Page 40 of Over the Top

Eventually, Gunner mumbled, “I’m crushing you.”

“It’s okay. I like being a pancake.”

Gunner rolled off him but looped a lazy arm around Chas’s shoulder and dragged him against his side. Chas rested, replete, with his head on Gunner’s shoulder.

They lay together like that in silence for a long time, basking in the afterglow, catching their respective breaths, and processing what had just happened.

Finally, Chas ventured to ask, “Did you like it?”

“What do you think?” Gunner asked.

“I think you’ve been missing out your whole life and are just now realizing how much you’ve got to make up for.”

Gunner’s chest vibrated with a silent chuckle. “Just gotta rub it in, don’t you?”

“I would never dream of saying I told you so.”

The chuckle became audible. “Jerk.”

“Double jerk,” he replied affectionately. “Wait till you take me from behind. You’ll be able to fuck me even deeper and harder that way.”

“I like looking at your face,” Gunner objected.

“I like looking at you too. But don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”

Gunner grinned. “I’ll take you up on the offer. But right now, duty calls. I need to get outside and make sure nobody has followed us.”

Chas groaned in protest as Gunner rolled out from under him and headed for the bathroom. He sprawled lazily on his stomach, loving how thoroughly fucked he felt. “What will you do if you find someone out there?”

“Depends on how many and how well armed they are. Fight if I can beat ’em, run if I can’t.”

“I hate running,” Chas replied lazily.

“Don’t fall asleep without getting dressed. And leave your shoes beside the bed. If we need to bug out, I’ll need you to move fast.”

“Buzzkill. You’re supposed to tell me how much you liked fucking me and that you hope you can do it again.”

Gunner strode into the bedroom, fully dressed, bent down, and pressed his lips to Chas’s ear. “Ilovedfucking you, and Iamgoing to do it again.”

Chapter Ten

GUNNER FELTtoo damned exuberant to just sit in the living room of the tiny cabin, so he decided to run a little patrol. He preferred being outside over being cooped up behind walls in general, and he loved a brisk night like tonight, with a million stars dusting the sky and his breath hanging in the air in puffs of exhaled fog.

It was a little after 2:00 a.m. when he heard a faint whirring noise. Startled, he looked up at the sky. It almost sounded like a—

He swore as the whirring became the distinctive buzz of a drone. It was the middle of the freaking night. No amateur was out here flying a drone for grins and giggles.

Gunner took off running down the hill toward the cabin, dodging among the trees, which weren’t giving him shit for cover after most of the leaves had come down in yesterday’s wind storm.

He thought fast as he ran grimly.

He could shoot the drone down, maybe. Bad guys might have a second one to launch. But if nothing else, it would take them a few minutes to put a second drone in the air. Range on a small military drone could run to something like fifteen kilometers, so the hostiles weren’t necessarily on top of them.

But the drone explained how they’d caught up with the three of them. It also meant these assholes were no garden-variety thugs. These guys had training, skills, and smarts. And yet again, they’d caught him flat-footed.

The noise got louder as he approached the cabin. Fuckers were hovering over it, checking it out. The drone was only about fifty feet up. He paused just inside the trees and drew his pistol. He would much rather have a rifle for making this shot, but when he’d bolted from that hospital room, he hadn’t had time to grab his field kit out of his equipment locker. He had only the handgun Rafael had given him as he got off the jet in Misty Falls.

He found a tree branch about shoulder high and rested his wrists on it as he lined up the shot. He would get one chance at taking the drone out before its pilot fled the area.

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