C H A P T E R F I V E - - - D A N I E L L A

His eyes are captivating.

Dani did as she was ordered without saying anything, feeling an acute sensation in her shoulders as she went forward, his presence making her squirm slightly. She came to a halt at the entrance and almost ran into him. Her knees were wobbly from being so close to him. It was truly absurd. She wasn't the type of girl to swoon over any man, no matter how damned scorching gorgeous and deadly he was.

Yet, here you are, she thought, a momentary feeling of irony in her voice.

However, the scene in front of her was not pleasant. She knew the man on the cot right away as the lucky motherfucker who hadn't been shot in the head a few hours before. His side and arm were shredded and torn, and blood was still pouring through while two guys worked on him, one much tenser than the other.

"I brought a visitor," the guy behind her stated stiffly, his voice sweet in her ears.

"Oh, look, Jordan, it's your knight in shining armor," one of the men remarked, looking up and nodding.

“Great. She needs to save me first, and then she has to watch my humiliation," the guy rasped, his body tensing.

Dani took a step closer, frowning. She could see the jagged edges of the wound, where the bullet had ripped through his hand and side. It appeared to have gone completely through, which was a good thing. Even though his lung hadn't collapsed, the individuals tending to him were plainly not doctors. After enough time in the field, every soldier would have received adequate instruction in what to do in the event of severe injuries, but this would only get them so far.

"Have you guys have a medic on staff?" She questioned after noticing the tattoos of the SEAL eagle, trident, pistol, and anchor on Jordan's ribcage, just above the entry wound.

He screamed, his eyes gleaming with anguish, "I am the medic." She said, struggling to hold back the grin, "Ah. , see that you planned this properly."

"Oh, screw you. Please maintain your sense of superiority and leave your wit at the door. I'm in agony and can't strike girls right now."

"Man, you couldn't punch anybody. Are we going to watch as your friend loses the use of his right hand or are you two fools going to break the ties that are around my wrists so I can aid your friend here? ”

The four men were pressed together, and Dani inclined his head to one side. When it came to her, if that was all they had to worry about, she was in excellent standings, despite the skepticism in their eyes.

An authoritative voice from behind them said, "Cut them off."

When Dani turned back, she saw the man who had been sitting in the passenger seat glaring at her and crossing his arms over his chest. He had to be in charge of the team. Thankfully, the man who appeared to be about to go on a rampage stood up, pulled a knife from his belt, and slashed the ties around Dani's wrists. Before signaling for the guys to disperse so she could get a better view of the injured man, she swiftly massaged them.

She knelt down and brought the medkit to her, mumbling, "Thank you."

She wasn't a qualified medic either, but she'd made it a point to study as much as she could after witnessing two of her squad mates bleed to death when the medic wasn't on duty. The side wound had been sufficiently cleaned up by the guys, but the hand was so fragile that they were at a loss for what to do with it other than debride it. As she observed the exposed tendons and bones with the blood coagulating around them, her nose scrunched.

"Can you clench your fist?" She whispered, seeing that Jordan was in excruciating pain but maintaining remarkable composure.

She could tell that everyone in this group was a shifter, which both made life simpler and more difficult. However, at least no one was holding a pistol to her head. Nevertheless, she could still feel the towering, powerful presence of the man with the gray-blue eyes. She was far more relaxed and at ease than she probably should have been as a result.

"Are you concerned that I'll punch you? " Jordan enquired, making a sardonic jest.

He hissed in pain as he twisted his hand into a fist despite her expression. The tense-looking man was clearly fidgeting.

The person in charge responded, "Easy, Mitch," placing a hand on the man's shoulder and yanking him back. "You're not helping at all. Will you send Tim and Tom to clean the equipment? ”

The two men who had been working on Jordan, Tom and the driver Tim, rose up and nodded solemnly. They exchanged glances with Jordan, who then waved them off while maintaining enough composure to hide his distress. Jordan, the person in command, Dani, and her mysterious favorite remained in the bunker as the trio marched off.

Before any of them could say anything, the upper hatch had already closed with a loud thud.

"It's fantastic that your hand can move. You must be a shifter, then. Is she your twin? "Is that where the other man went?" Dani said while pointing with her chin in that general area.

“That cheerful motherfucker? Sure is," Jordan said with a chuckle. “He doesn't like it when one of us tries to end our lives, so don't worry about him. I believe he has it against me.”

She said, "That'll assist with the healing then." Twins have always had the advantage of healing more quickly from injuries when their partner is nearby.

"I'm grateful, by the way. For what you did there," Jordan remarked, losing all sense of humor.

Dani brushed it aside and responded, "No problem."

As she worked on Jordan's hand and side, making sure the side wound hadn't ruptured anything crucial and stitching it up, the temperature in the room seemed to fall a few degrees. Jordan's hand was kept in a fist while she removed shrapnel from the wound because she was aware that if there were any remaining foreign objects in the area, shifters' accelerated healing may cause significant harm. When she got her hands in the flesh of one of their comrades in arms, it seems like no one wanted to question her too much, but she kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

They used to be SEALs, if not now. What in the name of God are they doing in the jungle?

She had an idea, but she dared not say it since the knowledge had shaken her too much. She finished up her work in silence and then picked up a syringe, holding up a bottle of mild sedative for Jordan to see. It wasn't entirely out of the question that these men were from The Firm, and when she'd thought "losing patience" meant "getting fired," it could have also meant "being collateral damage during a raid."

"All right, I'll give you two milligrams of this. You won't sleep otherwise, I'll wager. Are you okay with that? ”

She also cast a peek behind her. Both the stony-faced commander and his depressed companion were resting against the wall, arms crossed, looks unreadable.

"All OK. Confirmed that she's giving me a two-point-five, Lieutenant."

Dani extracted the prescribed quantity from the syringe and handed it out for the lieutenant to see.

Lieutenant... most likely a shifter squad, she reasoned.

Few shifters ever went through officer training, preferring to battle rather than sit at a table cramming theory that their animal sides could accomplish without thinking. That meant they were frequently commanded by twerps considerably beneath them, something Dani had discovered while in the service herself.

He nodded and took a step back, saying, "It's the correct amount, Jordan."

Jordan's arm was the location where Dani swabbed and inserted the needle to immediately deliver the medication. Inhaling deeply, Jordan tilted his head back and peered up at the ceiling.

Finally, sounding exhausted, he replied, "I owe you a beer, Miss."

She sneered, "You owe me at least three."

She wasn't expecting the guy behind her to laugh. Looking back, she can see that it was the one that gave her brain a headache and made her stomach lurch. He was even adorable when he was grinning, by golly.

This was really unjust. Being imprisoned against her will while dealing with a botched mission, facing her own death, treating a wounded soldier she didn't know was difficult enough, but now she had to cope with becoming wet because a hot man made a sexy as fuck sound when he laughed? Oh my God, that was a lot.

As soon as Jordan was out like a light, Jerome stated, "Miss, I think it's time you and we have a conversation now." Jerome then stood up straight.

Dani inhaled deeply, quieting her pounding heart.

In an effort to persuade her frail body to stop acting like a girl and start thinking like the professional she was, she pleaded with herself, "Get your mind back in the game." It almost succeeded.

Her knees were still a little wobbly, though, as she got to her feet and left the room in the direction she was pointing, with her lovely tormentor following close after. And that was just very unfair.

C H A P T E R S I X - - - S HA U N

Shaun wished he could bite his knuckles. His hands were wanting to move on their own, and it was getting absurd trying to control them.

She was very near, and she smelt fantastic. The man wasn't the only one who was turned on; the jaguar was nearly roaring with passion, making him squirm every time he moved too close to her. And he had no idea what her name was.

Shaun watched her walk inside one of the secondary rooms, the one where he slept, her beautiful locks bouncing on her shoulders. She needed a shower, she must have been fatigued, and her wound had not yet been treated, yet she was utterly devastating throughout.

Jerome led her to a chair, and Shaun came to a halt at the door, closing it but standing against the doorframe like an ominous ghost. Jerome probably didn't need him there and didn't protest on the grounds of adding some intimidation to the situation, but Shaun wouldn't have left if he'd been instructed to. He wasn't trying to defy the lieutenant, but he couldn't shift his body any more away from her than he had to.

She sat down hard, and her body language indicated tiredness. Shaun wanted to pick her up and place her on the bed, wrap up over her, and keep her safe until she was relaxed and everything was fine. The concept made him visibly cringe.

What’s wrong with you, man? Snap out of it.

Easier said than done.

“You want to tell me why you chose to help Jordan? You didn’t have any reason to,” Jerome started.

The woman shrugged, putting her elbows on her knees and leaning forward a bit, a sly look in her eyes that could have almost doubled for amusement if she hadn’t looked so damn worn and ragged.

“I figured I could play both sides a little. You know, keep my life interesting,” she noted with a smirk, one that Shaun wanted badly to kiss off her lips.

“Hey, we can make this easy or we can make this hard. You can tell me who you are or I can bundle you up, throw you back in the jungle for your friends to find you and see what they make of you,” Jerome said, flashing his teeth in a predatory snarl that Shaun knew all too well.

His threats were rarely empty. They’d done it before with hostages that they didn’t really need, and let their own people sort out what to do with them. Usually though, it meant freedom for the party at hand. This time, Shaun was sure that the first person from the camp to get their hands on her would make sure she never had another chance to help anyone ever again.

His hands rolled into tight fists at the mere thought of it.

“You could do that. But I bet you won’t,” she said idly, her expressive eyes sparkling with something other than exhaustion.

It was like she was almost playing with them, taunting them. It made her even sexier than before and Shaun was cursing the moment he’d ever laid eyes on her. He’d made a point of keeping his life rational, on track, and without distraction. This beautiful, impossible creature had the capability to ruin all of that. And Shaun hated it when something fucked with his system.

“How come?” Jerome asked, cocking a brow and mirroring her faint amusement.

“Well, you guys don’t look like assholes. I mean, for a bunch who mowed down a camp full of thugs, that is, but my point remains.”

“You can’t build your expectations based on first impressions,” Jerome warned with a chuckle.

“True,” she agreed, shrugging her shoulders a little. “But aren’t SEALs supposed to have a code of conduct of some sort? You know, serve with honor and integrity and what not.”

Shaun felt himself tense. She’d seen Jordan’s tattoo, and almost every member of the squad had it tattooed on them at some point during their service. He flicked his gaze at Jerome and the lieutenant remained unflappable, as he always was during missions. The way that man could keep a cool head was impressive to say the least.

“What we were in our past has little to do with what we are now,” he noted coolly.

“I doubt that, though,” she said, the smirk hovering on her lips.

Without another word, she peeled up the side of her ratty, ragged shirt. Shaun’s muscles flexed halfway because he was instinctively worried that she was going for a weapon—impossible, because they’d checked her before tying her up—and halfway because the exposed flesh on her stomach and side longed to be kissed and touched by him. He had to put serious effort into not getting turned on by the fact that he could see a tiny bit of skin that he hadn’t seen before.

You are so fucked.

She looked at both Jerome and then at Shaun and it might have been his imagination, but he was pretty sure her gaze lingered on him longer than it needed to. Her fingers peeled at an invisible edge on her side, right on her ribs, and Shaun strangled a gasp of surprise as the flesh tore back, coming off smoothly with a hint of a ripping noise scratching at his ears.

It was a cover-up bandage, wide but perfectly matched to her skin tone and with edges so fine that it would have been impossible to tell it was there if she hadn’t taken it off. Underneath it, a crisp, sharp ink figure was revealed. The United States Marine Corps logo in simple black, close to her heart.

Shaun wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but he definitely didn’t anticipate Jerome bursting into laughter, his body visibly relaxing.

“So you know, huh?” he asked, the corners of his eyes crinkling with laughter.

“I could guess,” she admitted, further confusing Shaun.

“Know what?” Shaun asked, feeling his heart beat far too fast and hard.

He could recognize that logo anywhere, but why the hell was it on a woman they’d found in a foreign drug operation, packing away cocaine? It made no damn sense.

“You want to tell her or shall I, Miss Daniella Gutierrez?” Jerome asked, giving the woman a look and then raising his hand to settle Shaun and show him everything was okay.

“You two seem to have such great rapport, I’m sure you can explain it better. But just so we’re clear here, you’re with The Firm, right? Did you know I was going to be there?” she asked, letting out a long breath and patting the shirt back over her exposed skin.

“No, we didn’t. I don’t think that’ll surprise you much, right?” Jerome asked, getting a confirmatory nod and an eye roll from Daniella. “I called it in after we extracted you and Jordan from the scene. When I said we had you alive, our handlers were more than happy to tell us that you were one of us and that we should send you home. But we weren’t alerted beforehand, so you know what that means.”

His brows were furrowed and he felt irritation boiling in him. Daniella dropped her eyes for a moment, nodding solemnly, and the air in the room seemed suffocating, thick. The Firm had been willing to let Squad Six kill one of their own without remorse, without warning, or having them try and get her out of there alive. She would have been collateral damage and it was dumb luck that she was alive.

“Wait, what? You’re with The Firm?” Shaun piped in, standing up straight.

Bile rose in Shaun’s stomach. This was exactly like The Firm to pull bullshit like that. If he had to guess, he was willing to place a stiff bet on the fact that Ace had to have something to do with the whole mess.

“I am,” Daniella nodded, rolling back her shoulders now and slouching a bit in the chair, like she could finally take a breath that wasn’t calculated.

“Guess we all got lucky today, Daniella,” Jerome said.

“Call me Dani.”

“Fine, Dani. Thank you for making sure one of my boys didn’t get his brain blasted on the side of a Jeep. And for patching him up. I’m sure Jordan will bitch and moan about your handiwork later, but don’t mind him. He’s a big pussycat, really,” Jerome said, reaching out a hand to Dani.

She took it and they shook hands, her grip firm and sure. Shaun could see that from the way the tendons in her forearm flexed, and now, suddenly, he could look at her in a whole new light. The sureness of step and the way her body seemed to float when thrown into a mess that would have made any normal person falter, panic, and stumble was the result of years of training, muscle memory, and confidence colliding into the perfect combination.

She was a warrior, like they were. And he’d almost killed her.

“Don’t mention it,” she said, and there was a genuine smile on her lips now.

It was disarming.

“Shaun will get you settled in,” Jerome said as they released hands, with Dani looking at Shaun now for more than a simple stolen moment. “Give her a chance to clean up and check out that laceration on her head. I bet you need a good night’s sleep with some shitty air conditioning and stale rations, right Dani?”

“Sounds about right,” she confirmed with a chuckle, her mesmerizing eyes still locked on Shaun.

“I need to get a report from you as soon as you feel up to it. Apparently there’s a two-month gap between your last transmissions and the desk monkeys don’t like that. Shaun can take it, right? I’ll go check with the rest of the team and let command know you’re in one piece and of sound mind.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” she noted. “If I were of sound mind, I wouldn’t be in the middle of this fucking jungle.”

“Yeah, well, that’s a brand of insanity we all subscribe to,” Shaun muttered, drawing a grin out of her that damn near lit the room up.

“It’s settled then,” Jerome said, pushing open the door and stepping out with a nod to both of them.

Being alone with her was difficult, to say the least. He hadn’t realized he’d been staring before Dani grinned a little, cocking her head to the side.

“What, soldier? Like what you see?” she asked, batting her lashes in a way that was obviously full of at least a little bit of mockery.

“Impressed to see a dead woman walking, that’s all,” Shaun gruffed, slicking a hand through his hair in an effort to do anything other than sink into her.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked, the fake coyness wiped from her face immediately.

Shaun couldn’t help but grin a little at that. She was feisty as hell and he bet her reflexes were topnotch. Serious little actress, too. Her body language could go from inviting to threatening at the drop of a hat, and for once he felt well-matched. He couldn’t banter with most women at all, fearing he would hurt their feelings and cause a big teary mess as soon as he said a word. Dani, though? He bet she could dish it back twice as hard as she took it.

“I had you in my cross hairs,” he said, pursing his lips lazily.

She stilled for a second. She must have known as well as he did what that meant, and he bet she’d seen the sniper rifle case being hauled out from the back of the vehicle. Shaun himself still couldn’t believe he hadn’t taken the shot, though every fiber in his body was trained to act when he had a clear chance in a situation like that.

But standing a few feet from her now, hell… she could arrest him from hundreds of yards away, making his hand falter, but at this distance, she had disarmed him completely. All he had now was his wits and even that seemed to be running dry when faced with her.

“Why didn’t you take the shot?” she asked, echoing the question rolling back and forth in Shaun’s head as well.

“Guess I did like what I saw,” he said, grinning wryly.

He was almost expecting her to lunge at him for that and get in a good punch or two, but she didn’t. Instead, she licked over her lips, her gaze flicking down to the toes of her boots and for a second, Shaun thought he spied a slight blush on her cheeks. That was surprising. Apparently she wasn’t all sass, then. It looked just as cute on her as her tough attitude did.

“Careful, soldier. You’re playing with fire here,” she said, looking back up and clearing the tiny note of surprise off of her expression.

She couldn’t fool him, though. He’d seen it, and now the dynamic was changed. Shaun shrugged his shoulders, pushing the door open in front of him and motioning for her to go through.

“I’m not afraid of getting burned,” he said.

He wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not.

C H A P T E R S E V E N - - - - - D A N I E L L A

Daniella felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as Jerome verified her concerns.

She'd taken a risk by showing them her tattoo, but she believed they'd locate it eventually. And her notion that the six fine gentlemen she found herself in the presence of weren't deranged lunatics remained solid. She doubted she'd ever get free of her zip ties if they were.

She didn't have the firm belief that all Marines or SEALs were morally upright by nature. Not at all. She knew a lot of extremely nasty soldiers who were psychopaths in camouflage and managed to avoid going to prison only because the government paid them to do heinous crimes rather than allowing them to do it as ordinary citizens.

However, she had a gut feeling about these men, and it was a huge comfort to know that her instincts hadn't been entirely destroyed by the struggle and the protracted period of being imprisoned in the filthy forest.

But Shaun was the one who ultimately persuaded her to take a gamble. She was able to have complete faith in that man because of something about him. She was drawn to Shaun even though Jerome was the one who everyone looked up to and who was the obvious leader among a bunch of powerful Alphas. He was the only reason she had been so outspoken, whether it was because of his steely gaze, his sniper-like nerves (which she had since discovered), or the fact that her body screamed with need every time she was within ten feet of him.

She needed the assurance since hoping he was good would only work for so long.

She was now imprisoned in the same chamber that Jerome had previously led her to, but the circumstances had altered. She wasn't perched on the edge of a chair, pulsating with adrenaline, ready to roll and duck or try to fight for her freedom at any moment, and Shaun wasn't keeping watch. A ragged towel was being run through Dani's hair as she attempted to dry it while Shaun balanced a laptop on his knees and sat on the second bed. Their brief shared time in the small space was almost comforting. Because Squad Six was so gentlemanly, she had been allowed first dibs on the water in the little portable shower that had been set up in the cubbyhole that they were using as a restroom. She didn't require two reminders.

Dani felt like she could think a little bit more clearly after washing the dirt off of herself. It appeared as though the fog was dissipating and she was resuming her customary razor-sharpness.

Shaun replied, sneaking a glance at her that Dani caught, "So you're saying that this Soyo man is definitely hiding something and you think there's a parallel operation someplace in the woods."

Then, she threw the towel to the side while grinning and paused for a little while with her hands in her hair. Dani felt as like she and Shaun were more involved in an awkward flirting game than anything else since they were in the middle of preparing her report for The Firm, with one other operative having to be present whenever possible.

Her skin remained a little bit too shiny and her body language much too inviting for this to be strictly business, and he kept giving her those stares that might pass for a blasted mating call. She was powerless to stop. She attempted to rationally justify it by claiming that it was because she hadn't touched another body in months, but emotionally she knew she was lying.

Dani yearned for him. She was so close to tasting how his skin would feel on her mouth. She had been engulfed in a continual pool of need ever since she had first seen him in the automobile. It was absurd and so hot that it started to cloud her judgment.

"Yes, I would suppose so. Every two weeks, the camp is cycled, but I continued seeing that Soyo leaves the camp with one or two guards every three days and doesn't come back till the next day. From what I could determine, they were always moving in the same direction, too, regardless of where the camp was.”

After spending more than an hour drafting the lengthy paragraph, Shaun nodded as he read it. Dani exhaled in relief when he finally appeared happy with it and closed the file, the screen's blueish brightness briefly flickering across his shirt. Not just because she was relieved it was finished, but also because it may give her a better understanding of the mind of the man she was currently smitten with.

You are only acting like that because you are horny. She chastised herself to stop.

She had her doubts that it would be that simple.

Shaun slammed the laptop down and got to his feet, giving Dani a wonderful view of his muscular, lithe figure as he marched across the room. He placed the Laptop on a metal shelf and then carried his bulky sniper rifle case across the room. Even when he realized she was observing him, she didn't break her stare; instead, she only added a mischievous smirk.

As he once again sat down on the bunk next to hers, the corners of his lips twitched upward and he slightly shook his head. Despite the fact that it felt like miles separated them, the gap between them was just a few feet. Shaun quickly got to work after opening the case, assembling the massive gun with such speed and ease that his movements were practically a blur.

When did you start using a sniper rifle?

"Do you talk about work?" she questioned, noticing that her throat was beginning to feel a little dry.

Without taking his eyes off his work, he remarked, "Nearly 10 years now."

"Explain why you left the military. I take it that you were also a SEAL? ”

"Why did you?" He questioned, casting an indiscernible glance her her.

It heightened her desire to learn everything.

"I asked you first," she remarked, her tone amused.

"What is this, elementary school?" He grunted, his brow furrowed.

He had a powerful jaw, and the little sweep of his Roman nose was curiously seductive. But his hands were far more enticing. Dani crossed her knees, straining her thigh muscles, while he maneuvered with exquisite precision, muscles tensing and knotting as he constructed the weapon. Watching him work was as sexy as hell. She's sure doing something more enjoyable with him would be much better.

The pause lingered between them and she finally gave in. Her pride wasn’t important enough to let the conversation lull.

“I left because I couldn’t watch friends die anymore,” she admitted.

That afforded her a nod, his lips getting thin. It wasn’t a simple reaction. She could see his shoulders hunch a little and a wave of recognition coil through his body, almost like an invisible hand squeezing around him before releasing. Whatever it was that made him respond that way, Dani could recognize repressed pain when she saw it.

I wonder what he’s hiding…

“Your turn.”

“I left because it wasn’t home anymore,” he said.

“Do you have a home now?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Her eyes went to his ring finger, confirming for the fifteenth time that hour that there wasn’t a band there, or even a shadow of one, a tan line, anything. As much as she was intrigued by him, she would have never made a move on a married guy. Something in her stilled for the time it took for him to shake his head, adamantly hoping that he was going to say no.

“I have my brothers now,” he offered, pulling the rifle to his shoulder and leaning forward to look through the scope before lowering it, satisfied with it.

“But they’re the same kind of guys that were in the service, aren’t they?” she asked, slightly confused by his answer.

Shaun’s hands stopped, those strong, powerful fingers pausing on the smooth metal, and Dani could feel the lump in her throat get a tad tighter. She wished badly that his hands were on hers, and her jaguar purred at the thought. All of it was positively ridiculous, because she was never the kind of woman to lose her cool over a man. But Shaun? Hell, he seemed like he was worth it.

“They’re not. All of these guys, they’ve lost something. A part of themselves, mostly,” he said, training his eyes on Dani and making her world focus intensely on him while he spoke. “They’re my brothers. I’ve had others, but they’re no more. So I guess my reason is the same as yours,” he finished, the sternness of his expression lingering, brooding.

“But you could lose them again,” she said, wishing she could tell herself to shut up, but impressively failing at it.

“I could,” he agreed, smirking dryly. “But a man fights harder than anything for his family.”

The lump in her throat relaxed and she could swallow it down. The fact that he was so passionate about those he loved really resonated with her, and a big part of her got very busy pondering what kind of a partner he would be. Would he be a good father? Would he devote himself to his family like he did his crew? The answer seemed to be a resounding yes, but why she started wondering about it was a mystery Dani didn’t quite want to unravel.

Those gray-blue eyes seemed to consider her for a moment too long, rolling over her in more than simple casual interest. She’d caught him looking several times, but he had kept his tone neutral, his words careful around her since their little flirting after her identity was revealed.

A mischievous thought ran through her mind, egging her on. Maybe she could make the unflappable soldier play again…

“Can I try it?” she asked, pointing at the rifle.

That caught him off guard.

“Why?” he asked, an automatic reaction.

“I’ve never held a real sniper rifle before. Assault rifles for me, mostly. Never had the sureness of hand, I guess. I’d like to know what one feels like,” she said.

“It’s heavy,” he warned, indecision evident in his voice.

“I won’t break,” she purred, catching herself when she heard the flirty tone, but not apologizing for it.

He smirked, shaking his head with mild amusement. At least it was working. He stood up, taking the rifle in his hands, and Dani scrambled to her feet as well. He gave the gun to her and he hadn’t been kidding, that thing was heavy as hell. Dani sucked in a breath through clenched teeth as she hauled it up to her shoulder, pressing the butt against the muscle firmly while her hands gripped it with expertise that couldn’t be forgotten once learned.

Shaun slipped behind her and she had to catch herself from yelping when she felt his strong hands around her and the heat rising from his chest and body licking around her back and ass. It was all she could do to keep from rubbing up against him. He adjusted her grip slightly and that same electricity whirred through her again that she’d felt when they’d touched in the car, and she almost dropped the rifle.

He secured her hands around the heavy gun, his chest against her back now. Leaning forward to press her eye to the scope, she felt his hot breath on her neck as he spoke into her ear, his voice low, growly.

“You need to lean into it, but be ready for it. The kickback’s like getting hit in the shoulder by a mule. It’s the hardest, rawest thing you’ll ever feel,” he whispered, and she was more than sure that he was talking about more than just the gun.

“I can handle it,” she said, her body vibrating with need against him.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his massive hands now sliding down from the gun, around and tracing down her arms.

Dani bit down on her lip so hard she was afraid she’d draw blood. But she couldn’t taste the telltale tang of copper in her mouth, despite the slight hum in her ears and the very familiar feeling of adrenaline starting to snake through her veins again.

She could tell herself that it was the battle, the hormones still riding high. She could even try to convince herself that it could have been anyone, and that Shaun was at the right place at the right time. She could try. But she would be wrong.

“Yes,” she said, pulling back from the scope slowly, tilting her head to the side only slightly.

His lips were right there, inviting, delicious. He grabbed the rifle from her, holding it up while she looked into his eyes, feeling a bit like a deer getting stared down by a wolf, even though she was supposed to be the hunter here.

“Good,” he said finally, with almost an eon passing between her words and his in Dani’s mind.

Then, he crushed his lips to hers and she moaned into him readily, parting her lips and letting his tongue lash into her mouth. It was like kissing fire, so brutal that it burned wherever it touched her, but so hot that she couldn’t tear herself away. Her whole universe spun around on itself, changing and tipping, and she was gladly falling right along with it.

But a part of her was beginning to wonder if she really could handle it.