Their Bounty (Four Mercenaries 1)

It would stay their little secret, but Clover doubted he’d do anything like it again any time soon. The excess calories left him feeling sluggish during the spontaneous boot camp by the lake, and the fifteen minutes of pleasure hadn’t been worth the suffering they’d caused. Drake was so fast Clover felt the distance in their fitness levels stretch instead of shrinking, since he started trying to improve. While today’s training revealed that Drake wasn’t as proficient as Tank in terms of doing push-ups, he’d caught up to their leader fast as soon as they all moved on to activities that involved agility and speed. Clover was still struggling to finish the jog around the lake when Drake ran past him a second time, seemingly just to demonstrate how much Clover still had to learn.

Clover raised his arms in frustration. “Are you kidding me?” he yelled, despite air being such a precious commodity for his aching lungs.

Drake spun around with a smirk, running backwards as if it was all a game for him. “Too much for you? Need to hop on someone’s back?” Before Clover’s brain caught up with what that meant, Drake grabbed his thighs and threw him over his shoulder. He didn’t do it with the same ease as Tank, but was equally eager to show off his physical strength.

Clover banged his fists on Drake’s damp back but was stunned to see first black trainers, and then all of Boar, who grinned at him as he ran past, huffing for breath. “Finally! Not gonna be the loser this time, suckers.”

“It’s my second circle, Boar, so don’t flatter yourself too much,” Drake said, carrying Clover down the sun-bathed path.

Boar groaned but kept on running. “At least I’ll be faster than Clover.”

“Clover needs to step up his game if he doesn’t want to choke on his own lungs soon,” Drake said, laughing as if the boot camp that left Clover lightheaded was a walk in the park.

Clover’s face flushed with heat, and he wiggled, trying to worm his way out of the hold. “Let me down, I can do it!”

Drake snorted but complied and put Clover back on the ground. But while Clover’s feet were steady, the rest of his body was not, and he wobbled, his head spinning from the effort.

“Go on then. Run,” Drake said, jumping up to grab the thick branch of a tree above. His arms flexed, and he started pulling himself up in a steady rhythm, with muscles rolling under his newly tanned skin.

What.

Clover looked around, but with the trees growing all around the lake, they were pretty well hidden. A grin stretched his lips. He stepped closer to Drake and wrapped his arms around the angular hips. The fresh, citrusy scent of Drake’s cologne and the hint of tobacco he always carried about him was now overcome by the musky aroma of fresh sweat, and Clover leaned in, greedy to taste him. The droplets were sweet on his tongue when licked off the pronounced stomach muscles. “What if I rather stay back?”

Fuck, did Drake taste good. Even his sweat was fragrant.

Clover let out a groan of excitement when Drake’s legs wrapped around Clover’s chest in return. Would he be able to stay hanging from a branch like that while being sucked off?

Clover’s fantasies were cut short when Drake tightened his hold. Veins bulged on his neck, when his entire body stiffened and Clover’s feet lifted off the ground. Clover’s heart sped up, but before he could have as much as attempted to lean in for a breathless kiss, Drake twisted and let go of Clover, dropping him to the dirt.

The battle to touch Drake without restraints was an uphill one.

But Clover wasn’t about to give up. He rose, wiped the dust off his jogging bottoms, and circled the tree to reach a lower branch. He was still working on his pull-ups, but he could climb things if he found leverage for his feet.

Drake’s body continued going up and down even though his fingers paled from lifting the weight, but he didn’t check his pulse on his activity watch nor look at the shimmering lake. No. He kept glancing at Clover, as if he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to make his interest obvious or not.

“You’re fast.”

Clover grinned at the compliment, which only made him want to try harder. He loved every second he got to spend in Drake’s presence, and he was proud that while Drake trusted the other mercenaries, Clover doubted he’d discuss his past with them. That one time he spoke to Clover about it made Clover feel special. Drake liked joking around with Pyro or spending time with Boar. Tank knew him longest, but their relationship was nothing like the budding closeness he shared with Clover.

“Doing my best.” Clover climbed the tree and ended up with his feet on the branch Drake held on to. The dark eyes glinted like the steel blades Drake always had on him, already cutting through Clover’s workout clothes and causing Clover to pull in his stomach in anticipation of a physical poke.