by Zoe Dawson
The one light bulb overhead illuminated her but left everything else in shadow. There was blood in her mouth, and her body throbbed from the beating. She wouldn’t hurt so bad if she had given up, but that just wasn’t in her nature.
She’d been burned, compromised, and now she was going to be the one interrogated, tortured, broken.
Her brain was fuzzy, time and day disoriented, and her stomach rolled loosely.
Fucking Bastard, or FB for short, had taken everything. Her shoes, her bag, passport, money. Most was on a table several yards beyond the cell door like a tease. Her equipment was obvious. Spook stuff. When she found the person who sold her out, she was going to make him pay.
FB and his goon squad had taken her just outside her hotel. If she hadn’t been sleep deprived and distracted…
One of his goons set down a cloth-covered tray. When she shifted, FB aimed the gun at her, and Kat realized that in some way, he was afraid of her. Then he flipped back the cloth. The tray was neatly arranged with implements like a dentist used. Her gaze flashed to FB’s.
And for the first time, he smiled.
Fear gripped her spine. Holstering his gun, he picked up a syringe, held it aloft. It was filled with a pale-yellow liquid.
“Hold her down.”
Kat drew on her threads of strength as the goon approached her. FB inserted the needle into her arm with careless regard. Her vision blurred.
“Now you will tell me what I want to know.”
“Go fuck yourself. It’ll probably be the only action you get.”
San Diego, California
There were colored lights hanging in the trees, two men grilling thick steaks, the smell of chili in the air. There were well over a hundred people crammed into the garden. It was where he’d be if he hadn’t just gotten home from visiting his mom in Bellise, Louisiana.
Yana was having her Chili Festival on land she’d bought in San Diego to grow chilis. Puckerbottom Peppers to be exact. He smiled. She had talked about it non-stop since they had moved into this gorgeous house. She’d also started a foundation for displaced people, funded by the sale of all of her family’s heirlooms except for a Picasso, a Faberge egg, and her mother’s jewelry.
And there was his Yana. He spotted her instantly. She wore simple jeans and an elegant, sleeveless black T. She had two shots of whiskey in one hand and five cards in the other. Her back was to him, and she was sitting at a table with seven guys, his teammates. They were keeping her company.
As soon as he’d gotten back to San Diego and resumed his life, he knew he had to take care of his relationship with Sarah. He’d called her, but she had already moved on and that worked in his favor.
Yana had started painting two months ago, and she was damn good at it, had a gallery show coming up. She had quit MI-6. She had taken his deployments in stride, independent and self-sufficient. He loved that about her.
He could never be something other than what he was: a highly skilled weapon of the United States government. Yeah, he was in Uncle Sam’s pocket and loved it.
He fucking loved her.
Every sultry, curvaceous, sassy, smart-mouthed inch of her.
He started forward and she rose from her chair, her cards falling to the table, her hand coming to her chest—a delicate hand.
He was such a goner.
And he was okay with that.
He had to wade through his teammates who greeted him.
Damn. All he could do was look at her. She was so beautiful. She’d knocked him senseless the first time he’d seen her, and he’d never fully recovered—the platinum of her hair, the pale, expressive brows, the shape of her face, the clear violet of her eyes. Her mouth. God, what she’d done to him with her mouth.
“I…thought…when did you decide…” she started, her voice trailing off breathlessly. Her cheeks were rosy. “…to come home.”
“I missed you.”
“Aw,” came from the collective from his teammates.
“What are you waiting for?” Kid asked.
She’d already left with him. They just didn’t know it.
He reached out his hand, and she clasped it.
He needed to kiss her. He was going to kiss her, but not here at the party. They were going to the house.
“Take care of stuff for me,” she said.
“You bet,” Wicked said.
Keeping her close to his side, he threaded a way through the wildly dancing crowd, heading to their house.
His teammates were laughing and cheering them on, but that didn’t faze him. There was only Yana, her hand in his, so small and strong, her skin roughed by her gardening, but the rest of her was so soft. He opened the gate and, once on the other side, shoved the bolt home, locking out the rest of the world. He wasn’t worried about anyone. He had a Navy SEAL team guarding his back.
It was dark on this side of the wall, dark and sweet with the smell of flowers, with just the light from the party filtering through the trees and across the tops of the climbing vines.
“Arlo, my Scarecrow,” she said, her voice still so softly breathless. “Welcome home.”
Her face was radiant, her stubborn chin tipped up toward him.
“Thank you, darlin’. Mom sends her regards.”
Then the talk was over. There was nothing to say, not right now, not when all he wanted, all he needed was to touch her, to slide his tongue in her mouth and taste her, to fill himself up with her.
Their lips met, hers parted, and a hundred emotions flooded through him. He’d expected the pleasure, but he also got love, bone deep. This was home, being with Yana, their bodies touching. She came up on tiptoe, her mouth on his, her arms going around his neck, and he slid his hand down her back.
Then farther.
He wanted to slow it down, but she was already there, and he was drowning in the love he felt, the heat of her skin, in the all-consuming soft wetness of her mouth.
They were going to have hot sex, sweet and dirty up against the garden wall in less than five minutes. Christ. He was so in love with her.
He could never live without this.
He knew the bedroom was only fifty feet away from the garden gate. He also knew they weren’t going to make it that far, not the first time, not when she was soft and wet. She already had his pants almost off, moving her hand between his legs and he could hardly breathe for what she was doing to him.
“Fuck me, Yana.” He rocked against her, then lifted her in his arms and pressed her back against the wall. “Wrap your legs around me.”
When she did it was so incredible, the sensations so intensely sweet, the rush of emotion overwhelming.
He swore softly. She felt so good. He nuzzled her neck, thrusting into her, and he felt himself die a little from the pleasure. With his arms under hers, he had one hand wrapped around a fistful of vines, holding them against the wall, and the other threaded through her hair, flowers crushed in his fingers. The whole thing was amazing, the heat, the smell, the softness. Yana, taking him again and again.
All he had to do was look at her to make him hard.
He sealed his mouth over hers and sucked on her tongue. Everything consumed him. It was all sex and love and heat and Yana.
He moved one arm down, lifting her, pushing deeper, and then he came. He felt the warning signals, felt that first sweet edge of release and was helpless to stop it. He didn’t have the strength. He didn’t have the will. Not this time.
Oh, God. It was soul-wrenching, a melting orgasm that started at the base of his dick and just flowed out of him, taking him deep inside her. It was a timeless sensation, and it lasted forever, and all the while she kissed him, holding him, her mouth on his so hot and sweet.
“Yana…” he groaned, pushing himself deeper, his body shuddering.
An hour later, they emerged through the gate smelling of hibiscus and jasmine. They walked hand in hand back to the table. Her body still throbbing from Arlo’s lovemaking. The man was so delicious.
She stopped him in a large pool of moonlight. She took a breath, needing to get this out. “I used my beauty as a weapon—armed and dangerous, but you handle armed and dangerous for a living.”
“True. You just had to stop fighting against me…I wasn’t the enemy.”
“I couldn’t, wouldn’t find the difference.”
He leaned in. He set his palm over his heart. “Here, sugar. You find the answers here.”
“There is no one else who could have gotten under my defenses like you and your mum.” She cupped his face. “I’m so thankful you did. I would have lived my life looking for security, not understanding I had it in my hands all along. I love you, Arlo, with all my heart. The heart you opened just by being the man you are. Thank you for seeing me, for being all that I need. Will ever need.”
He pulled her against him and kissed her softly. With his arm draped around her shoulders, they continued on until they got back to his teammates. “Whose money am I stealing tonight?” he asked with relish.
They all laughed and they sat down.
Yana looked at Scarecrow, waiting for this moment to tell him. “We got a letter from the Queen today.”
“Oh, really. What was it about?”
“She wants to knight you?”
“What?”
“Yeah, it’s a great honor.” Yana had never been so proud of her man. God, how she loved him and his whole team.
“Knight him?” Kid said. “Would we have to call him Sir Scarecrow?”
“No, you wouldn’t. Only British subjects can usually use that title.”
His eyes widened. “But, fuck. She made an exception in my case?”
“Yes, you saved a good chunk of London, Arlo. I think it’s warranted.”
“We saved a good chunk of London.” He shook his head as all the guys laughed.
“Sir Scarecrow wouldst thou deal the cards.”
“Shut up, Kid.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Ruckus’s cell phone rang and he answered. “Yes, sir. We’ll be right there.”
What’s the matter?” Scarecrow asked.
“Kat’s missing,” Ruckus said, tucking his phone into the back pocket of his jeans.
Yana turned to look at him. “Go,” she said. “I love you.”
She watched him get into Wicked’s truck and drive off. She prayed silently that Kat was going to be all right, that this wonderful team of men would be successful and that Scarecrow, her one and only, would be safe.
The music played on and Arlo “Scarecrow” Porter would do what he did best. Bring Kat home.
***
Look for Wicked, the next book in the SEAL Team Alpha series. Kat is captured and in danger and the last man she wants to see is Wicked. He soon discovers that she’s got a few hidden agendas that are going to get her into some trouble. While the two of them are hot on the tail of the terrorists who stole an American warhead, sparks are going to fly and maybe, finally, Wicked and Kat can each find peace with their pasts and each other.
Glossary
BUD/S - Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL training
Comm - The equipment that SEALs use to communicate with each other in the field.
CO - Commanding Officer
DoD - Department of Defense
DZ - Drop zone, the targeted area for parachutists.
HALO - High altitude, low opening jump from an aircraft.
HVT - High value target
IED - Improvised Incendiary Device
Klicks - Shortened word for kilometers.
LRRP - Long-range reconnaissance patrol.
LT - Nickname for lieutenant.
LZ - Landing Zone where aircraft can land.
Merc - Mercenary - guns for hire.
MWD - Military Working Dog
MRE - Meals, Ready-to-Eat, portable in pouches and packed with calories, these packaged meals are used in the field.
NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NCIS - Naval Criminal Investigative Service
NWU - Navy Working Uniform
RIB - Rigid Inflatable Boat
RPG - Rocket Propelled Grenade
R&R - Rest and Relaxation
Tango -Hostile combatants.
SERE -Stands for survival, evasion, resistance, escape. The principles of avoiding the enemy in the field.
Six - Military speak for watching a man’s back.
About the Author
Zoe Dawson lives in North Carolina, one of the friendliest states in the US. She discovered romance in her teens and has been spinning stories in her head ever since. Her heroes are sexy males with a disregard for danger and whether reluctant, gung-ho, or caught up in the action, show their hearts of gold.
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Her imagination runs wild with romances from sensual to scorching including romantic comedy, new adult, romantic suspense, small town, and urban fantasy. Look below to explore the many avenues to her writing. She believes it’s all about the happily ever afters and always will.
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You can find out more about Zoe here:
www.zoedawson.com
[email protected]
OTHER TITLES BY ZOE DAWSON
Romantic Comedy
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Going to the Dogs series
Leashed #1, Groomed #2
Hounded #3, Collared #4
Piggy Bank Blues #5, Holding Still #6
Louder Than Words #7 What Matters Most #8
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Going to the Dogs Wedding Novellas
Fetched #1, Tangled #2
Handled #3, Captured #4
Novellas (the complete series)
Romantic Suspense
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SEAL Team Alpha
Ruckus #1, Kid Chaos #2
Cowboy #3, Tank #4
Blue #5
New Adult
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Hope Parish Novels
A Perfect Mess #1, A Perfect Mistake #2
A Perfect Dilemma #3, Resisting Samantha #4
Handling Skylar #5, Sheltering Lawson #6
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Hope Parish Novellas
Finally Again #1, Beauty Shot #2
Mark Me #3, Novellas 1-3 (the complete series)
A Perfect Wedding #4, A Perfect Holiday #5
A Perfect Question #6, Novellas 4-6 (the complete series)
* * *
Maverick Allstars series
Ramping Up #1
Small Town Romance
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Laurel Falls series
Leaving Yesterday #1
Urban Fantasy
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The Starbuck Chronicles
AfterLife #1
Erotica
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Forbidden Plays series
Playing Rough #1, Hard Pass #2, Illegal Motions #3