since I was five.”
She rocked her hips, rubbing her wetness down his thick length. “He also nails everything that moves.”
Dari groaned at her movements, his expression going sober at her words. “Not my girl.”
Funny how those three simple words always made her stomach flutter. It didn’t matter that she was a Marine. Or that she saw herself as his equal. Whenever he laid claim to her, she felt like his girl.
He reached for a condom on the nightstand, quickly sheathed himself and then grasped her hips, entering her in one, long upward thrust that forced all thought from her mind. She moaned into his mouth, all too happy to welcome him into her body again…and again. As often as she could before time and space and the military would force them apart for eighteen long months.
1
Four months later…
MEGAN AIMED THE M-16 semiautomatic rifle at the man-size moving targets a hundred and fifty yards away, testing not so much her own acumen—she’d been a crack shot from the time she’d learned to shoot at ten and was a consummate pro now—but the quality of the exercise Lazarus staff had put together for trainees on the grounds just outside Colorado Springs, Colorado, a place none of them were from…but the place Barry Lazaro had called home.
“Still too slow!” she shouted toward the control booth.
She no sooner said the words than the target sped up and then slowed back down again. She missed.
Blowing a long breath between her teeth, she dropped the rifle to rest against her hips and stared at the control booth where Jason Savage grinned at her.
“You told me you wanted it faster.”
“That I did.”
She considered aiming the gun in his direction then thought better of it. A pro never turned her weapon on another unless she meant to shoot. And while the temptation was strong…
“We done for now?”
She nodded. “We’ll make another assessment during the next training session.”
She walked toward the main complex, let herself in and then entered the armory where she checked and cleaned the rifle before putting it away.
Lazarus Security was growing faster than any of them had dreamed. The property was spread over a hundred acres, the main compound positioned in the southwestern corner, twenty-five thousand square feet of a plain, square, one-story structure that boasted a full gym, firing range, classrooms, a fully stocked armory and even a barracks that held twenty bunks, should the need arise. Outside they had five different training courses, including a dirt track for bike training and a paved one to teach evasive maneuvers while driving.
Word had spread and they were having trouble keeping up with demand, bringing in fresh trainees every two weeks, most ex-military, which made them almost job ready.
Still, while contracts were rolling in, they were mostly of the low-caliber security-detail variety: bodyguards, drivers, installing home and business security systems. While none of the partners complained, Megan had hoped for something a little more…exciting.
She opened the armory door and nearly ran straight into Jason Savage.
He lifted his hands as if in surrender and chuckled. “I give up.”
“Very funny,” she said.
At just over six foot three, Jason was a little taller than Darius…and much darker. Where Dari had light brown hair and eyes, Jason’s were almost black.
But the differences went beyond the physical: Jason was somehow also darker in demeanor. Something lurked beyond the surface, shadowy and dangerous.
Still, she’d be the first to admit surprise at the way he’d stepped up after Dari had shipped back out. She guessed it was because they were both being forced to go without someone important in their lives.
“Where you heading?” Jason asked.
She glanced at him as they walked, both of them dressed in training fatigues. “The front offices.”
“Me, too. I’ll walk with you.”
They headed down the hall that would take them outside to a pathway leading to the public offices, each structure separate and secure from the next.
And miles apart in appearance.
“Still haven’t heard from Dari, huh?” Jason asked as he opened the door and she passed through it.
Megan stared at him, blinking against the early-afternoon sunlight as they crossed to the more aesthetically pleasing building that housed the main offices. It looked more like a small, modern home than a commercial structure.
Jason shrugged. “Hey, you’re always a little more uptight when you’re out of contact.”
She grimaced, recognizing he probably was right. But it didn’t make her feel any better to be called uptight.
“I haven’t heard from him in two weeks,” she admitted.
“Yeah, me, too. Field trip.”
Field trip was code for extra-remote mission where an elite group was sent into a sensitive area and all contact with the outside world was off-limits unless they needed help from command.
Megan caught herself scratching her arm.
She was well versed on the life of a Marine. Hell, she was one herself, albeit retired, despite the saying that a Marine was always a Marine. But that hadn’t made the past four months any easier. Especially now that Dari was out of contact. At least before, they’d been able to arrange the occasional video chat and had spoken on the phone a couple of times a week when their schedules meshed…and sexted like there was no tomorrow.
But now that he’d gone silent, she felt oddly as if the world had stopped spinning.
She and Jason entered the office building.
It always caught her off guard, moving from one structure to the other. In her fatigues, she felt out of place in the nicely decorated, civilized surroundings; a sensation she didn’t experience when she came in dressed to impress in client and business meetings.
“I guess this is where we part ways,” Jason said, grinning. “I have a certain receptionist I need to charm.”
Megan gave a surprised laugh and an eye roll. “If she’s got half a brain, she’ll shoot you down flat.”
“Who said I was interested in her brain?”
She smiled. “Who, indeed.”
She opened her office door.
“Hey,” Jason called. “Why don’t you stop by The Barracks later?”
Every day he extended the same invitation to drop by his favorite watering hole; every day she refused.
“Maybe,”
