by Zoe Dawson
Jugs whined and sat down at Bowie’s feet. “He even knows when to at ease.”
“That’s Jugs, sir.”
Ruckus’s head came up. “Jugs?”
“Ah, it’s short for Juggernaut.”
Ruckus laughed softly. “Good.”
After the briefing, Fast Lane and Ruckus went out for a drink. “So, you left your team.”
“A while ago. Was the hardest damn thing I’ve ever done. I miss those crazy bastards.”
“How’s Dana?”
“She’s great.”
“You have a daughter now?”
“Two,”
“Damn. Who took over the team?”
“Hollywood. He went to officer candidate school. Graduated at the top of his class. Kid Chaos is still operating, along with Wicked and Scarecrow. Blue left to become a Navy doctor, Tank is training Belgian Malinois for the Navy, and Cowboy left service to run his ranch in Texas.”
“Lots of changes, but inevitable.”
Ruckus leaned forward and said, “I like input from my team leaders, but my word is final. Always bring everything to me even the ugly stuff. I will always have your backs.”
“Sounds like we’ll do just fine together.”
The day of Danielle, Emily, and Caitlin’s funeral was gray and overcast. Unusual for Southern California, but Aella thought it was fitting. They were laying Adrian “Rock” Lane’s family to rest. The sky should look gray.
Even with the sadness she felt for him and his team, her happiness couldn’t be dimmed. She entered her bedroom with two steaming cups of coffee, eggs, bacon, and toast on a tray. She approached the bed and smiled, her gaze sliding over him where he lay naked on top of the sheets.
Well, except for the dog tags and the small amber Nidar necklace Saint still wore around his neck.
Nidar Ba Ku Heli. Saint would go back out to punish the naughty and raise hell while he was at it.
She signed. He was so beautiful, his face almost sweet in sleep, like a fallen angel, but there was nothing sweet about his body. Six feet of raw power and testosterone roped with muscle and sinew, he was a force to be reckoned with, a force of destruction when he so chose—and a force of unbearable pleasure when you added her into that gorgeous mix.
He stirred but didn’t open his eyes. “Is that coffee I smell or am I dreaming.”
“You’re not dreaming,” she said, nudging him.
He opened one blue eye and pinned her with a seductive look. “Did I ever tell you I would work it for coffee?”
“No, but that’s good information to tuck away.”
He made room for her to sit on the bed and the front view of him was just as spectacular as the back had been. She set the tray down and he snagged the coffee and took several swallows, then grabbed a piece of bacon, shoving it in his mouth.
He chewed, then said, “Thanks, babe.” He leaned up and kissed her, tasting of bacon and coffee.
Her robe slipped down over her knee, revealing her scar where the bone had come through the skin.
She bent down and rubbed at it. She turned her head to look at him as he forked up some eggs.
“I never did thank you for saving my leg, saving my career, and making it possible for me to walk and run again.”
He slid over and ran his palm over her leg. “You’re welcome.”
Cupping his face, Aella closed her eyes, a host of emotions piling up in her chest. This was one thing she had done right.
“I would do anything for you, Aella. I’d die for you.”
Her throat so tight she could barely swallow, she shoved the tray out of the way and hugged him hard, loving him so damned much that she felt as if she couldn’t hold it all in.
He finally eased his hold a little, turning his face against her neck. “You smell good.”
“Thank you,” she said, her voice thick. Sensing that they needed a little lightness right then, she gave him a squeeze. “You going to eat that bacon?”
He hugged her back. “Don’t touch my bacon, woman.”
“Whatever happened to your statement that you’d do anything for me?”
“Mmm, I guess I have limitations.”
“Do you?” she said. Then she started to tickle him, which led to too much body contact, then kissing. She put her hand on his chest. “We’ll be late.”
His face went solemn. “We can kill two birds with one stone.”
“How’s that?”
“Shower sex.”
“You are a multitasker?” she said, giving him a skeptical look.
“Yes.” He smiled.
“Get the water going. I’ll be right in.”
He eyed the bacon. “Nice try.” He snatched it up and broke it in two, handing her one half while he ate the second. Then, fully naked, he got off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.
Her heart was full to bursting. Saint was all about taking risks, in everything he did—operating, when making love, and even when it came to wearing his heart on his sleeve. As for her, she’d found that living for a job wasn’t living at all. She’d meet this man halfway in all things. They would be partners, trusting each other with their emotions, problems, everything good and bad.
Giddy with happiness, she entered the bathroom and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her heart was wide open for all the love this man had to give her. She pressed an open-mouthed kiss to his lips, then looked so deeply into his eyes she thought she’d drown in the unabashed emotion she saw there. Adoration that went both ways.
What more she could she possibly need for their happily-ever-after?
The laugh of a hyena cackled in the darkness, but the woman who knelt on the ground paid the sound no heed. Vicious animals knew their own kind. There hadn’t been a moment since she’d pulled that trigger that she hadn’t heard the echo of that shot.
Zasha was on her own, which was the way things had to be.
She was going to coldly destroy, change the world and make it as desolate as her soul. She reached into the hole and pulled out the metal canister with the biohazard symbol on it.
She had fulfilled Mohammad Angar Said’s quest. It was done and he’d offered her sanctuary until the weapons he was building were done.
She glanced down at the canister in her hands. She was getting ready to become notorious. Crossing lines that shouldn’t be crossed.
She looked up and out into the darkness, the shadowy shapes of the hyenas paced, watching her. Carrion feeders. She was glad Darko was dead. She loved him too much to drag him down with her into this, to have him hunted.
She would be hunted, regardless of how successful she was in her quest. The US and their allies were on the chase, following the breadcrumbs she was leaving for them. Fast Lane and his SEALs broke some rules, but the few they kept, they held dear. Their survival depended on it, and revenge had no place in their operating procedures or in their hearts. They were the good guys, and not a one of them doubted it, because not a one of them had ever killed outside the law. They’d all rattled the chain of command, but none of them had ever broken it. They acted under orders, and only under orders.
She smiled. They would have to break the rules to catch her.
She closed her hand around the canister, so tightly she could feel the sharp edges pressing into her skin.
The line had already been crossed long ago.
There was no turning back.
None.
Not when everything inside her pushed her on. Not when she’d been forced to her knees more times than she could bear by the monster in her mind.
If the US wanted her after she did what she had to do, they were going to have to find her, and she wasn’t going to let that happen.
Next up will be the 16th book in the SEAL Team Alpha series, Fast Lane. He’s hell bent on tracking down international terrorist Zasha Vasiliev, his nemesis for so many missions. This time he was going to find her and stop her from her global terror and unleashing death and destruction on innocents. But when she
gets the drop on him, she doesn’t hold back…she wants him dead. Except he’s not the only one in her crosshairs. His ex-wife Solace is with him when their chopper is shot down over the deadliest place in Pakistan…Mohammad Angar Said’s backyard. Now it’s a race against insurmountable forces to survive in a hostile environment…and maybe, build a second chance at love with the woman he’d never stopped loving.
Glossary
BO - Basic Orientation (BUD/S)
BUD/S - Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL training
Comm - The equipment that SEALs use to communicate with each other in the field.
CO - Commanding Officer
CTT - Combat Training Tank
DEVGRU - The United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), formerly SEAL Team Six
DoD - Department of Defense
DOR - Drop on Request
DZ - Drop zone, the targeted area for parachutists.
HALO - High altitude, low opening jump from an aircraft.
HVT - High value target
IBS - Inflatable Boat, Small
IED - Improvised Explosive 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
OIC - Officer in Charge
REACT - Regional Enforcement Action Capabilities Team
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.
SO - Special Operator
SPIES - Special Patrol Insertion & Extraction System
UDT - Underwater Demolitions Team
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.
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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www.zoedawson.com
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OTHER TITLES BY ZOE DAWSON
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