Page 8 of The Team (The Milvus Files #3)

Rhett had always been that way. From the first day Jay had met him, he’d stood for what was right, what was rule and regimented.

It also helped that he had the skills to back himself.

Jay remembered seeing Rhett that first time.

They were barely eighteen, and Rhett was much scrawnier than he was now.

Their sergeant had ordered team obstacle course runs through mud and sleet, and Rhett had taken charge, taken the lead, and got his team through it.

They might not have come first, but every member crossed the finish line, and that was a win according to Rhett.

The other team had failed because they’d not worked as a team, and their leader did nothing but yell at the weakest links, two not finishing the course and one ending up in the infirmary.

The drill sergeant had yelled at Rhett about efficiency, and Rhett stood toe to toe with him, never backing down, yelling that he’d stand with his team, win or lose, because that’s what a leader does. All of eighteen years old and already a better leader than most.

Jay had only had eyes for Rhett after that day .

And he’d worked harder to never be one of those weakest links again.

He’d trained, he’d practised, he’d studied, just to make Rhett proud. To maybe make him notice...

And take notice, Rhett had.

Eyes that lingered a beat too long, a smile for no one else but Jay. Until Jay got caught looking and Rhett noticed. Now, to Jay’s defence, Rhett was hot as fuck, ripped physique, but the confidence...

The sexiest fucking thing a man can have.

And that first time in the barracks showers, when Rhett came out with nothing more than a towel around his waist and Jay couldn’t make himself look away...

Rhett noticed. Because, of course he did. They stared at each other in the silent, knowing way that closeted men might. But they were interrupted and Jay got himself busy and gone, heart hammering.

Such a dangerous game.

The very next day, Rhett wasn’t in the showers, and Jay had wondered if he was avoiding him. Disappointed but not surprised, he’d stripped off and hit the showers. With his hair full of soap and eyes closed, he hadn’t noticed anyone using the shower next to his.

“Pass me the soap,” a deep, quiet voice had said.

Jay’s eyes had shot open to find Rhett next to him, naked under the steaming jet of water, semi-hard. His eyes dark, his hand out.

Jay handed him the soap, fingers brushing, electric and exhilarating, and for one second, forgetting where he was.

“You’re in late today,” Jay said, no clue why.

Rhett had smiled as he scrubbed himself. “Wanted to get you alone. ”

Jay stared at him, his heart skidding to a stop. He glanced around the open showers.

“They’re all gone,” Rhett said casually. “I made sure of it.”

Nerves flooded Jay’s belly. He was about to get jumped or railed. “Look, I...”

“You what?” Rhett smirked. “You keep looking at me like you want something.”

Jay’s breath hitched.

Fuck.

“Do you want something, Petty Officer Lin?”

Jay’s eyes met his—those cool grey-blue eyes were storming. He knew that look. He felt it down his spine, to his core, his blood was scorching hot. He could barely get his breath out to form words. “Not sure what you mean.”

Rhett slammed the water off, grabbed Jay’s hand, and dragged him to a toilet stall. He pushed Jay against the cold concrete wall and crushed his mouth down on his, forcing his tongue inside.

Jay grunted and took it, head spinning, heart screaming. But then Rhett took Jay’s cock in his hand, and he swallowed Jay’s muffled cry.

Once his brain had kicked in that this was actually happening, Jay wrapped his hand around Rhett’s rock-hard cock, and they devoured each other’s mouths while jerking each other off.

Jay came first, bucking into Rhett’s fist, and Rhett followed a moment later. His mouth on Jay’s, breathing hard, eyes closed as he spilled all over Jay’s hand.

When he opened his eyes, Jay saw the grey storm clearing, revealing sated blue skies. And then Rhett was gone.

He heard the shower start, and Jay took a second to catch his breath. He wiped their come off his belly, then went back out to the showers.

Rhett was gone.

Confused, satiated, but still wanting more, Jay rinsed off and got dressed.

He was last and late for dinner. He found the mess hall mostly empty but grabbed a tray and a seat at a table by himself, trying not to think about what had just happened when a tray slid next to his at the table and a familiar body fell into the seat beside him. “Seat taken, Petty Officer Lin?”

Jay looked over at Rhett, trying not to smile, pretending he didn’t blush. “It is now.”

And it was taken almost every day after that. They were mess hall buddies, every chance they got. They were in the same squad, same team, same bunkhouse. Same bathroom cubicle every chance they got as well.

Same weekends’ leave too. Same hotel bed.

Then, as the months and years rolled on, Rhett would join Jay when on leave, visiting his family.

Rhett had no family, and Jay’s mum made quick work of rectifying that.

She included him in her entire clutch of kids; when you already had five kids plus their partners, what was one more?

And if that wasn’t overwhelming enough, the first time Rhett had met the extended Lins—a dozen aunts and uncles, twenty-something first cousins—had been funny as hell.

Sid’s boot tapped Jay’s. “Stop it. Scares me when you smile like that.”

Jay laughed. “Just remembering back to the only time I ever saw Captain Ouston scared.”

Their whole team looked over to where Rhett stood in full black fatigues, jabbing a map with his finger and telling Director King exactly what he thought about something.

Totoro blinked in shock. “Captain? Scared? No...” He shook his head, disbelieving.

Jay snorted and nodded. “He met my whole family. All of us, at my niece’s naming ceremony.”

Yin quirked an eyebrow. “You have that in your family?”

Jay smiled at him. “Sure. Half Chinese, remember? But also half Malay and mostly Australian so it was just an excuse for a BBQ and a piss up.”

Yin stared at him, alarmed. “A what?”

“An excuse to get on the piss.”

“To drink alcohol,” Echo offered, and both Yin and Totoro nodded appreciatively.

Jay shrugged because, of course, that’s what he meant. “Anyway, you think he’s tough and takes no shit, but my Po Po tells him to jump, he fucking jumps.”

Everyone chuckled, and Rhett stormed over holding the map. “For the record,” he said flatly, “it’s called respect, and your grandmother is savage. Plus you have fifty cousins, and in I walk, the only tall white guy. They still make unseasoned-chicken jokes to my face. It’s been five years.”

Everyone laughed at that. Everyone. Even Yin. Though he schooled it when Rhett shot him a pointed glare.

Then Rhett shook off the moment of levity and was back in Captain mode.

“We leave in five,” he said, voice firm.

Everyone stood taller, instant game-on faces as they listened.

He laid the map out on the table, pointing to one spot in particular.

“We land here at twenty-two hundred. There will be two vehicles waiting for us. We then drive to here—” He dragged his finger along the map.

“—to this location, where we await instruction. I will tell you what we know on the way.”

The familiar sound of a Blackhawk starting drew their attention. “Okay,” Rhett yelled over the noise. He gave the signal. “Let’s go.”

Jay’s adrenaline spiked, his heart pounding at the thrill of it. He fucking loved this job. But then his training kicked in, he put his head down, and ran for the chopper.

Rhett had never been to Baku before, and he was surprised by its beauty.

Even at night, perhaps especially at night, the city was a blend of medieval and modern.

From where he stood, looking out the window, surveilling the street below, the yellow streetlights lit the old stone walls, highlighting the carved stonework and the cobblestone streets.

He was waiting for an update while his team slept. Well, except Jay, who came over and handed Rhett a bottle of water.

It had been a long day, and the six sleeping bodies on the floor made Rhett feel... something. These weren’t his original six. There were two new additions, while two of his originals were... out there, somewhere.

They’d had confirmation, footage of when Kowalski and Myles were taken; CCTV footage of them being bustled into a green BMW van on the very street Rhett was now overlooking.

They’d been lethargic, drugged most likely, unsteady on their feet, with respiratory masks, and helped into the van.

What looked like medical equipment was loaded with them: cylinders, black boxes.

The men escorting them wore hospital garb, complete with gloves and masks.

An outsider might think they looked like patients, but Rhett knew differently. It was definitely Kowalski and Myles being shoved into that van, and something was fucking wrong.

That was almost twenty-four hours ago, and Rhett had been instructed to sit tight and wait for intel.

HQ had satellites and CCTV access, and they even had a name, but there’d been a hiccup, and they needed to be one hundred percent sure.

There was no room for mistakes.

“Wanna talk about it?” Jay whispered.

Rhett’s eyes met his in the dark, and he almost smiled. Of course Jay would pick up on his mood.

“Worried?” Jay prompted.

Rhett nodded. “Yeah. That footage of Kowalski and Myles. I can’t stop thinking about it. Seeing them like that. It’s been over twenty-four hours.”

Jay stepped in closer and spoke, barely a whisper. “And?” He shot a pointed glance at the corner where Yin and Chen slept.

Yeah. Jay knew him too well.

“Dunno,” Rhett murmured. “I’m not familiar with his demeanour in the field, but he seems distracted.” Rhett shrugged. “I dunno. Am I misreading him?”

He didn’t need to even explain which of the two he was talking about.