Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

Mark

O ur shift had come to an end, but like most nights we stuck around after getting changed into our physical training uniform. Besides working out, there wasn't exactly a lot to do, so we usually stayed around our office.

Artie and Santos had set up a fire pit outside. It worked out quite well, close enough to be near the radios, but still with some freedom to hang outside and bullshit. Even when off duty, you were still somewhat on duty. They might be in their work out uniform, but if something kicked off they would still rush to the radios and aircraft, helping the other crews launch as quickly as possible. Once Santos got the night shift mechanics squared away he usually joined us. Ty, the Green Beret communications guy, was out here with us as well; you could usually count on him and a few of his team hanging out when they weren't on mission.

To everyone's surprise, and to my secret delight, the MED team decided to be social and had joined us around the fire. It had been a few days since the last mission, our first mission with Jen. Things had calmed down since then. Artie had invited them over under the pretense of everyone ‘getting to know each other', but really he was tormenting me. Bastard. My guys were well aware of my attraction to Jen and they were getting a kick out of watching me try to keep my cool around her.

"Captain, nice to see you out of your office. Sit, join us." I motioned to the chairs next to me. "Where's Nathan?"

"Thanks," she said, taking the seat next to me. Karolyn took a seat on the other side of the fire pit, directly across from me. " Nick is back in the office."

That figured. I wouldn't come down here if I were him either. Besides, it meant I almost had Jen all to myself. This was the first time since she had arrived that I had seen her in PT's. The Army physical training uniform was not typically flattering. Oversized baggy shorts and a plain T-shirt. Yet I could see enough of her long, toned legs that it had me shifting in my seat to hide my growing erection.

I wanted to move closer to see if the freckles on her neck went all the way down her body. The light from the fire wasn't bright enough to tell. I thought about grabbing her by the leg so I could move in for a closer inspection, but that would probably end badly. Her hair was in a simple ponytail, longer than I thought it would be. Whenever she turned her head the scent of her shampoo would drift toward me. It was maddeningly delicious. Even through the unflattering Army T-shirt I could see her breasts were perky. I did my best not to stare. Well, I did my best to stare without anyone noticing.

Karolyn seemed to be trying to get me to stare. Her shirt was one size too small, making her breasts appear enormous. She had managed to roll up her shorts so that more thigh showed. It was an obvious attempt for attention. I couldn't care less, except for the fact that I knew if I ignored this for too long it would somehow become my problem. I would deal with her later. Tonight, I wanted to give my full attention to Jen.

"Do you guys do this often?" Jen asked.

"As often as we can. So long as there's no late missions going on. Usually the night crew joins us, but they're planning tomorrow's mission. Artie and I were just trading stories from past deployments."

"I thought you guys deployed together?"

"Same deployment time, different locations," Artie said.

She turned her head to look at him when he spoke. I caught another blast of her scent. Today it was some kind of fruit mix, probably kiwi coconut shampoo or some shit. One thing about being in a combat zone, typically all you ever smelled was dust and sweat. A woman's shampoo was always a welcomed scent, and far sexier than any perfume.

This is going to make for a long night if she insists on torturing me like this .

"What about you, this is your first, right?" I asked her. I knew it was, I just wanted her attention back on me. There'd been a lot of friction between us since she arrived and unfortunately not all of it had been sexual.

I was glad she'd decided to join us. I wouldn't admit it out loud, but I wanted to spend time around her. Spend time with her. Time where one or both of us wasn't pissed off. She was an itch beneath my skin and I found myself looking around, trying to catch a glimpse of her, as we hurried about our days. I wanted—needed—to get to know this woman. That wasn't typical of me at all. I hadn't had a relationship in a long time. Certainly never while on deployment.

Deploying was hard on marriages and it'd caused mine to crumble despite how hard I'd worked to keep it. Yet, here Jen was with her alluring face, gorgeous body, and a chip on her shoulder that made me want to get under her skin as much as she'd burrowed into mine. I didn't want there to be animosity between us, though, which was going to be challenging since there usually was between our two communities. Plus, we'd already been butting heads. I was hoping to put all that to rest and start over.

"This is my first," she confirmed, and I couldn't keep my thoughts from shifting to something else due to her phrasing. I placed my arm casually over my lap to hide the way my cock jerked.

I..." She brushed the loose wisps of hair framing her face back nervously before continuing. "I've been transferred to new bases a little more than usual. I keep arriving at units that are already deployed, then get transferred again before the unit redeploys."

Ah...a clue about the chip on her shoulder. This wasn't unheard of. Units deployed on a three-year cycle. New pilots would arrive while the unit was deployed, but typically would be stationed there at least long enough to catch the next deployment. For her to have missed those deployments wasn't her fault, but it's hard to be a Captain with no combat experience. It was worse than being a woman in an all boys club, though with as many women around, you could hardly say that about aviation these days. No wonder she was so defensive. Most soldiers didn't respect commanders who hadn't deployed.

"Well you made it, even if a little delayed. We're glad to have you here," I told her. She smiled at that, which caused me to return the grin.

"This is my first deployment, too." I looked over to Karolyn. Her bright eyes were locked on me. She was clearly trying to catch my attention. She folded her arms under her breasts, and yes, she was pushing up on them.

Why can't I have a nice moment with the lady captain? For the first time since her arrival she isn't being icy and stiff. In fact, she's being friendly and open and now I have to deal with this…child…throwing herself at me. Right in front of Jen. I knew somehow I was going to be blamed for this.

"Is it everything you thought it would be?" I asked, looking above her. I scratched my neck and tried to bring my eyes down to the fire. I looked anywhere but at her. I didn't care if she thought I didn't like her. I just didn't want her thinking I did like her. Nothing good would come of that.

"Oh it's definitely more than I hoped for." I could feel her gaze boring into me.

Looking at Walker, I tried desperately to change the subject. "You said you were stationed out of Texas, right?"

Her eyes narrowed in an attempt to cover a thin smile. She knew. Not that it wasn't obvious, but she knew the game Karolyn was playing, and she could see I wasn't interested. And she found it amusing. She was testing me.

"Yes, we're out of Texas. Fort Hood," Karolyn chimed in. Walker just kept her amused look, daring me to answer Karolyn and look her in the chest.

Evil woman . There is a mischievous side to you. Game on.

I couldn't wait to see where this was going to lead. I was old enough to read between the lines. I knew better than to deny myself when I was this attracted to a woman. So, I'd pursue her and see if she was as into me as I was her. If not, I'd make her feel the same. Deep down, I knew Jen could sense this pull between us as strongly as I did.

She must have had enough of the games; her face got suddenly serious. Turning to me she wrung her hands as though she was nervous. "So…what's the deal with you guys and Ross?"

I rolled my eyes. "That. Yeah, I suppose that was going to come up sooner or later." She sighed heavily, showing her apprehension that I was willing to talk about it. I couldn't blame her, stuck between his fuck ups and working with us. It would help if she knew what the last crew had done.

"The Colonel made a comment the other day, ‘Got one pilot that won't go into a landing zone, and one that won't stay out' and the Beards had said something about a three-hundred-meter dash. What did they mean?"

Ty grunted in disgust and threw his arms up. He scowled and settled down after I gave him a sharp look, giving me the chance to explain. The special forces team was still upset about what'd happened. Ty glared into the fire, holding in his thoughts about the previous MED team, though it wasn't easy for him.

I sighed and hesitated before responding, but she deserved the truth. The way she was watching me, waiting on an answer, I wanted to feel those eyes on me all night. "A few weeks before you arrived we had an operation west of here. Ty and his team were paired up with Third Group. Laura's husband's team. During the Op one of their men got shot."

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine now. It was a leg wound. It wasn't immediately life threatening, but it was putting a drag on the mission. The medic had to work on him, plus a few men had to stay behind and guard them. Men that were needed elsewhere. Indirectly, it was putting both teams at risk. They needed to get him out of there so that the teams weren't spread so thin. MEDEVAC was called, it was Ross, Nick, and the old crew."

Walker's eyes widened as she saw where this was going.

Ty jumped in. "So we picked out a landing zone, well away from the action, and Shep was overhead. That asshole Ross comes in toward our flares and sees something that spooks him, probably some tracer fire from the other side of town where the action was. Anyway, as he's landing and just before touchdown he decides it's not safe and hops like three-hundred meters away from us."

"Oh god, he didn't," she said, bringing her hands up over her mouth in shock.

Ty continued, "Gets better. We start running out that way with the dude on a gurney, and shit for brains gets scared again and suddenly takes off."

"He called out over the radio that they were taking fire," I cut in. "They weren't. I was flying overhead. Tracer rounds were ricocheting off of shit and were randomly flying everywhere. It looked like a laser light show. He saw that and freaked."

"Did he come back?" Disgust and horror were written all over her face. A woman like her wouldn't be able to comprehend leaving behind an injured soldier.

"I didn't give him the chance. As soon as that happened I landed, Artie got out and we stuffed the other guy into the front seat. I took off and brought him back."

"And I got to play Green Beret! Fucking best field trip ever," Artie blurted out, excitement shining on his face.

"Wait, you guys only have two seats in your helicopter. You're not supposed to put any passengers in there. And what about air support? If you left with a casualty, then the Beards didn't have any cover from you?"

"Artie stayed with the Beards. Laura and Brady stayed behind, by themselves. And I flew by myself with a bleeding Green Beret back to MES."

"But that's…very against regulations," she said meekly. "It's insane." She shook her head in disbelief.

"Yup. After that Captain Peralta made it clear that if Ross ever came on another mission that he would shoot him on sight." Ty said with absolute malice in his voice.

"And Nick?" she asked me, looking like she didn't really want to know.

"Nick was his copilot. Maybe we've been unfairly hard on him. He wasn't the pilot in command, but he was there and didn't fight hard enough to stay. The old medic and crew chief asked the Colonel to reassign them immediately after landing. The Colonel decided to keep Ross around, but to serve as permanent Battle Captain. Leaves the rest of the officers free to be real pilots."

Jen took it all in before responding, "I see. And then the very next mission some new hot-head flies into a landing zone that is dangerous and nearly gets her and her crew blown up." She gave me a sheepish smile.

"See, you're getting it now. No matter which way we go, MEDEVAC pilots are a pain in my ass," I teased. "For the record," I added, "I'd much rather have you and your flying skills out there when we need them."

The smile she gave me was so wide and uninhibited, I swear my body went numb when she flashed it at me. I relaxed back into my seat, enjoying the way she was loosening up and chatting with the others.