Page 41 of Men of Fort Dale: The Complete Series

Six Months Later

The ground crunched under the soles of his thick boots as he marched along.

Aidan kept his progress steady, though he was tempted to weave between the tents and temporary buildings that made up the base.

The desert sun pounded down, but he kept going, telling himself he could collapse once he got back to bed.

He was exhausted and ready to collapse and sleep for as long as they let him.

He and the rest of Team Maelstrom had been kept busy from the moment they’d landed a few months ago.

Having proven themselves in General Winter’s little test, albeit with a messy landing, Command had decided they were fit for service again and thrown them back into the Middle East.

Not that Aidan was complaining. It was nice to be working again, to have his sense of purpose back.

But if they weren’t sent out to scout unknown areas, root through trouble zones, or follow up on intel, they were being forced to help train the other soldiers at the base.

As much as Aidan liked being busy, he was ready for at least one day to himself.

He kept his upright stance until he pushed through the front door of the temporary building that made up Team Maelstrom’s barracks.

Aidan wasn’t completely sure what had happened that made it so the guys in charge thought a five-man team needed a building to themselves, but he suspected Sean had been somehow involved.

It wasn’t a large building. Only three rooms split off the main room.

Each room wasn’t very big, and the bedrooms had just enough space for a bunk bed and lockers.

Not that Aidan spent much time in his own bunk anyway.

Matt was sprawled on the couch in the center of the main room. It was a testament to how tired he was that the man had a few electronic gadgets around him, but they sat on the table untouched.

“Please tell me we’re safe for the moment,” Matt groaned.

Aidan snorted. “They’re going to leave us be for at least a day.”

“Oh, thank God, I want to pretend to be dead for the next twenty-four hours.”

Aidan looked around. “Where are the rest?”

Matt pointed around as he explained. “Ricardo’s already out cold. Told me that somebody had better be dying if he gets woken up. Nick went to grab us some food so we don’t have to leave later. And I don’t know what Sean’s doing, but he’s in your room.”

Aidan sagged. “Thank God for that.”

Matt smirked, adopting a slight baby voice. “Aww, someone needs a little TLC from their boyfriend?”

“When I have the energy to kick your ass, I’m shoving my foot deep. Until that time, fuck off,” Aidan grumbled, flashing the man the finger.

Nick chuckled, flopping back against the arm of the couch. “Love you too.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aidan grumbled as he walked past him and into his and Sean’s shared room.

He stopped in the doorway as he spotted Sean on the bottom bunk. The man was sprawled on his back, his boots still on. Aidan smiled, knowing Sean had just “laid down for a second” and passed out cold.

Aidan closed the door gently and walked up to Sean’s sleeping figure.

Despite having just collapsed, Sean looked peaceful.

The worried crease that liked to show up a little too often was gone from his brow, and his normally stiff shoulders were relaxed.

Few people got to see Sean like this, as even asleep or taking a nap out in the field, Sean looked stiff and almost irritated.

But not here, not in their shared space.

Sean woke up when Aidan sat gently on the bed. His eyes flashed open, alert and ready, and then softened when they settled on Aidan’s face.

“Hey,” Sean rumbled, squeezing Aidan’s thigh.

“Hey,” Aidan said with a smile, watching the relaxed, sleepy expression reassert itself on Sean’s handsome features.

“Brass give you a hard time?” Sean asked.

“Oh, you know, asked me a thousand questions, most of them the same but repeated in twenty different ways,” Aidan said with a chuckle, reaching down to take Sean’s hand.

Sean squeezed his fingers. “The life and trials of intel.”

Aidan leaned forward, forcing himself into the space between Sean’s body and the wall. He never let go of Sean’s hand as he snuggled up against him.

“You’ve got your boots on,” Sean said.

“Pot, meet kettle.”

Sean looked down, blinking. “Oh.”

Aidan chuckled, nuzzling into Sean’s neck and breathing deeply. The man smelled faintly of soap and sand, with a touch of gun oil and sweat thrown in. It was a smell Aidan associated with the military in general, but coming off Sean, it was erotic and comforting.

Sean turned, kissing Aidan’s temple. “Guess I was more tired than I thought.”

“It’s okay. I’m not taking mine off. I’m going to pass out,” Aidan told him, closing his eyes.

Sean hummed. “Been a little while.”

Aidan wriggled closer, nodding slowly. They’d been so busy the last couple of weeks they’d hardly had any time with one another.

If they weren’t being assigned to different schedules for training other soldiers, they were having to sleep in the field.

Moments where Aidan could lie with his boyfriend were few and far between.

He wasn’t complaining, though. It made them all the more special.

“We’ve got time,” Aidan assured him, voice quiet.

“Good,” Sean whispered.

He let the peace settle around him, sinking into his bones and heart.

He and Sean had gone from being at one another’s throats with bared teeth to being huge saps who took every quiet moment to curl up with one another.

There were, of course, still moments of passion, and Aidan had to appreciate that despite the softening of the feelings between him and Sean, the fire they’d found in the beginning hadn’t died.

It meant that after he was pinned to the nearest surface by his boyfriend, Aidan was destined to get all the gentle cuddles he could want.

Aidan had Sean, and he had Team Maelstrom. They had found their bond and stuck to it. They were the family he’d never had, and while they still fought and bickered like any family, they were still his.