Operation Mustang [The Service Club 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (16 page)

“Op?” Gunner repeated.

“We’ve been on a mission for the better part of our lives to claim Mustang as our woman. I don’t know about you, but it’s sure felt like the toughest op we’ve ever been assigned. Hell, we even had to enlist a civilian to get this far.”

Lucky grinned, enjoying his brother’s play on words. “I take it I’m that civilian.”

Diek nodded. “That’s an affirmative.”

“And, if I’m following you right, you’re thinking that civilian should be the one finish the mission,” Gunner said.

“No, I’m thinking you should.”

Lucky couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever seen his youngest brother look so surprised.

Gunner straightened. His attention bounced from Diek to Lucky and back again. “We are talking about the same thing here, right?”

“Putting a ring on Mustang’s finger.” They already had the ring, a four-carat diamond set in a silver band that had been handed down in the Rylon family for generations.

Gunner leveled his gaze on Lucky. “I always figured you would be the one to marry her.”

Lucky shrugged. For a long time, he’d expected them to agree that Diek should be Mustang’s legal husband. It had simply seemed right, seeing as Diek was the oldest of the three. He knew what Diek was thinking, though. Gunner was still an active-duty SEAL. He could provide Mustang with benefits Diek and Lucky couldn’t. But, more importantly, marrying him might offer her a security for all those days, weeks, months that he could be gone.

“If I had my way, we would all marry her,” Lucky said. “But that’ll never fly with the legal system in this country.”

“It doesn’t matter whose name goes down on the paperwork. We’ll all be her husband. We’ll know it and so will she.” Diek turned to Gunner, and his lips twitched. “You aren’t afraid of the commitment, are you, little brother?”

“Hell, no. I’ve been as committed to that woman as the two of you for just as long.” Gunner shrugged. “If we all agree I’m the one who’s going to marry her, I’ll be more than happy to get all doodied up in a monkey suit for a few hours and tie the knot.” He hesitated and winced. “You don’t think she’s going to make me get down on one knee to propose and all that?”

Diek badly disguised a laugh with a cough. “I’d almost stake my life on it. Mustang might be a tomboy, but she’s still a woman.”

Gunner shot him a look. “Very funny.”

Lucky glanced at his wristwatch. “If we’re done yabbering now, we do need to get to the house. The rest of the club is likely already at the pond by now.”

“Are we sure she’s ready for tonight?” Gunner asked, leading the way as they started walking out of the barn.

“Are you thinking she’s not?” Diek asked, following close behind Gunner.

“I’m thinking we’ve fought a long battle with this woman and we’ve finally got her where we want her. Still, I don’t want to push her into anything she isn’t ready for yet.”

“You really doubt that she’ll make it clear if we push her beyond any limit she has?” Lucky didn’t doubt it for a second. She may have surrendered, may have even agreed she belonged to them, but deep down they all knew the control she really possessed.

“Good point,” Gunner conceded. “I just—” He broke off as the low sound of a gunshot split the air.

Lucky stopped short. His mind registered the sound, caught the direction from which it came. “The house. Son of a bitch.”

All three men broke into a dead run for the back door. Lucky saw Diek snag the rifle he kept near the barn door on the way out. Lucky grabbed for his cell phone and hit the speed dial for Justin Bryan. The man picked up on the second ring as Lucky reached the house.

“Bryan.”

“You and Ben at the pond yet?”

“Yeah, along with the rest of the club sans you guys. What’s—”

“Get your asses to the main house.” Lucky cut him off. “We’ve got trouble.”

* * * *

The air whooshed from Mustang’s lungs as she went down. She rolled with the momentum, landing on top of Thomas, her hand gripping the barrel of the gun for dear life. She straddled him, channeled every ounce of her strength into her hand, and attempted to pin his arm to the floor. But her strength was no match for his. He fought her, singlehandedly pushing her back. She toppled over, hitting the floor with a thud that had her seeing actual stars as he changed their position and pinned her to the floor, rendering her unable to move.

“Stop it!” he screamed at her, spit flying into her face. He slapped her with his free hand, and more stars exploded in her vision.

She didn’t listen. She flailed beneath him and attempted to buck him off her even as she tried to gain control of the gun. The sound of the next bullet locking into place as he cocked it and aimed it unsteadily at her head made her freeze.

“I told you not to do it. I fucking told you!” Tears streamed down his cheeks as venom spewed from his words and madness darkened his eyes.

This is it. He’s going to kill me.
She’d heard tales that people’s lives flashed before their eyes when they knew they were about to die, but all she saw was Thomas glaring down at her with hate-filled, purely demonic eyes.

“Why did you do it?” He hung his head. Tears dripped from the tip of his nose onto her chest. “Why did you do it? Why?” He shook her hard enough to rattle her brain in her skull. “You’re crazy!”

Well, now wasn’t that the pot calling the kettle. “Let go of me.” She panted the words as each breath came in a ragged burst of exhaustion and fear.

“You shouldn’t have pushed me, Hot Rod. You should’ve listened to me. You should’ve made them stay away.”

Mustang shook her head. “I love them, and if that means I’m going to die for that choice, then so be it. Go ahead, Thomas. Pull the trigger. Then you better turn that gun on yourself, because when the Rylon brothers get hold of you, you’re going to wish you were dead.”

“Damn right he will. Put down the gun.”

Thomas startled at the sound of Diek’s calm, steady voice behind him. With her hand still closed around his wrist holding the gun, she felt the gun waver at her head. She felt the slack come into his grip and knew this would likely be her last chance for freedom. She pushed up and aimed the gun away from her head as she bucked her lower body. Her moves caught him off guard. He grunted. His wild gaze returned to her as Gunner and Lucky rushed in at his back. Lucky gained possession of the gun as they yanked him off her. He wrenched Thomas’s arms behind his back hard enough to make him cry out in pain.

“Are you okay?” Gunner gathered her into his arms and checked her for injuries even as he brushed his lips to her forehead.

“No she’s not okay,” Lucky snapped through gritted teeth. “Look what this bastard did to her face.”

“Diek, put the gun down, man.”

Mustang lifted her head from where she’d let it rest on Gunner’s chest and saw Diek standing just inside the room, a rifle cocked, loaded, and aimed at Thomas. Justin stood next to him in full cop uniform, one hand on Diek’s shoulder and the other reaching for the rifle.

“Lucky’s not letting him go,” Justin said easily, calmly. “Give me the rifle.”

For several heartbeats, Mustang feared Diek wasn’t listening. She saw the rage in his eyes, the utter intent to kill, and knew it was going to take more than soft words from Justin to tamp down his warrior instinct.

“It’s not worth it, Diek.” His gaze shifted to her as she got to her feet, but his aim with the gun didn’t waver. “Justin and Ben are cops. Let them take it from here. I need you with me.”

“Get that fucker out of here.” Diek lowered the rifle, but didn’t put it down. Ben moved past him, pulling a set of cuffs from his belt as he reached Thomas.

“I tried to save her,” Thomas muttered as Justin and Ben took him from Lucky and snapped the cuffs on his wrists. “I tried to save Marissa, too, but you bastards already tainted both of them.”

“You did what?” Justin yanked Thomas around, fury and disbelief fighting for paramount expression on his face.

“He was behind it all,” Mustang told them as her men surrounded her. Diek snaked an arm around her waist, and she cuddled against him. She felt him quivering from the rage he barely kept contained.

“Bet you wish you’d let me kill him now,” Diek said.

Ben shook his head as he met Diek’s gaze. “The law will take care of him.”

Mustang listened halfheartedly as Justin read Thomas his rights. She turned her attention away, unable to look at him a second longer. “I need to find Chester,” she told Lucky, Gunner, and Diek. “He needs to know what’s happened.”

“We’ll find him on our way out,” Ben said. “He may want to follow us to the station.”

Mustang nodded, her heart already breaking for the older man.

“The rest of the club followed us,” Justin said. “I think they’re downstairs in your living room. We’ll ask them to leave, but would you watch after Marissa until we can get back to get her?”

Lucky nodded. “She’ll be safe with us.”

“Don’t ask anyone to leave.” Mustang realized what she wanted now more than anything was to be surrounded by friends. “I’ll need a minute to—” Get dressed, she started to say, but an excited heat spread through her system at the thought of staying in her robe, of how she could turn this horrid night into something far better. “Freshen up,” she said instead. “Then I’ll be down.”

Diek squeezed her waist. “Are you sure?”

She gazed up at him, into the eyes of the man who had been ready to kill for her, and everything in her world felt absolutely right for the very first time. “I’m positive.”

Gunner slid a hand down the back of her shoulder. “Do you want us to stay up here with you?”

“No, you guys go ahead down. I just need a minute.”

Lucky leaned in and kissed her lips. “Take all the time you need.”

* * * *

The Service Club was more than a group of men and women who shared the same sexual tastes. They were friends, first and foremost. Diek had always known that, always felt the same closeness to them as he had with his SEAL team. He and Gunner sat on the sofa with Mustang between them. Lucky stood chatting with Austin Roscoe, Tyler Moses, Gavin Scott, Georgia Cooper Scott, and Randy Pope by the fireplace. Others were scattered about the room conversing and laughing about who knew what.

Diek looked around the living room, at the men and women gathered now not because of a club meeting, but because his woman had needed them. He knew he might not be a SEAL any longer, but he was still a member of one hell of a family.

“Drink this. It will help.” Marissa Schultz handed Mustang a snifter of brandy and giggled girlishly when Mustang wrinkled her nose. “I’m not crazy about the stuff either, but it’s not so bad if you sip it.”

Mustang took a sip, gave a little shudder, and took another sip. “You’re right. The burn feels good if nothing else. Good medicine.”

Marissa grinned. “That’s what my grandmother always said.”

“You’re not mad at me. I’m surprised.”

Diek suppressed a grin of his own.
That’s my girl
. Leave it to Mustang to say precisely what was on her mind.

Marissa moved to a nearby chair and folded a leg beneath her as she sat down. “You shouldn’t be.” The grin on her angelic face turned to one of pure wickedness. “If you’d been there to see the things my men did for me when they got home after leaving here the other day, you wouldn’t be.”

Mustang laughed, and the sound was like music to Diek’s ears after everything she’d been through tonight. “Then maybe I should say I’m glad I could help.”

“Honey, you can send Ben and Justin home to me that way any time.” Marissa’s gaze slid to Diek and saw the memory of him and her in the city hall elevator flash through her eyes. “Of course, if you ever want to include me in the fun, I’m game for that, too.”

“You’ve come a long way,” Diek commented, remembering how Marissa had once shied away from her desires after being taught to believe the things she wanted were sinful and disgusting.

Mustang turned, met his gaze, and cupped the side of his face. “We both have.” She smiled before shifting her attention back to Marissa. “And I’m game for that, as well.”

Hoo-yah!
Diek’s cock flexed in his jeans, and he wondered just how far these women would go. No doubt about it, they’d put on a hell of a show.

“Hell, we’re all game. Promise me we get to watch.” Austin Roscoe stood by the fireplace with his own snifter of brandy. He set the glass down on the mantle and rubbed his hands together, a devious smile tilting his lips that made everyone laugh.

“Glad to see you nuts are in good spirits.”

All laughter died as Justin and Ben entered the room. Marissa stood, let Justin take her seat, and folded herself in his lap.

Ben perched on the arm of Marissa’s chair. “At least they were until we got here.”

Mustang sat up straighter. Her gaze locked on Ben. “What happened?”

“He’s been booked, charged with arson and attempted murder, and will be held in the city jail until his arraignment.”

“Chester stayed at the station,” Justin added. “He said to tell you he’ll be back sometime tomorrow.”