Harder (The Unit #3) Read online

  Shaking her head, she focused on the gun with every intention of learning how to fire this weapon. Their lives depended on her pulling her own weight. “Teach me, Tony.” She exhaled, feeling her butterflies in her stomach.

  “I want you to think of each one of those cans as a man who wants to shoot Martin. Look through the scope,” he said, tapping it with his finger, “and when the lines are dead on with your target, you squeeze the trigger. Better yet. Hold on one sec.”

  Tony ran back to the other end of the warehouse. He reached into his bag and pulled out a laser scope. He jogged back, laser scope in hand, to a sight that made him stop in his tracks: Jules, long legs, firm, curvaceous ass, flat stomach, voluptuous breasts, dark hair thrown over her shoulder and hanging down to her breast. The gusto with which she held the gun and was consciously trying to sight the cans was the sexiest thing he had ever seen. He had never before beheld such a beautiful sight as the one before him now. His heart pounded in his chest, and he heard it beating in his ears. He tried to slow his breathing before he approached her.

  “Here. Let me have it.”

  She handed the M4 over to him, and he replaced the sight with the laser sight.

  “Now, wherever you see the red dot is where the bullet is going to go. Aim. Don’t pull the trigger, squeeze it.” With his hand covering hers, he placed her finger on the trigger. “Line it up and squeeze.”

  His body was still flush up against hers. He was sure she felt his hard cock pressing into the back of her, but she didn’t mention it. He watched as she lined up the red dot with the can.

  “Now this gun is going to kick a lot more than you’re used to. Widen your stance.” He moved his leg in between hers and pushed her legs apart with his. When you’re ready, squeeze.” The sound echoed off the brick walls of the warehouse. “Dead on. That’s my girl.”

  Bringing his lips to her neck, he placed a chaste kiss against her tan skin. He couldn’t stop himself. He continued kissing her neck, trailing his tongue up to her earlobe. She lowered the gun like she could no longer hold it up.

  “Don’t you think I should practice a little more? Until I feel confident?”

  He sucked her earlobe into his mouth, and she whimpered as he bit down.

  Stopping himself would take an act of God. Bringing his hand up to her breast, he felt its weight in his hand. He squeezed and palmed her breast as she leaned her head back against his shoulder. Her left hand found its way to his leg as she inched closer to his cock. She pushed her ass back into him and wiggled. This time it was his turn to whimper. He needed her. He needed her under him. He needed to make her his.

  Painfully, he backed away from her. “We have a mission,” he whispered right before he placed a final kiss to her ear. Stepping back, she raised the weapon like he had showed her and squeezed the trigger until there were no more cans left standing.

  “I think I’m good,” Jules said proudly.

  “I know you are,” Tony said as he smiled, flashing his one dimple, and gave her a sexy wink.

  They parked the SUV about five hundred yards away from the fish processing plant. Under the cover of night, they moved quickly and silently to the back of the vehicle. Removing M4s and their Sig P222s from their gear bags. Rob clipped several grenades to his belt, as did Tony. They couldn’t be too prepared for the fight that lay ahead of them.

  Tony shoved the earpiece into his ear and asked for a communications check. “I brought you this far. Please wait in the SUV,” Tony beseeched Jules as she pulled on the bulletproof vest he handed her.

  “I’m going in with you. There is no way you are going to stop me.”

  “Oh, I can think of a way, and you can forgive me later,” he said as he picked her up and opened the front door to the vehicle. Within a few seconds, he produced a pair of handcuffs and had her right hand cuffed to the door handle.

  “Tony,” Jules yelled quietly. “Let me go, right now. I’m serious, Tony. I will never forgive you for this.”

  “Yeah, but I would never forgive myself if something were to happen to you. You forget, I care about you. My job is to protect you and keep you safe, even if you do hate me for it,” he said as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. She pulled back, but he pressed in harder until her head was against the seat. He kissed her reverently, passionately.

  The thought that he could die tonight crossed his mind, and he didn’t want Jules to ever wonder how he felt about her again. Opening her mouth to accept his tongue, she kissed him back. She wrapped her lips around it and gently sucked. When she started to pull back, Tony caught her bottom lip and bit down hard. She moaned. He enjoyed her. Wanting to test out just how rough she liked it, he twisted his hand in her hair and pulled hard, angling her face upward.

  “Mmmmm . . .,” escaped her lips in a throaty moan. He knew he had her. He knew what she liked. It was instinctual when it came to his Jules.

  “Now stay here. Do not get yourself into trouble. We’re here to rescue Martin, not you.”

  “Fine,” she said as she made eye contact with his hard, cold eyes. “Promise me something?””

  “Anything.”

  “Promise me that you’re coming back to me.”

  “I promise,” he said as he leaned in and kissed her again on the lips while his hand found her knee. He ran his finger up toward her thigh and felt the electric current in his fingertip. He pulled back this time and shut the door. Flinging his gun over his shoulder, he approached the other men.

  “How the hell did you do that?” Tyrrell wanted to know.

  “I didn’t give her a chance. She’s handcuffed to the door.”

  “And how does she feel about that?” Michael asked.

  “She’ll get over it; although, she may never forgive me for it,” Tony confessed.

  “She’ll forgive you. I would have done the same damn thing,” Michael reassured.

  “Are we ready to do this?” Tony asked his brothers.

  “Ready as we’ll ever be,” Rob said, patting Tony on the back.

  The men used the surrounding buildings as cover as they approached the fish processing plant. Their plan was to breach the back door. They had dark makeup on and wore black clothing to help them blend into the night. Hugging the buildings that separated them from the plant, they made their way to their target. The almost full moon lighting the night wasn't helping their cause. It also didn’t help that there were flood lights on the front and back of the building.

  Tony held up his fist, indicating for the men to stop. He whispered into his comm., “Do you see that? If they’re watching, we’ll be walking straight into an ambush.” Tony pointed to the cameras at the front of the property.

  Michael whispered back, “Well, I hope they aren’t watching then.”

  Tony lowered his fist. The men made their way towards the building, crouching between the parked cars. Tony didn’t get too close to any one car; he didn’t want to set off any alarms. In the front row sat an old, red Mitsubishi. They would have to run the rest of the way and pray that no one was watching. Tony waited until the cameras were facing away from him and the team before he made his run for it. He indicated for the men to do the same. It took several minutes, but they all made it.

  They were now standing flush against the wall next to the rear entrance and still needed to go down a flight of stairs to get to the door. Tony hugged the wall as he cautiously made his way down the stairs to examine the lock. It was clear they were definitely doing more than just processing fish here. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a charge of plastic explosive and planted it against the locks of the door before running the detonator wire back up the steps to where the men were standing.

  “Ready?” he asked, thumb on the button.

  Each man nodded and readied their weapons, expecting a fight. Tony pressed the button and a loud blast sounded along with a flash of light. The men quickly made their way down the stairs through the lingering smoke. Tony opened the door with gloved hands. Once ins
ide, there was a flight of steps leading up. The men took the stairs two at a time. Luckily for them, the processing machines were loud. Tony could hear them in the stairwell. Chances were no one knew they were coming, and the element of surprise was still on their side.

  Suddenly, Tony heard the shot at the same time he felt a searing hot pain rush through his shoulder. His eyes flew to the top of the stairs where a man stood with a gun pointed right at him. He heard a shot ring out behind him and the man fell to the ground. “You’re welcome, man. You good?” Michael asked as he walked around Tony to take the lead.

  Tony felt the bullet hole in his shoulder and then reached for the back of his shoulder to feel for an exit wound. Thank God. The bullet had missed the bone. He could still move his arm, although it hurt like a bitch. “Yeah, man, I’m fine. It’s a through and through.”

  “Can you continue?” Rob, the medic, asked as he pulled his clothing away to get a look at the wound.

  “Yes. Try and stop me,” Tony quipped with his infamous grin.

  “Okay then. Let’s do this. Let’s get those motherfuckers,” Rob said as he replaced Tony’s shirt.

  The men followed Michael onto the first floor. Workers were everywhere. There were long lines of machines and factory belts in the middle of the enormous plant. Tony quickly scouted all the entrances to the plant floor. Looking up, he noticed a catwalk above him that lead to closed doors. “Look.” Tony pointed. “He has to be in one of those rooms.”

  “Let’s get everyone out of here as quickly and quietly as possible.” Michael motioned to the workers on the concrete floor. The men spread out and each took a row. They hushed the workers while asking them to exit the building.

  As Tony was halfway down a row, a man with a gun appeared and opened fire. The ATG knew the Unit was there now. No more hiding.

  “Run. Run,” Tony yelled, motioning for the men and women to leave through the closest exit.

  The terrorist continued to spray bullets as injured workers dropped to the ground. There wasn’t time; Tony had to take this man out. Spotting the man hiding behind part of a metal machine, Tony peeked around the corner and saw he was reloading. With one shot, Tony took the man down. The man dropped to his knees and then fell prostrate in death.

  “Run. That way . . .” Tony raced down the line, clearing out the men and women left standing. Mass chaos erupted. People were screaming as they ran toward the nearest exit. The Unit used the chaos to blend in. Finally, Tony made his way to the stairs in the back of the building that led to the catwalk up above the floor. He waited for the rest of his team to reach his spot. “We’re going to have to be quick. There is absolutely no cover up above.” He was anxious to get this mission over with and get back to his Jules. He could only pray that no one found her in the vehicle.

  Jules waited rather impatiently in the SUV. She was hyperaware of her surroundings, constantly scanning the area. So far, no one had noticed her, but then again, the SUV’s windows were darkly tinted. She tapped her foot nervously on the floorboard of the vehicle as she helplessly listened to the gunfire. It was driving her insane waiting to see who was shot.

  “It can’t be Tony. Please, God, let Tony be safe,” she said aloud. “I just got him back.”

  Did she want him back? She would have to think about that.

  Now that he was back in her life, could she let him go again? The first time devastated her. Since they reunited, he had told her he loved her on more than one occasion. Should she believe him, or did he simply want in her pants again?

  She knew he wanted her, but why stress the importance of the love he felt for her? She knew he cared about her or she wouldn’t be sitting in the SUV handcuffed to the door. Pop. Pop. Pop. More shots rang out. She had absolutely no idea what was going on. “Please, God, bring him back safely to me, and I’ll give him another chance.” There, she made up her mind. She would open herself back up to Tony. She would make herself vulnerable again to his charm and his love.

  But what if he ran again? Could she live with that? It felt like a lifetime ago, and still it felt like no time had passed at all. Her head told her that she was still just some woman pining after the man she could never have. Still, thoughts of the way his body felt pressed up against her at the warehouse while they were shooting felt unbelievable. She couldn’t believe that he would feel better than he did all those years ago, but this Tony now was all man. He had broad, muscular shoulders. In fact, his entire body was ripped. He had a hard stomach, one that she longed to lick. His legs were perfectly proportional to his upper body and just as muscular. His jaw had a firm set to it, a chiseled look. He could have any woman he wanted, and he professed to want her.

  She ran her free hand through her long locks in nervous agitation, untangling the knots by spreading her fingers. She heard it again, gunfire. “What the fuck is going on? God, I wish he’d let me go with him,” she spoke to herself. Nervously, she ran her hand up and down her leg, wiping the sweat from her palm onto her dark pants. Biting her bottom lip, she sat helpless and alone, praying for Tony’s safe return.

  Tony took the stairs two at a time with the remaining men on his six. As he reached the catwalk, two men appeared to his left on another walkway. Michael took out one before he had a chance to fire. The man Tony took out with a shot to his chest fell forward over the railing and landed with a loud thud on the concrete floor below. They had to make their way to the end of the walk and through the door. God only knew what awaited them behind that closed door.

  “Take cover,” Tony yelled as he lay himself flat on the catwalk. Someone was firing a large gauge shotgun from the other side of the closed door. The blasts resonated loudly in Tony’s ears as the bullets ricocheted off the metal railing. Crawling on his stomach to the door, Tony waited for a lull in the shots. As soon as he heard the man pause to reload the shells, he stood up and, with one, swift, powerful kick, opened the door.

  Tony aimed and fired his weapon at the man holding the shotgun, hitting him squarely between his eyes. The man was flung backwards to the ground. Tony didn’t have time to fire off another shot before he was tackled to the ground by another terrorist. He didn’t let the motherfucker keep him down for long. With his strong arms, Tony pushed the man to the side and rolled on top of him. Straddling the man, he pummeled him in the face. Before long, Tony’s hand was covered in blood. He reached down into his leg strap and pulled out his knife. Clutching it with both hands, he plunged it into the man’s chest cavity, piercing his heart. Blood oozed up and out of the man’s mouth. Tony could hear the man gurgle on it, so he gave the knife a twist and the man’s head lolled to the side. Once Tony effectively subdued his attacker, he peered around the room, looking for Martin. The only thing he saw was a hideous green and red flower-pattern covered couch, which was at least as old as he was, and brown wood paneling on the walls. Martin was nowhere to be seen.

  “He must be in another room,” Tony said as he turned around to see the other men engaged in a gun battle with three more terrorists. Tony hit the floor again and crawled his way to where Michael was hunkered down behind a large piece of metal hanging from the ceiling. “Clear. How you doing?” Tony asked as bullets hit the metal piece covering their knees and upper bodies.

  “I’d be doing much better if this motherfucker would reload.”

  “How many do you have?”

  “At least two. By my count, he should’ve had to reload twice,” Michael said, waiting impatiently for his chance to get off a shot.

  Because Tony’s body was completely out of sight, he said, “I’ll help. Cover me.” He lay flat on the floor and crawled down the right path to the man currently firing his weapon at Michael. All focus was on Michael as he and the man exchanged periodic gunfire.

  Tony still had his knife in his hand, which was now covered in the other man’s blood. With one quick swipe, he brought the blade to the back of the man’s heel, slicing through his Achilles tendon. The man immediately sank to the ground favoring his righ
t leg. Michael used every second to his advantage. He rushed forward and used his hands to disarm the man by bending his hand back until it touched his own arm. The gun fell off the side of the catwalk and landed on the floor below, bouncing once before it came to a stop. Wanting to interrogate this man, Tony reaching into his pocket and he produced two zip ties. He quickly tied one hand to the railing while Michael tied his other hand. “Where’s your hostage?” Tony spat.

  “Go to hell,” the man said in Hebrew.

  “Let me ask you again,” Tony said as he reached behind the man’s ankle and applied pressure to the knife wound.

  “Mmmmm . . . Fuck you,” the terrorist growled through the pain Tony was inflicting.

  “If I have to ask you again, I’ll slice the other ankle,” Tony responded as he readied the knife in his right hand and grabbed the man's good leg with his left hand.

  “Don’t. Please. I beg you.”

  “Where’s the hostage?” Tony asked in a calm manner as he brought the knife to the back of the man’s foot and applied pressure. The man nodded to the door at the opposite end of the walk to the right of the men’s current position. “How many more of you are there?” Tony asked, relaxing his hand.

  “Just one. In the room,” the man huffed through deep breaths.

  Tony and Michael got to their feet, and Tony pointed to the door the terrorist had indicated. Watching Tyrrell and Rob make their way to the door, Tony and Michael followed.

  “We go on three,” Rob said, looking to Tony’s injured shoulder. “One. Two. Three.” Rob kicked the door open and stood back. Tony crouched down and aimed his gun into the middle of the room.

  The remaining terrorist had his gun pointed to the side of Martin’s head as he held him by the arm and hid behind the safety of the target.