AN1 Being a story about the British Armed Forces, I had to bring back Who Dares Wins as quickly as possible after the death of my beloved Queen, who I always liked. By my values, I consider myself a republican because I do not like empires or monarchs who have higher status than other humans. If I saw a monarch of any country throughout my travels, I would not treat them any differently than a restaurant worker or ordinary people I met at a football stadium, just as I would not treat Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos any differently. I do not consider anybody born into power (monarchy) or any human who has filled their pockets with wealth to be better than me or any of you reading this, for that matter. However, Queen Elizabeth II was a great stateswoman who represented the United Kingdom exceptionally well throughout her long and remarkable life. So for that reason, and that alone, she has my respect, and I mourn her loss as a citizen of the United Kingdom!
AN2 The next instalment of WDW took a few weeks because I started a new story, Ukrainian Beauty, took an illness for a week (I get ill a lot because I have a weakened immune system and long-Covid, which means I have something similar to chronic fatigue syndrome), and I spent time writing the conclusion of Chuck and Sarah's first date from the last chapter. The standalone, but extremely worth it piece—but I warn of strong sexual scenes—is available to read if you haven't already read it by visiting my fanfiction profile, which you can do by clicking my name at the top of this page, or taking a visit to the hidden mature category section of the website (by adjusting your story search filter options available to you back out on the main page).
Previously: The lovers moved to kiss again, closing their eyes at their soft, delicate touch as they started to express their immense, growing attraction toward each other.
Parting for air, they stared into each other's eyes, their faces less than an inch apart.
"Let's go back to the hotel to make love," she whispered, holding her compromised stare into his eyes.
"Uh, ok," he agreed, nodding. "But don't you want dessert here first?" he asked because they still had ample time to spare.
She shook her head as she moved to kiss him again with urgency.
— — — —
Sarah intended to sleep in the same spot they'd made love in tonight.
Looking into his eyes a final time, she said, "Goodnight, Chuck."
"Goodnight, baby," he replied.
She moved to rest her head on his chest, where she lay on him as the lovers quickly drifted off to sleep naked and spent in the comfort of each other…
Who Dares Wins
Chapter Forty-Four: Lockdown: Part Twenty-Three: Dogs of War: Finale
Manchester
Tuesday, 20 November, 2007
"THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR ROBOTO, FOR DOING THE JOBS THAT NOBODY WANTS TO!"
Sarah's eyes darted open from her sleep state at the sudden disturbance out in the hallway of the hotel.
The room was pitch dark, and sensing she'd not been asleep for very long, she started to groan in immense frustration from being woken so quickly after crashing out on Chuck's body after a passion-filled night of love.
The lively rendition of Red Team's adopted song continued, "AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR ROBOTO, FOR HELPING ME ESCAPE JUST WHEN I NEEDED TO!"
"I guess that's the team back," Chuck moaned quietly, feeling very sleepy, and he drew out a large sigh from the disturbance not long after he'd fallen asleep, which Chuck knew he hadn't been asleep for long because he still felt immensely drowsy.
"Shut the hell up! I'm trying to sleep in here!" Sarah barked in immense complaint towards the door.
However, the singing of Cole Barker, Bryce Larkin, Big Dan, Jamie Hughes, Chris MacDonald, John Murray and even Sophie out in the hallway continued, "THANK YOU! I WANT TO THANK YOU, PLEASE, THANK YOU!"
Sarah continued her violent groans before she attempted to stand up to confront her six teammates, apparently hell-bent on disturbing her from sleeping.
But Chuck reaffirmed his grip around her naked body where she was still laying into him. "They'll shut up in a minute," he sleepily assured her. "Besides, you can't go out there anyway, beautiful, 'cause you're naked."
Sarah moaned as she nestled her head back into his chest. "Tired, Chuck," she complained.
"Me too. We'll get them back for this, baby, don't worry," he said drowsily as sleep continued to threaten to overcome the lovers.
The hallway soon turned quiet, which allowed them to get back to sleep...
X–X-X-X-X-X-X
Later that morning
Sarah came to her senses under the bed covers, still lying on Chuck's torso.
She took a long moment with her eyes closed as she started to move and stretch her body, her movement causing Chuck to wake too.
With both lovers and teammates soon fully waking up, Chuck started to lift the duvet back from where it was placed over them, which caused both sets of eyes to squint at the blinding daylight escaping into the room.
"Well…" Chuck said but he paused to draw out a pleasurable sigh in fulfilment of every activity he'd partaken in with Sarah last night. "I guess it's time to get up for real this time."
"Mh-hmm," Sarah agreed as she started to rub circles on her lover's chest, her eyes soon fighting through the daylight to open, and she gazed up at him when they did. Sarah had never felt this amazing waking up the morning after sex before.
Meeting Sarah's gaze, Chuck asked, "Sleep well?"
"I guess," she said simply.
His eyes narrowed. "You guess?" he asked in hesitation.
However, a smile pursed her lips, a dead giveaway of the ecstasy she felt waking up naked after an intensely passionate night of sex with a man she liked more than she'd ever wanted anybody. "Baby, last night was the best night I'd ever had, I had the best night of sleep I've ever had, besides the lads waking us up when they did, of course, and I'm now waking up feeling better than I ever have because my mind is already replaying everything we did together since we got back, and I don't regret any of it for a second. The only reason I said, I guess, was because it would have been better if my head had been on a pillow and not a firm torso."
He grinned, which grew greater at every word she spoke. "You should have slept with your head on one then, shouldn't you?" he teased as he looked down at his irresistible lover, his eyes quickly becoming lost and fixated on her as she grew more beautiful to him by the second.
"Trying to ditch me already, lover boy?" she teased back, shaking her head in faux disgust. "Typical men."
Chuck gasped in hurt. "Excuse me, missy," he said but paused as he moved to take a firm hold of her ass cheeks. "Those comments are offensive to me. Other men may have distanced themselves from you after they got what they wanted, but that makes them fools and it's their loss and my gain. Besides, I pledged and committed to having sex with you one thousand times the night we first got together after Birmingham. Now, just what kind of man would I be if I didn't keep my word?"
"Not a very good one," she said, smirking in approval of what he'd said.
Chuck nodded. "Exactly," he said, grinning before he started to play with and squeeze hold of her naked butt.
"Can you stop doing that with your hands?" she asked flustered as her breath caught.
"If your reason for why is good, yeah," he said.
She stared into his eyes, bit her lower lip, and warned, "The reason why is because if you don't let go of my butt, then we'll be having sex again, right here and now."
Chuck's eyes instantly narrowed as he registered her comment before his eyes quickly locked into hers. "Not with you on top again, we won't. Well, at least not this next time," he said with conviction.
"Why?" she asked mischievously as she bit her lip again. "Wasn't I good enough on top for you last night?"
He instantly shook his head and blew out a strong sigh. "You're gonna be the death of me!"
Sarah giggled sweetly for a short moment until she said, "But that still didn't answer my question."
"You were more than good enough," he said instantly, still shaking his head. "In fact, I have never had a night as good as last night and probably will never again. So don't you worry about that, Sarah, because your performance will never be put into question by me, not even on your worst day, though I know there will never be a worst day for you because when you want it, you really want it," he said in awe.
Sarah suppressed laughter in approval before she smirked. "Forever is a long time without having a night as good as last night, Chucccckkk, because I intend to give you many more just like it."
His eyes instantly narrowed again at her declaration. "Oh, to hell with this teasing!" he declared as he tightened and locked his arms around her and moved to pick them both up.
"And just what do you think you're doing with me?" she asked softly as she locked her legs around his torso.
"Taking you to shower to get started on repaying last night to you, though after everything you did, it will take a lot more than just a shower, but don't worry, I'll repay the rest of the debt at a later point," he said as he walked them towards the bathroom.
Sarah giggled sexily in reply before she adjusted herself to attack his mouth with her lips.
"We're not even there yet," he mumbled incoherently into her mouth as she kissed his face off.
"Tough," she laughed back, pausing her actions briefly. "It's your fault for turning a girl on."
Chuck grinned in immense fulfilment. "Touche," he agreed.
She did have a point!
With Chuck's aide, they entered the bathroom and he walked them into the shower, where they stopped in place, with Sarah now sandwiched between Chuck and a wall, and she loved every bit of it.
"Let the fun and games…." Chuck said but paused as he removed one hand from around her briefly to play with the shower knobs until the water turned on. "Begin!"
Sarah laughed as the water streamed out, and the cold water from first turning on cascaded and drenched them both, which caused her to stop laughing as the lovers gasped in sync.
"It's freezing!" he complained.
Sarah suppressed laughter in amusement. "It is," she agreed. "But I have something that will warm you right up in a minute!"
"I have something that will warm you, too!" he said back with conviction as he returned his second arm around her to lock her in place up against the wall of the shower.
She laughed wickedly as the water soon heated up, and the smitten lovers began their intimate activities…
A short while later
Sarah and Chuck arrived at the exit door of the hotel room Sarah had been staying at for Red Team's short duration in Manchester.
Chuck was preparing to depart to return to his room and begin packing up his gear with the team's stay in Manchester now at an end.
However, both lovers were not ready to say goodbye to each other. Sure, they would be driving back to Hereford together and undertaking additional tasking back on base in tandem. Still, it was not the same as the intimate moments they'd shared since arriving, starting at the hotel pool, and culminating in the shower after working themselves up into a hot and sweaty mess again a short period ago.
Coming to a stop a short step from the door, Chuck sighed for a long moment, then said, "It's only just coming to an end, and I'm already missing everything we've done here together already."
Sarah forced a smile in reply, which showed no teeth owed to the defeated persona she, too, was experiencing over the ending of her intimate time with him. "Me too, Chuck, but I meant every single word I have said to you since we arrived here. You can believe that."
"I do," he said instantly with conviction as he moved to take her hand, and they started to play with each other's hands for a long moment as they stared into each other's eyes.
"Oh well…" he eventually said as he drew out an additional extended sigh. "Barring us taking off and running away together, it's back to Hereford, living in lockdown and sneaking glances at each other."
A more extended smile developed and lit up Sarah's features. "I know, but I can't help but feel that the lockdown is almost at an end, and once it is, we can spend as much time as we want off duty together. And I intend to do just that."
Chuck matched her warm gaze as a deep grin broke out. "So do I. And you sure know how to cheer a guy up, baby."
She laughed a sweet giggle. "And you know how to cheer a girl up. My insides will be screaming in fulfilment from everything we did together here, while you've also filled me with desire up until the next time we can be together, no matter how long that may be."
"I'll hold you to that!" he said, pointing at her and still grinning.
Sarah held her smile as the lovers shared a final extended glance in silence.
"Chuck?" she asked eventually, breaking the silence.
"Yeah?" he asked back.
She smiled cutely and said, "Kiss me goodbye."
Chuck grinned and nodded affirmatively before he stepped into her proximity, took a soft hold around her waist, and they shared a long kiss.
The lovers shared a long farewell as their lips detached and repeatedly reattached. They allowed themselves to convey how much they would miss each other until they could next be alone and intimately living their lives together again.
"Goodbye, beautiful," he declared in a loving whisper once they finally parted.
"Goodbye, baby," she replied in kind as Sarah took a firm final squeeze of his hand before she pulled back away from him and said, "I'll go out first and make sure no one is out there."
Chuck nodded.
With Chuck's confirmation given, Sarah soon turned away from him, where she paused briefly to get her composure.
Once she had it, she moved to open the door while Chuck stepped to hide behind the door.
Exiting her room and into the hotel hallway, Sarah took a long moment to glance all around her to ensure nobody would see Chuck departing.
Soon satisfied the coast was clear for now, she returned to the room and nodded at Chuck.
He nodded in reply and said, "Well, bye then…."
"Bye…" she replied.
The lovers finally departed each other's company for the first time since Chuck had arrived at her room to collect her for their date at 7pm the previous night.
Not wanting to get caught, as soon as Chuck departed, she closed her door and moved to sink against the closed door in contentment and pleasure.
Pausing against the door, a massive smile of satisfaction encompassed her face as she thought back for a long moment to every activity she'd partaken in with Chuck since they arrived in the city.
After a few minutes, she abandoned her position against the door and walked towards the bed, where she paused as a flashback of her intimate activities in the spot she was looking at with Chuck last night hit her.
Taking a final moment to allow her compromised thoughts about the new lover in her life, she put them aside and focused on packing up her gear in preparation for Red Team's return to their base in Hereford.…
X-X-X-X-X-X
Chuck, Cole and Sophie arrived at the hotel's car park, where they stopped at Sophie's car because Sophie was preparing to drive back to Hereford.
"So, Chuck, what did you get up to last night? I missed seeing you, but after Cole told me why you and Sarah wouldn't be joining, I understood," Sophie said, smiling with great affection at her fiance's best man, and a guy who she cherished as a little brother because Chuck had always looked out for her, almost as much as Cole had since the very first day she met the best friends a few years ago.
Chuck suppressed a long laugh as he gazed fondly at Sophie. "I don't know what he told you, Sophie, but it's a load of rubbish 'cause I had an early night!" he said, still muting additional laughter.
"An early night my ass!" Cole instantly said under his breath.
Chuck suddenly pointed in contempt at Cole, and he gave him the eyeball. "I heard that!" he said, grinning.
In the meantime, during the exchange between the best friends, Sophie had been studying Chuck for any giveaways in his presentation. And it appeared she had found them. "Sorry, Chuck, I agree with Cole. Your demeanour is a dead giveaway. And anyway, there's nothing wrong with how you spent your night, so you don't need to hide it," Sophie declared.
Cole pointed in immense endorsement, wholly in agreement with every single word of his fiancee. "I couldn't agree more, beautiful."
"I'm just happy to be heading home!" Chuck protested as he suppressed additional laughter.
Cole and Sophie shook their heads in sync in contempt at Chuck, which only further increased his amusement.
"Happy to be heading home my ass, you lying little sod!" Cole said, grinning.
Chuck couldn't limit his laughter to muted chuckles anymore.
"Cole's right," Sophie said. "If you're happy to be heading home from what we all stayed in last night, then there's something seriously wrong with you, Chuck."
Cole increased his intense finger jabbing towards his fiancee in massive approval, while Chuck continued his laughter as the three companions soon started to say goodbye.
Cole and Sophie exchanged farewells first as they shared a hug and a kiss for a long moment and Chuck took the time to place the small luggage suitcase Sophie had brought with her into the boot of her car.
Closing the boot, Chuck returned to Sophie and Cole, who pulled apart.
"Thanks," Sophie said, gazing fondly at Chuck for putting her luggage away for her.
Chuck grinned. "That's what best men and little brothers do for the bride-to-be," he said.
The close companions also held their warm gaze as they moved to hug and kiss.
And with their physical goodbyes complete, the soon-to-be bride, groom, and best man moved to the driver's side door as Cole opened and held the door ajar for Sophie.
Sophie moved to climb inside as the best friends positioned themselves just outside, each bending down towards her level.
"Drive safe," Chuck said, smiling.
Sophie returned the warm gaze. "Thank you."
"I'll call you tonight, and hopefully, this nightmare lockdown will be over soon so we can get back to planning the best day of our life," Cole said.
Sophie changed her affectionate glance onto Cole. "I hope so too. It's depressing being alone and also worrying myself sick about the both of you."
"Don't worry about us," Cole attempted to reassure her.
However, his attempt failed as Sophie moved to slap his arm. "Of course, I'm going to be worried about you both, Cole."
"He's right, though. We're trained for this. Besides, I'm 99% sure now that it's just journalists behind the trackers," Chuck said.
Cole nodded.
"I hope so, but even if it's just journalists that could bring problems to your careers. They have no business planting trackers on your vehicles and following you around. The job is stressful enough for you both and for your entire team, who are focused on saving lives as heroes," Sophie said.
The best friends gazed fondly at somebody who meant the world to them.
"But now isn't the time to think about that. Focus on driving home safely. I'll call you later, too," Chuck joked to lighten the mood.
Sophie broke out with a joyful smile while Cole shot his glance onto Chuck, pointed at him, and said, "Any more of that, and I will be calling Sarah tonight, Chuck."
"Fuck off!" Chuck said back, grinning, as he shook his head.
Cole, deciding to milk the moment, gasped, turned to look at Sophie, and said, "Aren't you going to pull him over swearing?"
Sophie shook her head while she glared daggers into Cole's eyes. "Not this time because if you even think of calling another woman, Cole, I'll be doing much more than swearing."
Cole tightly closed his lips to hold in any form of laughter which threatened.
While Chuck said, "Don't you worry, Sophie, so will I if he ever does, I can assure you of that."
Joy broke out and filled Sophie's face again. "That's why you're my shining star," she declared.
"Oh, I see how it is," Cole said, changing his glance between his two closest companions. "You two can have something going on with each other but not me or Sarah."
"Shut up, Cole," Sophie said instantly in dismissal.
Chuck nodded in immense agreement. "Yeah, shut up, Cole."
The three companions shared the light moment for a short moment until Cole said, "Right, we'd best let you go before Chris blows up at us for being late."
Chuck and Sophie both nodded.
"Well, thank you for the idea for me to come up last night, Cole, it was perfect and what we both needed," Sophie said.
Cole grinned while Chuck agreed, "Yeah, it was what you both needed. I'm happy you both got that."
"It was, now away with you, before we both lose our heads," Cole joked.
Sophie nodded before she put on her seatbelt, and Cole moved to close the door.
Now ready to depart, Sophie fired up the engine and Chuck, and Cole stepped back to allow her space to manoeuvre the car.
Sophie soon started to depart, and Chuck and Cole waved her off until her vehicle disappeared from view.
Turning their attention to each other, the best friends put their arms around each other.
"Right, let's grab our gear and then piss off back to Hereford. This past day of R&R has left me yearning for the lockdown to end as soon as possible and to return to things I was enjoying with Sophie and the things you and I both enjoy doing together, Chuck," Cole said.
Chuck grinned as he arched himself to look at Cole as they walked. "You and me both, Cole. I'm still devastated that we missed the Sunday we planned during our R&R after Birmingham together."
"That seems like a distant memory to me now, Chuck…." Cole lamented with a sigh.
Chuck matched his best mate's despondence. "Yeah…"
"Chin up, though, mate. As soon as this lockdown is over, we'll spend the very next Sunday at the gym, then a pub for a few to watch whatever's on, and then we'll finish at a steakhouse as we always do," Cole said, grinning in warm spirits.
Chuck matched his best friend's fond gaze and said, "We'll soon have a thousand reasons for wanting lockdown to end, Cole, mate, but that one is as good as the best of them!"
Cole chuckled in approval, and Chuck joined him as they entered the insides of the hotel.
"I was thinking that the both of us should host a team barbecue at my place once lockdown is all said and done as well. We've not had an official team outing off duty since Sarah and Bryce joined us yet because we never got the chance. Of course, aside from our piss-ups at Jim's pub!" Chuck said.
Cole held his warm gaze at his best mate and said, "What a great idea! We'll make a whole day of it by doing Sarah and Jamie's suggestion of heading to the waterpark in Hereford first, and then, later on, we'll all finish at your place and share expenses between the both of us."
"I can't wait for it, Cole," Chuck said as they shared an additional glance of affinity.
Cole started to chuckle in excitement and approval until their private moment was disturbed by Big Dan and Bryce, who exited the hotel's dining facility.
"Alright?" Chuck said, gazing cordially at some of his other teammates.
"Right as rain, fella," Big Dan replied, while Bryce nodded.
Chuck grinned as Cole chimed into the conversation, "You two are late out of breakfast. Chris will have your heads if you're not outside in…" Cole paused briefly to check his watch to ascertain the agreed departure time. "Fifteen minutes."
"It's his fault," Big Dan said, pointing at Bryce. "Speedy was busy stuffing his fat ass."
Chuck, Cole and Big Dan instantly started to snort, while Bryce's mouth opened wide and said, "You had more than me!"
"That's 'cause I'm bigger, and I still finished faster than you, fella," Big Dan replied.
Chuck and Cole chuckled in approval as Chuck said, "Good point, mate."
"The Queen wouldn't want me to go hungry. She wouldn't mind," Bryce declared laughingly.
Chuck, Cole and Big Dan shared the moment with Bryce until they were disturbed by Jamie, who also exited the hotel restaurant and had overheard the conversation because he joked, "Speedy Gonzales is right. She's a little star and will understand. God Save the Queen!"
"She is," Chuck agreed in between laughing fits. "I was fortunate enough to share a brief joke with her when she inspected me on parade with the Grenadier Guards."
Big Dan pointed everyone at Chuck and said, "Always the showoff, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he is," Jamie agreed. "We weren't fortunate enough to be the Queen's Guard in the Paras, mate, were we?"
Big Dan pointed in endorsement at Jamie. "No, fella, but to be honest, we were always shit at our drills, unlike the Guards with their pompous shiny red palace uniforms, shiny polished boots, and little parades all over London!"
"Fuck off!" Chuck said as the gathering of five teammates shared laughter and warm spirits until Cole looked at Jamie and said, "So what's your excuse for coming out later than everyone else, Jamie?"
Chuckling away, Jamie said, "I was being an exemplary teammate and observing them both to ensure neither of them went into food comas, mate!"
"What a load of rubbish!" Cole said as immediate snorts erupted amongst Jamie's teammates in his attendance to hold in their laughter, but the group failed as they shared immense laughter over the joke and Cole's instant rebuke of it.
Once the camaraderie calmed a short moment later, the teammates all shook their heads, and Chuck said, "We'd better all hurry up before Chris has all of our heads."
Some heads nodded while Big Dan said, "I'm not so sure about that, Chuck, fella, 'cause he can't take all of us at once, can he?"
The group mused over the comment until Cole said, "But are we prepared to put that theory to the test?"
"I might be," Big Dan joked.
Chuckling away, Jamie said, "Then you can speak for yourself, mate, 'cause I have no intentions to join ye."
The five teammates shared a period of additional extended laughter as they ascended the stairwell to return to their rooms.…
X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Fifteen minutes later
Chuck, Cole and Jamie entered the hotel parking area and moved to link up with Chris, John Murray and Sarah, already waiting at Red Team's vehicles.
The two groups of three shared warm gazes until Chuck and Sarah finished their glance onto each other, where the lovers shared a compromised glance for an extended moment longer than they'd looked at anyone else.
From there, they shared the briefest of smiles until they were disturbed by Big Dan and Bryce arriving behind them, the entire team now linked up and ready to depart back for Hereford.
"Right, let's be off then," Chris commanded.
Everyone nodded as Chuck, Cole, Jamie, Big Dan, and Bryce moved to store away their kit in the service vehicles before the unit entered their two means of transport, and they began the three-hour drive back to Hereford.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X
An hour later
Sarah was riding back as a passenger in the vehicle Jamie was driving. The other passengers in this Red Team vehicle were Big Dan and Bryce.
Glancing around at his teammates, Jamie interrupted the brief silence amongst the four and said, "So, did you all make the most of and enjoy the brief period of R&R we all got?"
The group took a brief moment of consideration of Jamie's question until Big Dan joked from his position in one of the rear seats, "Yeah, it was good, fella, some time away from the base and away from the missus. It was just what I needed."
This half of Red Team shared laughter until Bryce said, "Was great for me too, mate! We all got absolutely slaughtered last night. Well, six of us, at least, because no one knows what Chuck and Sarah got up to because we barred them from coming with us."
"I heard it. I was trying to sleep, but all I could hear was 'Domo Arigato, Mr Roboto'," she complained mockingly, her tone filled with irony. She was still not impressed by their actions.
Jamie, Bryce and Big Dan instantly began to snort for a long moment until Jamie said, "So how was your R&R, Sarah? Fun, I hope, mate."
Sarah narrowed her eyes as she entered consideration over her reply in case they used it against her. Deciding to hold her cards close to her chest, she said, "I had a boring evening, an early night, no drinks, and I was attempting to catch up on lost sleep in a luxurious bed."
Bryce immediately scoffed sharply. "Nobody for one second believes that, in either vehicle. But let's just say it was true despite how impossibly untrue that is. Don't you know how to have fun and enjoy yourself?"
Sarah instantly arched herself forward in the rear seat to glare at Bryce for his comments, while Big Dan also arched himself forward. From there, Big Dan discharged a hard slap onto Bryce's head, and Jamie also turned to glare at Bryce for bringing up last night's activities that they'd all agreed not to talk about or use against Chuck and Sarah.
"Ow! Fucking hell!" Bryce complained at the hard slap from Big Dan.
With all three of Bryce's teammates in this vehicle now glaring at Bryce, Big Dan said, "It will hurt even more in a minute, Speedy, you fucking prick!"
"Yeah, it will," Jamie said in immense agreement.
Sarah, meanwhile, continued her hostile glare at Bryce, now seething inside. Ever since she first met Bryce nearly a year ago, he had done nothing but got under her skin somehow. During their entire selection together, he'd attempted to woo her into bed, to the extent he was so focused on her, she was surprised he passed selection. His attempts to get her clothes off while she was focused wholly on passing the most challenging training and experience of her entire life had royally pissed her off. And now that they had passed selection and were in the same unit together, knowing the opportunity for him to get into bed with her was gone, he was seemingly now endeavouring to get under her skin and provoke her. And he succeeded every time he did it.
However, unwilling to let Bryce provoke her and win today, not today, especially not after how amazing her time with Chuck had been, she said, "I do know how to have fun."
Bryce, deciding not to poke back with a comment, couldn't, however, not emit anything from his mouth as he proceeded to scoff.
"Ok, that is it!" Sarah said in anger as she unfastened her seatbelt and attempted to leap towards Bryce, but Big Dan arched between them and put himself in the way.
"Move!" Sarah commanded, glaring at Big Dan.
Big Dan shook his head. "Sarah, you'd be well within your rights to give him a beat down. I can only speak for myself, but Jamie probably wants to do it for you as much as I do myself right now."
"I do, mate," Jamie agreed, seething over Bryce breaking the pledge they'd made to not wind Sarah up over last night, even though Bryce had a hard time going along with it, which everyone understood why, but it was no excuse for sly behaviour to a teammate.
"However, if we crash the fucking car over it, it's you who will be court-martialed, and RTU'd over it, not him. Because what has he actually done except make a comment to you? That's no excuse to lose your cool and start brawling with a teammate. He's a little shite, but he's our little shite, Sarah," Big Dan said.
Sarah huffed and puffed before she sat back in her seat, knowing Dan was right.
"He's right, Sarah," Jamie agreed as he tried to focus on driving, but he paid close attention to the altercation between his teammates.
"I'll deal with it," Big Dan said, glancing at Sarah before he turned his attention to Bryce, and he leaned forward to look at him. "Now listen here, fella. I know deep down you view her and Chuck as a mate, and I can see that it's banter, although it's sly and poking in the needle banter."
"Of course I do," Bryce said, nodding.
However, this time it was Sarah's turn to scoff, which caused Big Dan to turn back and look at Sarah over her disturbing his attempt to mediate between his quarrelling teammates.
"A mate?" Sarah then asked. "He can't bear the fact that I was with Chuck last night instead of being with him. That's not the actions of a mate," she said in frustration, not even registering what she'd said, now feeling nothing but anger towards Bryce because he'd gotten under her skin again.
Jamie and Big Dan both looked at Sarah and grimaced.
"You didn't need to admit that, Sarah," Big Dan soon said.
Sarah scoffed again, still in a complete state of defiance. "Why hide it? The only reason it had to start being hidden in the first place was that he couldn't keep his mouth shut and went and told the entire bloody Regiment about what we did, and he even told everyone that it came from Jamie and not him."
"She has a point there, mate," Jamie said, nodding as he tried to drive and engage in the discussion simultaneously.
Big Dan nodded. "She does," he agreed, looking at Jamie and Sarah before he turned to Bryce. "Speedy, fella, we all laugh and joke, but it's high time you lose the spite and malice in your jokes towards her."
"I wasn't doing that, not today at least," Bryce protested.
Jamie and Sarah instantly began to shake their heads in disagreement.
While Big Dan replied verbally and said, "You were, fella, because we all agreed only just over twelve fucking hours ago that we'd say nothing about what they did, and now you've gone and wound her up to revealing it when she clearly wanted to keep it private from us!"
"But clearly, I can't even be granted that, so what's the sodding point?" Sarah complained in defeat, puffing out a sigh, and she shook her head, still wholly consumed by her complete state of irritation.
Everyone turned to look awkwardly at Sarah, each sensing she was not prepared to kiss and make up—not this time.
"He'll always poke in the needle when he can, Dan, so there's no point trying to get him to do otherwise..." Sarah complained in despondence. "So, it looks like I'll just have to fight fire with fire as you told me at the bar yesterday and gloat in the fact that he slept alone last night while I had sex all night and morning, actually, even in the shower, just before we split ways for breakfast."
Jamie and Big Dan instantly burst into immense snorts to hold in their laughter, but they failed, and the vehicle filled with roaring laughter between the two of them.
"FUCKING HELL, MATE!" Jamie cried out in immense laughter, which only set Big Dan off further still.
Bryce, meanwhile, hit his gaze onto the floor of the transport and didn't know where to look. At the same time, Sarah held a smug glance fixedly onto the back of Bryce the entire time, who couldn't face looking at her anymore.
"After that knockdown, he'll never bring the topic up to you ever again!" Big Dan said with immense glee a minute later once he was able to bring his excessive laughter under control. "And he'll be a fool if he does unless he finds a girl himself to fire back with ammunition!"
"If he does, I'll go further into detail about what Chuck and I did last night and on the other nights, too, and trust me: I have a lot that I could tell," Sarah warned as she smirked and held her smug look in victory towards Bryce, whose persona still appeared deflated because his gaze couldn't look at any of his teammates for a long moment.
Sarah's comments only served to further Jamie and Big Dan's laughter.
Eventually, Bryce managed to look at everyone again, and he said, "I might have been sleeping alone, but the rest of us were too, except for Cole, so I don't know why Dan and Jamie are laughing 'cause them bastards were in the same situation as me!"
Bryce's comments caused Jamie and Big Dan to shoot glares at Bryce, but it set off the laughter between them again, which Bryce soon joined.
Sarah eventually joined it, knowing she was the clear and undisputed victor in the engagement and that Bryce would likely never bring the topic up again so long as she grew the courage up to fire back in such a manner, though because of how successful it had been, she knew now that it would be the only way to get them to leave her and Chuck alone.
X-X-X-X-X-X
Strirling Lines
Credenhill
Red Team's service vehicles stopped outside the barracks housing Mobility troop.
The whole unit promptly departed the vehicles, and they linked up together.
"Right, let's get our gear unloaded, and back in our rooms, then we'll meet up and engage in some light tasking," Chris commanded.
Everyone nodded, and they set about unloading their gear.
Once they had it, the teammates entered their barracks one by one, and Chuck was about to, but he paused once Sarah gestured him to her.
Complying with her request, he walked up to her, raised his head, grinned at her and said, "Hi. What's up?"
She returned the smile and said, "Hi. They know."
He instantly narrowed his eyes. "They know what?" he asked. Although he was pretty sure what they knew, he had to ask.
"About what we did last night," she said.
He did an immediate double take hearing what he believed to be the case. "Uh, how?" he asked apprehensively.
"I told them," she admitted.
Chuck's eyes gaped open. "Uh, Sarah, now why would you do that? You wanted to keep it private, and I intended to respect that."
"Because of Bryce," she admitted, forcing a smile which showed no teeth. "He wound me up so much to the point I unfastened my belt and went for him, but Dan blocked me."
Chuck shook his head before he breathed out a long sigh in frustration. "I'll kill him!" he said with conviction.
"It's ok," she assured him before she looked around briefly to ensure nobody had eyes on them.
Satisfied with her observations, she returned her glance to Chuck, who had been closely studying her to see what she was doing, and she moved her hand to softly stroke against his. "If I could get away with it, I would probably strangle him right now too. But he's not worth it, and what I said to him more than put him in his place, and that's good enough for me."
"Ok," he agreed as they continued to slyly play with each other's hands until they stopped.
Once their hands detached, they stared fixedly at each other until Chuck leaned in to whisper, "I'm already missing what we got up to last night and this morning."
Sarah bore him a smitten smile. "Me too," she admitted. "And the conversation about the topic during the ride back brought it all back to life for me and lit a fire for me again," she joked in a whisper.
Chuck narrowed his eyes. "Just what was that conversation about?"
"He was poking at me, saying it was impossibly true for us to have had an early night last night, but if it was, then he questioned if I knew how to have fun and enjoy myself, and I got so wound up I told him you and I had sex all night and morning, even in the shower," she said, smirking.
Chuck erupted in intense laughter. "Oh, Sarah, I would have loved to have seen the smug prick's face!"
"You wouldn't have been able to," she said back.
"Why not?" he asked with a fully developed grin.
She returned his loving gaze and said, "Because it took a few minutes for him to stop looking at the floor!"
Chuck continued his intense laughter, which she shared. "I would have used my hand to raise his chin just so I could look at it!" he replied.
Sarah giggled sweetly. "I was feeling tempted to myself."
"I'm so glad you embarrassed him, Sarah," he said.
She smiled. "Me too."
"But about that fire you spoke of?" he soon asked, changing the topic.
"Yeah, what about it?" she asked, but she paused to look around their proximity, and Chuck did the same.
Once they returned to look at each other, he said quietly, "Now we're back on duty and confined to base I won't suggest coming to you tonight, or you to me…."
Sensing Chuck was becoming slightly awkward in the topic with her, Sarah took the lead as she leaned in and whispered, "But as soon as we're off-duty and off-base, I'm gonna rock your world again and again and again in my bed."
Chuck grinned in immense fulfilment as he suppressed laughter. "You took the words out of my mouth, beautiful," he whispered. "But what's wrong with my bed?"
"We've already done it in your bed. Twice," she said, smirking as she bit her lower lip. "The next time, post-lockdown, I want you all over my apartment and in the bath."
"Fair enough!" Chuck said with a grin the size of a banana, and he pointed at his lover in immense approval of her wicked sweet nothings. "I just hope I can wait that long because, god, I'm more attracted to you than I have ever been to anyone, and it's only been five hours."
"Me too," she agreed, sporting a lover's smile at him for a long moment until they finally entered their barracks to stow away their gear and begin light tasking…
End of Chapter
AN3 I sense an additional mature scene when they first woke. It's not an essential part of the story, though, so I might not necessarily do it immediately, but it's definitely a possibility if/when the mood strikes.
AN4 I'll publish the new chapter in a few days. Thoughts today? As always, I would love to hear thoughts from my regular commenters. And maybe from some new faces also? :)