Broken Warrior

Broken Warrior Copyright © 2023 by K.C. Wells & Parker Williams Cover Design © 2023 Meredith Russell Edited by Tricia Kristufek Cover content is being used for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model. The trademarked products mentioned in this book are the property of their respective owners and are recognized as such. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. Warning This book contains material that is intended for a mature, adult audience. It contains graphic language, explicit sexual content, and adult situations. To all the readers who have followed K.C. and I, either individually or writing as a duo, we send our heartfelt thanks! Contents Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Epilogue Acknowledgments About K.C. Wells Also by K.C. Wells About Parker Williams Also by Parker Williams Prologue Six years ago Gary Cross woke up with a strange knot in his gut, a feeling of impending danger that had only grown worse as the day progressed. That sense of doom seemed totally incongruous when faced with a cloudless azure sky. Fuck, it’s hot. It was always fucking hot. Gary swiped a hand over his drenched brow. The relentless sun beat down, roasting everything in sight, including him. The ocean of sand absorbed its heat, then reflected it back, intensifying the sensation of standing in a pit of fire. Some things in the Iraqi desert never changed, including the sand that insinuated itself into crevices Gary would never tell his mother about. “Are you listening to me, Cross?” He turned to find his lover—his partner, hell, his fucking life—glaring at him. God, Eric was so fucking sexy, with his honey-blond hair, eyes that were a deeper blue than the sky, thick muscles that ran the length of his body… And let’s not forget those hands. Those fucking magnificent hands. They worked so many different types of magic. They could be rough when he and Eric were sparring, or gentle when they loosened Gary up to take Eric’s cock that was every bit as thick as the man himself. “What?” Eric’s scowl deepened and Gary had a sense of déjà vu. He could almost feel the disapproval pouring out of Eric, heaping onto Gary’s shoulders. So what if he had skinny shoulders? They could take the weight. “Listen to me, Cross.” The words came out as a growl. “Why the fuck would you think it’s okay to pull me from this detail?” Detail? Oh yeah. They were there to do a job. The US had a vested interest in trying to bring the local clans together to fight... something. They were supposed to be guarding a summit between several of the smaller factions that dotted the sparse area. Their commander had insisted it would go a long way toward stabilizing the area, thereby reducing problems they experienced with thefts from their junk heaps. He’d also claimed that getting these people to work together would give them another ally in their fight. Everyone agreed, but no one believed it. Most people thought it foolish to even try. “I’m sorry, what?” That arrogant glare, the one Gary always found hella hot, now seemed more sad than anything. Gary couldn’t understand why Eric would be angry. It made no sense. “Why are you so upset?” Eric’s blue eyes went wide. “Are you for fucking real? You tried to cut me out of this operation. How the hell did you expect me to react?” He had? It was so hard to remember. It was then he noticed the buzzing. It was what his men referred to as his Spidey Sense. They had teased him about them, but each time he’d felt that clench in the pit of his stomach, he’d spoken up. Eventually they came to regard his feelings as a barometer of sorts, and it saved them a lot of grief. That tingling could have been a reaction to the stifling air fraught with tension, but it had been that way ever since the conference began. Hardly a surprise. No trust existed between them, and each had accused the other of harboring operatives of Al-Qaeda. How anyone thought these people could come together and cooperate, Gary had no clue. Eric had already torn him a new one in their commander’s office, but the situation hadn’t improved. How the hell could Gary explain the fear in his gut, the terror that became more real every time Eric turned those soft blue eyes in his direction. Build a fucking bridge between you. He needed Eric. Gary reached out to him. “Eric….” His voice was soft. Eric shoved Gary’s hand away, a pained expression on his face. “Fuck you!” He took several steps away, and each one tore Gary’s heart out a little more. “I can’t believe you’d do that shit to me. What the fuck, man? Bad enough you’d do it to any member of your squad, but to do it to me? That shit ain’t right.” Eric’s anger and hurt lanced into Gary’s heart like shards of glass. “I know. I’m sorry. I should have talked to you. Should have explained why. It’s just… I’ve got a bad feeling. Something is going to happen.” That buzzing was getting worse. Eric’s irritated gaze softened slightly. “Which is why you need me. Tell me I’m not the best you’ve got.” He couldn’t argue that fact. Eric consistently scored higher than the rest of them in every aspect. Hand to hand, firearms, and