amazed her how he managed to soothe the snarly and untameable thing inside her. It was a feat that Andrew had never mastered, but TK always had the same effect.
“Oh hey, we were just coming to see you. What are you doing this far away from the kitchens,” Jeremy asked.
Morry stepped out into the hall, and there he was, TK’s brother. If she wasn’t ready, too bad now. The meeting was forced down her throat. Stephen looked worried or strung out as he wrung his hands together, and his wide eyes darted around. She almost expected him to turn and run. He certainly wouldn’t have been the first to try it, and she was positive he wouldn’t be the last.
“Oh, I…ah, um…I was looking for the washroom, and then I kinda got lost. And then….”
“You thought you might come to this wing and see if you can find where we store the meds. Maybe some oxy, perhaps,” Jeremy asked.
Morry glanced up at Jeremy. Not long ago, he skulked around the halls, looking for a way to escape in more ways than one. Now his eyes were firm but kind, and Jeremy had grown into a man who had found his inner strength. It shone through in everything he did, which was why she would have him take over in a few more years. He was a natural-born leader.
“What? No, no, I wouldn’t. I…” Stephen tried, but by the look on his face, he knew he’d been caught with this hand in the proverbial cookie jar. She knew Stephen was around ten years younger than TK, but he looked barely older than Jeremy.
“Let’s set some ground rules, Stephen,” Morry said.
When Stephen’s eyes found her, he rounded his shoulders and put his hands in his pockets. He looked defeated. It was a look she hated. You would never survive this world if you curled up in a ball and hoped all the bad stuff would disappear.
“So, the first rule of being here is that you don’t lie. Lying gets you punished, and trust me. It’s never something you’ll enjoy. The second rule is that you don’t wander over to the Legion Club House unless you want your clock cleaned and maybe your cock cut off. All the bouncers are professionally trained and would love a reason to eat you alive.” She took a step closer.
“Lastly, and this third rule is very important. We are a no-tolerance facility with stricter rules than the world you left behind. If you’re caught stealing or somehow find a way to get your hands on product, and you take it, then you’d better be prepared for the next ninety-six hours of your life to be worse than if you’d died and were strung up in hell. If you thought the Army was bad, you’d better think again. I’ve thought up worse things than they would ever dare to imagine.” She stepped forward, and Stephen straightened his back, his hands going to his sides. That was a much better posture, and it was good to see that he hadn’t lost the will to fight yet.
“Do I make myself clear, soldier?”
“Ma’am, yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t call me ma’am. It makes me sound like an old lady,” Morry ordered.
Stephen didn’t look much like his brother. He was at least four inches shorter than TK, putting him just a little taller than herself. They both had brown hair, but Stephen’s was a softer color than the dark rich locks his brother had. They had almost identical jawlines, but the biggest difference was the hazel eyes staring back at her. TK had eyes similar to Jeremy's. So blue that it seemed impossible for them to be real, and TK always held every emotion he felt in their depths. He couldn’t hide anything to save his soul and sucked at poker for the same reason. She loved how she could see what he felt when he looked at her.
“Sir, yes, sir,” Stephen said.
She stepped forward and got right up in his face so that their noses were touching. This would’ve seemed aggressive to the outside world, but they were honed and fine-tuned to understand, crave, and need authority. Even though the Army turned its back on her when they returned from the mission that had stolen her soul, she couldn’t help craving orders and hearing someone yell her name. It was stupid things like the random checks of their rooms, making sure that her shit was in order, to wearing a uniform every day that she’d missed.
“Is that all you have, soldier?”
“No, Sir,” he said louder.
She looked over her shoulder, and Jeremy lifted a shoulder, then held his hand up and wiggled it, showing that he thought the effort was okay but not great. “One more chance, soldier. Do you understand me?”
“Sir. Yes, sir.”
