Free What Remains_Reckoning by Kris Norris Page A

that speech?”
    Gunner glanced at him. “Fuck off.”
    “You first.”
    “Shit! You’re a son of a bitch, you know that?”
    Wolfe didn’t even flinch.
    Gunner huffed. “Ever since she risked her better judgment and gave Ham the keys. But not everything I said is bullshit. We aren’t the type to share, Wolfe.” He kicked at the floor, feeling the truth of the statement clear through to his toes. Men like them didn’t share. They owned. Devoured. Claimed. They didn’t get off by watching another man with their woman.
    He glanced at Wolfe. “We’re possessive bastards. Not like Beau, but possessive just the same.”
    “True. But it’s not that black and white, and you know it. This isn’t sharing in the sense we’re going to give the girl to any jerk that happens along. We’re talking about committing ourselves to the same woman.” He let the chair tip forward as he leaned on the table. “Are you seriously telling me you wouldn’t do anything to save Ham’s or my life?”
    Gunner punched the guy in the shoulder. “What the fuck kind of question is that? You know damn well I would. Anything. No hesitation. No regrets. Blood aside, we’ve been brothers for over a decade. I’d sacrifice anything for you two.”
    “Do you believe me when I say Ham and I feel the same way about you?”
    “Of course but…” He hit the man again. “Just say what the hell you’re trying to say.”
    Wolfe shrugged again. “Just that if you’re willing to die for us, what makes you think you wouldn’t sacrifice a bit of that alpha pride in order to ensure the woman we all cared about was safe? Loved? Protected? Even if you weren’t able to do the job.” He leaned back again. “Sounds like a bit of a paradox to me.”
    Gunner frowned. He’d never thought about it like that. Never stopped to wonder how Colby, Darcy and Barrett managed to love Abby without it breaking into a fistfight, or worse. And those men were about as possessive as they got. Ex-military, they’d never seemed like the type to share, either. Yet Gunner had never seen the three men happier since they’d brought Abby home and become something far more than just a group.
    He sighed, easing back in the chair. “This is all a moot point anyway. Morgan jumps out of her skin if any of us so much as graze her. I can’t see her welcoming one of us into her heart, let alone all three. She’s been through too much.” He nodded toward the couch. “Hell, she can’t even rest without being terrorized by what’s floating around inside her head.”
    Wolfe glanced over his shoulder at her. “Call me crazy, but she seems better with Ham holding her.”
    Gunner looked at the couple. Hamilton had his head tilted back, resting against the frame, one hand still slowly stroking Morgan’s shoulder as the other held her fingers tight in his. He’d closed his eyes, seemingly content to just sit with the woman, her body molding nicely to his.
    Wolfe smiled at him.
    He shook his head. “She’s probably just so damn exhausted she doesn’t have any fight left.”
    “Or she’s been waiting for the right men to actually rescue her, instead of letting her down. And if three SEALs can’t rise to the occasion, not sure anyone can.”
    “Sounds like you’ve been doing a lot of thinking on the subject while you were securing the perimeter.”
    “It’s not like I planned to get blindsided by feelings I thought were long since buried. Hell, since we started fighting this war, I’d accepted the fact that part of my life was over. Even the women at the compound didn’t make me want to take the risk. But Morgan…” Wolfe brushed one hand across his scalp. “Shit, Gunner. I don’t know what it is about the girl. I just know she got my attention and won’t let go. So yeah, I’ve been thinking about it.”
    “You talk to Ham?”
    “When? He’s been trying to keep Morgan from knocking him senseless. But I’ve seen that look in his eyes before. He’s downright