Read Mercy: Second Chance Military Romance for Free Online

you think you’re doing?” she asked, pulling away.
    “Come on, you can’t say you don’t feel it.”
    “You are just like him,” she said, standing up. “You two got some sick bet on who can bed me first or something?”
    “Settle down. Don’t act crazy.”
    “I’m not crazy!” she screamed.
    I glanced over at the Humvee.
    “Don’t yell,” I said. “This area isn’t completely safe all the time.”
    “Are you fucking kidding me right now? You brought me out here to fuck me and it’s not even safe?” Her eyes opened wide. “You didn’t drug the wine, did you? Oh my God, I’m feeling faint. You fucking drugged me, didn’t you!”
    “Calm down,” I said, standing up. “I would never drug a woman. You think I need to be a Cosby when I got a body like this?”
    “Why am I so lightheaded right now?”
    “It’s the mountain air. You probably haven’t adjusted all the way.”
    I stepped forward and put a hand on her waist.
    “Get away from me.”
    She stepped back and flung the rest of the wine in her glass to the ground. The parched earth soaked it up greedily. I sighed. Why don’t things ever go the way I plan?
    “We should get back,” I said, bending to pick up the blanket.
    “Yes, we should,” she said as if it had been her idea.
    I shook my head, gathering up the food and putting it back into the basket. She had already made it to the Humvee by the time I finished.
    After throwing the stuff in the back, I climbed in.
    “I freaked out, I’m sorry. It’s just so crazy, and I have got nothing on this story I’m supposed to be doing.”
    “You haven’t? I thought that’s why I took you to the village.”
    “That’s not the story I’m really working on.”
    We stared at each other from across the front cab of the Humvee. I shook my head and turned the key in the ignition. The engine fired to life.
    “You’re something else,” I said.
    “Hold on. Don’t you want to know what story I’m working on?”
    “I can imagine. Something about the military being corrupt, or…”
    “The smuggling,” she interrupted. “I know about it.”
    I turned the vehicle off and looked over at her.
    “Are you involved?” she asked.
    “Is this off the record?”
    “Sure.”
    Can I trust her?
    “You don’t want to be digging in this, okay? It goes high up the food chain. There’s billions of dollars at stake. Do you even understand what you’re digging around?”
    “Billions of dollars? That’s a lot of drugs.”
    “Don’t you get it?” I shook my head. “It’s not drugs. They’re smuggling rare earth minerals back to America and China. Both countries are making a bundle. Why do you think the Afghanistan war has dragged on so long. Do you see an army anywhere capable of defeating us if we put our mind to it?”
    “There’s a lot of caves in the mountains,” she said.
    “Fuck those caves. The only reason we’re still here is to protect the Chinese and American civilians who are pillaging the mountains like there’s no tomorrow.”
    “You need to tell me more,” she said, her hungry eyes staring into mine.
    “I said too much already.”
    “Are you involved?”
    I fired up the engine and put the Humvee in gear.
    “Not anymore,” I said. “Not anymore.”
    We rode back to the base in silence.
     
     

NINE

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Mercy
     
     
     
     
     
    When we arrived at FOB Rushmore, everything looked a bit different somehow. The knowledge of a huge conspiracy just out of my reach drove me crazy.
    “You’re going to cut out the investigating, right?” he asked after parking.
    “Yeah, yeah,” I lied. “Too dangerous for me.”
    “Good. I’d hate to see someone like you get wrapped up in this. It’s been hell for me trying to get out.”
    “Why is that?”
    He grinned and pointed a finger at me.
    “Ah, there you go again. Nice one. You almost got me.”
    Out the window, Tony Roth rushed toward us.
    “Fuck,” I said.
    Tyler twisted around in his