Chapter Two

Dr. Josephine (Jo) Peyton

Captain, US Army (Mama Jo)

The kid -- Alex -- did indeed get taken back to Fort Knox. Two days later. There were a whole slew of charges against him. I had no doubt he'd end up in Leavenworth before it was all over. The only question was how much time he'd get. There wasn't much I could do about it, but it was obvious the kid wasn't all that bright. He wouldn't have survived a tour in-country. I was surprised he'd managed to last in any form of armed services as long as he had. Something about the kid had me needing to help him as much as I could, though.

Though Mike and I had just met, I was reluctant to leave his company. For one, we fit . There was a fierce sexual attraction, but we both chose to let it simmer a while. Mike had expressed his intention of going South to a little town in Kentucky called Somerset which I'd never even heard of. That was fine by me. I wasn't fit for the big city anymore. I wanted to make a home somewhere peaceful and quiet.

We stayed in Louisville. I tried to be nice. Go through the proper channels without stepping on toes or anything. After two days of waiting with minimal to no response from Fort Knox, I'd had enough. I was done being nice.

"Well?"

Mike was right beside me. I almost jumped because I hadn't heard him approach. I scowled. Not paying attention to my surroundings could get me killed. Except this wasn't ‘Nam. And Mike had my back the way I'd never completely trusted anyone else to. There was something different about that man and it wasn't just my attraction to him -- which was something I'd definitely have to analyze. I filed it away for later.

"You ready to get the fuck outta this place?"

"And leave that kid alone?" I answered him with more irritation than I should have. This whole situation was a shit deal for Alex, even if it was one of his own making. I knew I would do something. I had no idea what, but I could make sure the kid got an adequate defense and that his CO didn't cut corners and trick him into a plea deal or something that would put him away for the rest of his natural life. He'd have a better chance of having a life after this if he were tried in a military court than he would a civilian court, especially in Louisville after Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated. At least, I hoped so.

"Well, if we leave, that's what we'll be doin'. You finally ready to shake things up a bit?"

When I glanced over at Mike, a smile tugged at his lips. How could the man have my number so early in this game? I could tell he knew I wouldn't let this go. And he'd go along with anything I decided.

"We don't know each other, Mike. So don't pretend you can read my mind." I was trying to push him away. Had been trying for two days. I'd kicked him out of our hotel room three times yesterday alone. I worked better by myself anyway.

"We went through something together." He grinned. "I think that warrants a little commiseration. We can talk about our feelings and shit. And you can tell me what's goin' on inside that pretty head of yours." He winked at me.

I scowled at him. "What's going on is I'm trying to decide if I'd have a better chance of successfully killing you if I slit your throat while you sleep or shove you in front of a fucking bus."

"If I were you, I'd go with slittin' my throat in my sleep. But only if I get to play with you a bit before I go to the Hereafter. Hell, you let me show you a good time, and if you still want to kill me, I'll furnish a fuckin' rusty, dull-ass knife and let you saw as long as you need to for me to die."

"Wow. Been a long time there, soldier?"

He shrugged. "Didn't say that . Just that fuckin' you would be worth any punishment."

No one talked to me that way and got away with it. I tried to scowl at him again. Except I felt my lips twitching, trying to grin at his audacity. "Keep it up, man. We'll find out who's the better fighter."

Mike chuckled as he put his hand on the small of my back and led me from the motel. It was time to swing by Fort Knox. If I was right, it was the 138th who were stationed there and getting ready to deploy. I just happened to know the commander and he owed me a huge favor. Official channels weren't working. It was time to use the backdoor. No pun intended.

"Come on, Mama Tiger. You got a ride?"

I shrugged. "Figured I'd get a taxi. Ain't no biggie."

"Ride with me. I'll take you anywhere you want to go."

"I suppose I could do that."

He grinned and took my hand and led me out of the little motel we'd been crashing in. I was surprised when he led me to a Harley Davidson Electric Glide. Black with silver accents. Subtle, but beautiful. We hadn't gone anywhere that required more than walking a short distance since we'd been here, so the bike was a pleasant surprise. I couldn't help the slow smile that spread my lips. "Where the fuck did you get this? And how did you get it here ?"

He shrugged. "A friend from Nam. Dropped it off for me last night. He'll be meetin' us in Somerset."

"So sure I'm coming with you? I don't even know where that place is."

"Good. When I get you home, you won't be able to find your way out."

I gave him a hard look, hoping to bend him to my will. When he smirked at me, I knew he was on to what I was going to demand next. I decided to sweeten the pot. "How about you ride with me . I'll give you all the sexual favors you want."

That got a deep, amused chuckle from Mike. "Baby, I'll charm you into the sexual favors. I don't need to bribe you."

I bristled a little. Not because I was upset with him, but because I knew he was likely right. Mike was tall and broad-shouldered. His nut-brown hair was still regulation, but more than a little scruffy around the edges. He didn't have a full-on beard, but he sported a few days' growth on his face. For Mike, he was letting his hair go just because he could. For me, I refused to take orders from anyone I didn't trust and respect, or who I thought was a dumbass. Mike didn't fall into any of those categories.

If he gave an order, I would bank on him knowing exactly what he was doing. It was easy to tell in the short conversation we'd had and the input he gave which meant he was definitely not a dumbass. The way he'd followed my lead without question earned my respect. Not many battle-hardened men I knew would willingly take orders from a woman. Instead of arguing, however, Mike had offered his own opinions, building on mine and making it possible for us to get Alex out of here in one piece. He'd worked with me and hadn't tried to dominate the operation.

"So sure that's a foregone conclusion?" Inwardly I sighed. Because he might be right.

"Yep. I knew it when I kissed you. You want me nearly as bad as I want you." He threw his thick thigh over the seat of the Harley. "Climb on, Mama Tiger. You ride with me this one time. After this, if you want to ride up front, I'll let you." He handed me a helmet. "Told my buddy I might have a passenger. He packed accordingly."

I snorted. "Will not." But I climbed on behind him. Instead of wrapping my arms around his waist, I placed them on my thighs. I could grab on to him if I needed to, but I wasn't about to let Mike know how drawn to him I was. And it wasn't only physical. Sure, I wanted him with an ache I'd never experienced before -- felt like I might die if I didn't have him soon. He ticked every box I had in my mind of what a man should be. And that wasn't something I wanted to think about. I didn't need a man. Least of all one I hardly knew.

Mike started up the bike and revved the engine a couple times. Before he took off, he reached for my hand and tugged me to him, holding my hand against his rigid stomach.

"Hold on, Mama Tiger." That deep chuckle of his was going to get me in trouble.

He took off, and I slid my other arm around his waist. I could still fight this attraction. Just… maybe not right this second.

The warm breeze felt good on my face and Mike's clean, warm scent teased my nose where I was close against him. Occasionally, he'd pat my hand with his big one.

Then I remembered I wanted to go to Fort Knox. I'd gotten so wrapped up in the experience of riding behind him with his scent blowing all around me that I forgot where I wanted him to take me.

When he stopped at the next light I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned his head to look at me over his shoulder. "We need to go to Fort Knox."

Mike gave me a crisp nod, revving the engine a couple of times while we waited for the light to change. When it did, we took off quick enough I had to hurry and wrap my arms around his waist once more. I might have let out a girly squeak, but I'll never admit to anything of the sort. He chuckled lightly, letting me know he'd been teasing me even as he effectively refused to let me back off touching him.

What surprised me the most was the fact that Mike didn't demand to know why I wanted him to take me an hour away. Just like before, he was willing to follow my lead. I knew he'd want to know the plan when we got somewhere we could talk, but for now he was giving me what I wanted without arguing.

Once we got on the open road, it was all I could do to keep from squealing in delight. I wasn't a novice. I'd been riding motorcycles since the first time I stole one. But this experience wasn't something I was prepared for.

"Wooooo!" With the sun on my face, the wind in my hair, and my thighs cradling Mike's delectable ass, I raised my hands in the air and whooped my excitement. When he chuckled, my whole body heated. He reached back and ran one hand down my leg to squeeze my knee before putting that hand back on the handlebar.

For the better part of my life, I'd been the adult. The grown-up. My pa disappeared before I was born, and my ma couldn't have told you who he was to begin with. She had seven other children, some of them older than me, some younger. I was the one everyone went to, though. From the time I was old enough to stand on a kitchen chair and cook a meal, it was me taking care of my family.

Now? For the first time since I could ever remember, I was living in the moment and not worrying about the next move. Joy. Pure bliss . It would be so easy to wave him off the exit and just keep going South. This wasn't my fight anyway. I'd done what I could to keep the kid alive. He was back at his barracks until they'd finished the fucking paperwork, then he'd be shipped off to a disciplinary barracks. Likely Leavenworth, as I'd thought earlier. I could… just keep riding. Let Mike take me away somewhere we could spend some time seeing how attracted to each other we really were, or realizing we hated each other and have a fight to the death. I had to grin at that. For the first time in my life, I thought I might have found a man who could take me in a fair fight.

As we neared the exit, I was about to say fuck it all and tell Mike to keep going. But he squeezed my knee, harder this time. He didn't look back at me, but kept going until he'd pulled off the interstate and onto the exit ramp. He didn't say anything even when we stopped at a light just before we got to the post. Instead of pulling to the visitor entrance, he pulled into a gas station to top off the tank.

"What are you thinking?" I asked as Mike handed the service guy a five-dollar bill. It wouldn't take that much, but I imagine Mike wanted the guy gone so we could talk.

"Just wondering what your plan is. If we're gonna get shot at, I'd like to know now." He grinned as he spoke, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"No plans on getting shot at. I know a colonel there. He owes me a favor and I'm gonna to try to collect."

"What are you hoping for with the kid, Jo? You know he's gonna do time. If nothing else, they'll put him in a mental institution."

"I know that, Mike," I bit out, a little harsher than I should have. "I just want the kid to get a fair shake, OK? Yeah, he has to do time. And he'll get a dishonorable discharge. I'd just like to make sure he gets what he needs while he's there, especially the means to contact any family who need to know where he is. Maybe some psychiatric help."

"OK. Fair enough." Mike finished fueling the bike before securing the pump and climbing back on in front of me. "Let's see what we can do for the kid." A few minutes later he pulled up to the visitors' entrance. The gate was manned by several MPs who looked no-nonsense. I'd have trouble getting in if Colonel Gill decided to renege on our agreement.

"Military ID, please." One guard approached us while three more kept watch.

"We're both recently discharged." I pulled an envelope from my jacket pocket with my paperwork inside it and handed it to the guard. Mike raised an eyebrow but did the same. "I'm here to see Colonel Gill. He's not expecting me, but tell him it's Dr. Josephine Peyton."

"Pull over by the guard tower while I look into this." The guard gave me a disgruntled frown. Doubtless the man didn't like a change in routine. Most men who took their responsibilities seriously when on guard duty weren't fans of the unexpected.

Mike took us to the area the guard indicated. There were several parking spots for people to pull over and wait, though none were taken. It gave us another few moments to discuss our next move. Which, I admit, might have been smarter to have done at the gas station. Or in the parking lot before we left. Or any number of places other than outside the guard tower at Fort fucking Knox.

"I hope you know what you're doin', Jo. You on good terms with Colonel Gill?"

"Not at all. In fact, he hates my guts. Only problem is, I saved his life more than once in Laos. H e may be an insufferable, know-it-all, condescending bastard, but he always repays his debts. And he's not a bad man. Just tends to be a rule follower, even when he knows he needs to make his own rules." I was betting this kid's life with my belief on the strait-laced bastard, but someone needed to look out for the youngster.

It took far longer than I expected. That was understandable given the importance of Gill's job as CO of one of the most secure buildings in the world, and the fact that the last time I saw him I'd called him a coward. I was betting the delay was more because of the latter than the former. An hour and a half later, I was fuming, but one of the guards came over to us.

"Sorry, ma'am." The young man was tall, blond, and skinny. He looked like a stiff breeze would blow him over. Not to mention he didn't look comfortable at all with having to deliver the news. "The Colonel says he's busy and can't receive visitors."

I opened my mouth to give the guy what for -- even though I knew it wasn't his fault -- when Mike lay a hand on my thigh -- a clear signal to shut up if I ever saw one.

"Can you please tell the Colonel it's a personnel matter? Dr. Peyton and I have information on a soldier named Alex. Not sure of his last name, but he said he was stationed here. We were the ones who got him to the police."

The young man's eyes widened and his lips parted in an "O" of surprise. "Oh, man. Give me a minute." The kid turned and ran back to the guard post.

Mike commented on their animated conversation. "They probably don't want to bother the Colonel again." Mike brushed his hand over my knee casually as he gave me the rundown. Even if it was through my jeans, I still soaked up his touch. He had to know I could see what was going on just fine but was using his voice as a distraction so he could touch me. I'd have called him out on it, but I was afraid he'd stop so I let it go.

As a general rule, men and I didn't get along. Not because I wasn't attracted to them, but because men in the military tended to be too alpha to tolerate a woman who outranked them. Though it was against the rules for officers to date enlisted personnel, I'd have chucked that out the window if I'd found a man I was even remotely interested in fucking. There had been a few men who were comfortable with my rank, but those guys usually weren't alpha enough for me. I wanted my man to be strong with a take-charge kind of personality, but not so much he resented me for my education. Mike… Yeah. He was that alpha. But he also took in stride the fact that I was a woman and still knew my shit. He seemed willing to follow my lead instead of trying to bulldoze his way to the front.

"If they don't let us in, I'll call Gill myself. And if I have to do that, I'll be fuckin' somebody up." My irritation was coming through in spades, but I didn't care. I was going to do my best for Alex and make sure he had everything he needed. Normally, I'd have said good riddance and just killed someone shooting up an airport. I guess I'd seen too many young soldiers dead, dying, and with battle fatigue so profound they'd gone mad. I had no idea what the kid's story was -- other than he seemed a little slow. That could be his mental capacity, or it could be as a result of knowing he was going to be deployed to Nam. Whatever was going on inside that kid's head, he needed help coping. Not to spend the next couple of decades in a prison cell.

"You know, your vicious side turns me the fuck on, Josephine." Mike's lips quirked up at one corner. He didn't look at me or take his eyes of the two men talking. "When we get this settled, you and I are gonna have a nice long chat about what happens when you get all bloodthirsty around me."

"You're on dangerous ground. Keep talking and you might find you're in way the fuck over your head." I tried to sound menacing, but I'm pretty sure it all came out all breathless and shit. Like I wanted him the way he claimed to want me. Which wasn't true. Not at all. It wasn't.

His warm chuckle was his response. Also, that hand on my knee squeezed once before he moved it. Probably thought I'd bite or something. Or he could be freeing up his hands because the first guard was now approaching our vehicle and he didn't look happy.

"No fighting," I muttered. I couldn't help it. It just slipped out.

Mike glanced at me sharply. "Really?" He raised an eyebrow. I shrugged.

"We've told you. The Colonel is not taking visitors." The guard looked supremely pissed off. It was obvious he had no intention of checking with anyone else or relaying the message Mike just issued.

"I'd get your name, rank, and serial number, but reporting dumbasses ain't my thing," Mike told him. "You tell Colonel Gill that Dr. Josephine Peyton is here to see him. You tell him she ain't forgot about Laos and has come to collect a debt. You tell him that word for word, then come back and tell us he won't see us."

The guy looked wary now. Like he knew he'd just sprung a trap but couldn't see it or figure out a way out of it before it closed in on him. "If you're wasting my time, I'll arrest you both."

"I'll waste your fuckin' time," I muttered before I could stop myself. Mike clapped a hand back on my knee. "What?" I tried to look all innocent but neither man was buying it. "He's being stupid."

"Jo…" Mike gave me a warning glance. Which just made my chin go up.

"Bitch," the guard muttered.

To my surprise, Mike climbed off the bike in one smooth move, reaching the guy's retreating form in two long strides. He grabbed the guard's shoulder and spun him around, catching him with a right hook.

"You don't talk to a lady that way, soldier. I don't care what the fuck she says or does. Do it again and you won't have to worry about getting called to Nam. I'll beat the fuckin' shit outta you right here in the good ol' U. S. of A. so bad you'll be lucky to walk again."

Several other guards in the vicinity ran toward us. The guard in question rubbed his jaw but had only staggered back before regaining his balance. He gave Mike a withering look but backed off.

"There a problem, Sarge?" one of the other men asked. He didn't look at all ready to take on Mike. I mean, Mike's a big guy. Tall and thickly built. But there was a total of four guys surrounding him. None of them looked like they were eager to take him on. Which meant I needed to get a look at my new friend, because I had a feeling whatever I saw on his face might just be panty melting.

"No. I was just going to give the colonel's secretary a message." He waved a hand toward us. "Let them wait here until I get off the phone."

The guards each took a few steps backward, not turning around, not standing down a single bit. Mike waited a couple of heartbeats before reaching out to rub my upper thigh in a soothing gesture. Wasn't sure if it meant to soothe me or him. Then he crossed his arms over that mouthwateringly thick chest. He planted his feet shoulder width apart and stood there, staring at the group of soldiers. Finally, he turned his head to look at me, and the fierce expression on his face made my breath catch.

Mike nodded at me slowly. "You like seeing me all riled up on your behalf?" The man obviously saw way more than I wanted him to. Which made him doubly dangerous.

"I ain't your problem. You didn't have to do that." I knew I sounded breathless. Hell, I was breathless. The man's swift defense of me with such passion that he looked like he was ready to kill a motherfucker went straight to my clit and throbbed .

"You're my woman. That most definitely makes you my problem."

I shook my head. "I never agreed to that."

"Yes, you did. When you didn't castrate me after I kissed you."