Gannon kept hold of Margo but leveled a lethal gaze at Elvin. “Know Detective Sweeney was keeping the authorities away from the ring of the Sinaloa Cartel’s US human trafficking scam? Know that my brother helped expose them by finding evidence that nearly cost him his life? Or know that he’s head over boots in love with your daughter?”
Sweeney? It didn’t surprise her. She wished it had, wished she’d thought about it before leaving Gannon alone. Not that he needed her to take care of him. Obviously, he didn’t, but she wanted to.
Elvin opened his mouth but closed it and nodded.
“He’s changed for Liana and himself.” Gannon smiled at Liana. “Thank you.”
Tears cascaded down Liana’s dark face. A sob wracked her, and Elvin broke. He rushed to her side and pulled her to his chest. “That stubborn boy wouldn't leave you, especially when he has the opportunity to stick it to me.” They rocked together. “He’ll be fine. He’ll be fine.”
“Will he?” Gannon whispered into Margo’s ear.
She nodded confidently.
“Because he had top-notch care from the ground up,” Dane offered.
Margo winced, but Gannon turned and offered her friend a hand.
“Dane Chandler.” Dane shook his hand.
“Gannon Lee. Thanks for being here for Margo when I couldn’t.” Something dark crossed over Gannon’s face, but the doctor knocked on the doorframe, capturing everyone’s attention.
“Mr. Lee’s family?” They moved back to allow the short man entry. Half the room claimed Griffin, and the doctor smiled. “We pulled a good bit of blood and fluid off the lungs. I want to keep him for a few days but am confident Mr. Lee will make a full recovery. He’ll be in ICU tonight for observation. I suggest you go home and get some sleep. Visiting hours begin at five a.m.” He turned to go but paused. “No more than two back at a time.” He left.
The collective sighed but not Margo. She had about a million questions for Gannon, but the look of sheer exhaustion on his face told her they’d have to wait. They said their goodbyes and headed home.
Home.
For years, she’d referred to the estate as the house but never home. Gannon’s presence at the house had turned it into a place she could live, a place she felt whole and comfortable. Yet it wasn’t his home. He lived … She didn’t know where. She didn’t know what he did beyond the broad spectrum of covert military operations. The level of danger involved with those sorts of endeavors flipped her already battered stomach.
“I’m sorry; I got blood in your car.” He maneuvered the car off the highway and onto the backroads. Night hugged them tightly, revealing only what the headlights illuminated.
“Oh.” His words caught her off guard. “I don’t care about that. Leather. It will wipe off.”
“Mostly.” He nodded at the floor.
Margo grunted, unable to work up the concern for trivial matters after a day like today.
“If you’re not worried about the blood in your car, what are you stewing about over there?”
“Nothing.”
“Answered so quickly, yet I don’t believe it.” He reached across the console, pressed his palm to hers, and interweaved their fingers.
She hesitated. So much had already happened today. He didn’t need another thing to worry about.
“Am I going to have to torture it out of you?” A sinister smile curved his mouth at the prospect.
“I thought you were tired.”
“I live on the go, Mar. Even if I didn’t, I’d never be too tired to tease an orgasm and some information out of you.” Gannon nodded. “There it is.”
“What?”
“The worry.” His crooked mouth taunted, but his eyes held more than a hint of sadness. “It’s about my job?”
“No. Not exactly.” She pulled her legs into the seat and turned toward him. “It’s dangerous. That’s not great, but it’s worth the risk because you love it and you help people.”
“Then what is it?” He watched as the town of Combine rolled past outside the window and waited for her to find the words.
She offered up a worry, though, not her main concern. “So they were going to set Griffin up on the arson charge to get him out of the way?”
Gannon’s lips pursed, and an eyebrow hiked in her direction. “Poor excuse for evasion.”
“I’m serious.”
“Me too.” He turned a corner, worked his jaw for a minute, and then sighed. “I still haven’t worked out the arson. Fire doesn’t make sense. They could have framed him for a hundred other crimes he’d have been more likely to commit. We’ll see what Base Branch turns up, but I want you to remain vigilant. These people enslave women and children for money. They won’t give up without a fight. But I won’t let them hurt you. Never.”
Margo shuddered.
“Now, out with your real concerns,” he demanded.
“I know you.” She rubbed the back of his hand. “I always have. But I don’t know anything about your life. Like where do you live? How long have you lived there? How often do you travel?”
“You’re acting like you want me to hang around after I make sure Griffin is okay and finish your rebuild.” Gannon’s tone joked, but it didn’t match the serious clench of his jaw or intent in his eyes.
Hope bloomed inside Margo. “So … what if I do?”
“Do what?” All toying fled his voice. The full depth of it echoed in the close confines of her car.
“You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?” She squirmed in her seat.
“Nothing worth having is ever easy, Margo.” With one hand, he pulled hers to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the back while his other maneuvered them into the driveway.
Margo opened her mouth to speak but closed it. Everything she ever wanted in this world sat before her, and terror gripped her by the throat. What if he left? Before, she’d been prepared for it. Now, she could only face one outcome. The other robbed her of breath and squeezed her heart to the point of shattering.
“Motherfucker.” Gannon tossed the car into park and burst from the door for the second time that day. “Stay here. Lock the doors.” He ran away up the drive.
Then she saw it.
A figure in black clothing darted across the yard.
Terror released its grip on her heart. Fear and rage meshed together, churning her blood.
Gannon gained ground in quick, fierce strides.
Another movement close to the house caught her attention.
Smoke snaked in a seductive stream mixing with the dark night. Only the reflection of the headlights made it visible.
Margo bolted from the car. Orders or not, she wouldn’t let her home or Gannon’s hard work return to ashes. Her legs burned from the sudden burst of exertion. She rounded the back corner of the house.
Orange and red flames licked their way up the naked wood, slowly eating at the new exterior. The fire hadn’t eaten more than two feet up on the side of the house. However, if left unchecked, it would destroy everything. Already it gained momentum.
Fumes singed her nose. Heat battered her face.
Like she had the night that seemed so long ago, Margo yanked the garden hose through the flowerbed, turned it on full blast, and attacked the flames.
It only took a minute. She held her breath for every last second until the fire turned to dark, cracked, water-soaked wood. Adrenaline roared through her veins, ready to rip into the person who’d set fire to her house … again.
She turned and stalled.
The fight fled her. Adrenaline drained, leaving her limp and useless.
Gannon stood ten feet away with the culprit held in some kind of arm lock.
“No.” Hot tears streamed down Margo’s cheeks. “Elise?”
“Call off your dog.” Her sister jerked in Gannon’s grasp, irreverent and defiant as ever. A black hoodie covered her beautiful blond hair. Black pants and designer boots clung to her thin form.
Anger overtook desperation an
d disappointment. It grew armor and teeth.
“No.” Margo straightened from the initial blow and stalked to Elise. She got so close gasoline fumes stung her throat. “I’ll have him tie you into a pretzel until you tell me why! Why would you try to burn down our house? Why would you try to kill me? Jesus Christ. I’m your fucking sister. Your only blood in this world, and the only person who gives a shit about you. Why?”
Elise remained silent.
“Let her go,” Margo barked. The moment Gannon released her sister, Margo planted her hands on Elise’s chest and shoved.
Her sister stumbled back. Shock wrinkled Elise’s perfect skin.
“Why?” Margo’s scream echoed in the night. “I love you, why?”
Tears sprang from her sister’s eyes. A sob heaved her chest, and she crumpled to the ground.
When Margo’s anger abated enough for her to get closer without strangling her sister, she knelt by her side. “Tell me why?”
“Jack was going to leave me. He thought I was a Foster and … I needed money. I needed him to stay. If I didn’t have him, I wouldn’t have anything.” Elise curled into a ball on the ground and cried.
“You wanted the insurance money.” Even as she said the words, her head shook in disbelief.
“I wasn’t trying to kill you. It was the corner closest to your bedroom. I thought you’d hear the alarms and get out.” She straightened and hugged her legs to her chest. Her sad blue gaze found Margo’s. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? Elise, while I’m thrilled you didn’t actually try to kill me, you could have killed me very easily. One lungful of hot, chemical-filled smoke and that would have been it. You toyed with my life and destroyed property to get what you wanted. Sorry doesn’t erase that.”
Elise’s breath caught. She hugged herself and rocked. “I can’t go to jail. I just …”
Margo sought Gannon. What the hell was a person to do in this situation? She hadn’t a clue. Gannon did, though. He’d dealt with Griffin, gotten him through the toughest times.
He offered her a sweet, sorrowful nod.
“Yes, you can, Elise. You can pay for your mistakes and learn how to keep them from happening again.” Margo grabbed her sister’s hand. “If I don’t press charges, you probably won’t go to jail, but you have to agree to counseling and to pay your debt however the court rules. I won’t abandon you, but you have to make this right. You have to learn you’re worth more than your clothing, name, or car.”
“Easy for you to say.” Elise pulled back but didn’t jerk. She wiped at her tears. “You have money and clothes and a car.”
“Yeah, all things I earned. Nothing someone gave me. And this house is ours, not just mine. After all this is over and you’re on the road to recovery, I’ll buy you out of it, or we can talk about selling the place and going our separate ways. But as long as we share blood, I’ll be here for you.”
“Jack was cheating on me anyway.” Elise hiccupped.
She still didn’t understand that her worth wasn’t tied to a man, but maybe one day, she would.
11
Margo arched over him. The pink peaks of her nipples thrust forward. His mouth watered for a taste. He latched his hands on either side of her waist, held her hips still, and leaned closer. One exquisite point greeted his tongue. Using easy flicks, he lowered the frantic tempo she’d set before his eyes had been good and opened to the morning light.
She’d made no declarations or demands of him, yet every day since his brother’s attack and her sister’s arson, Margo had made love to him with a twinge of desperation. Like she had to savor every moment. Like each breath might be their last. At first, he’d fallen into her total abandon. Now, it unsettled something inside him, something he needed to rectify before it drove him insane.
His mouth popped off her nipple. Still, she fought to writhe her hips on his cock. Still, she fought for control of something she wanted but didn’t know how to ask for. The love of his life shouldn’t have to ask.
Gannon flipped them over. He lay his body flat atop her, pinning her to the bed.
“Look at me, Mar.” His baritone demanded compliance.
She blinked away swollen pupils. A glaze of lust coated her eyes. His cock twitched inside her, and she gasped.
“Margo. I love you.”
Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I know.” A hint of tears gathered on her lid. “I really know you do, and it’s killing me. I don’t need a promise of forever. I don’t even need you.”
Well, then.
“I proved to myself for ten years that I don’t need you to live my life.”
He read into the unspoken not like my sister part. He was glad for it, for her, but it still hurt to hear.
“But I want you,” she added. “I don’t know about your job or where your life is, but I want to be a part of it.”
Gannon pressed his mouth to hers to keep her quiet. When he was certain to have a moment of silence when he lifted, he did. Margo’s chest rose and fell against his.
“I always thought I wanted you, but I was wrong.”
Margo’s fight for her hip stopped. Her lids shot wide.
“I need you, Mar. You make life worth living. Before, I just existed, but you make me want to live every day by your side.”
Her fingers interlaced with his. The bottom of her lip quivered. He leaned down and kissed it, kissed her. Their bodies moved as one, retreating and thrusting in perfect opposition.
He wrapped her legs around him, pulled her into his arms, and bore the brunt of his weight inside her with every pump. Sweat clung to their bodies. Their breaths and moans tangled around them, over them.
“Fuck me, Mar. Love me.”
“Forever,” she panted. “You’re mine.”
Her pleasure convulsed, squeezing his cock, but her words drove him to the breaking point. He buried a hand in her hair, sealed his mouth to hers, and spilled himself inside her.
“Forever?” he asked.
She kissed him and then pulled back. “Wherever you go, I’ll go. Forever.”
“What if I stay here with you?”
“You hate this town, and I don’t want you to give up your job for me.”
“I’d give my life for you. A job is nothing, but I don’t have to. I’ll be heading up a new anti-trafficking task force in Dallas. I have to be with my girl. You are mine, Margo.”
Her entire face lit. Sure, they had obstacles to overcome, like her family and his, but it didn’t matter. The years, the sadness, vanished in the brilliance of love.
Their relentless love.
ENEMY MINE
Base Branch Novel 1
When friends become enemies and enemies become lovers.
Born in the blood of Sierra Leone's Civil War, enslaved, then sold to the US as an orphan, Base Branch operative Sloan Harris is emotionally dead and driven by vengeance. With no soul to give, her body becomes the bargaining chip to infiltrate a warlord's inner circle. The man called The Devil killed her family and helped destroy a region.
As son of the warlord, Baine Kendrick will happily use Sloan's body if it expedites his father's demise. Yet, he is wholly unprepared for the possessive and protective emotions she provokes. Maybe it’s the flashes of memory … two forgotten children drawing in the dirt beneath the boabab tree… But he fears there is more at stake than his life.
In the Devil's den with Baine by her side, Sloan braves certain death and discovers a spirit for living.
READ MORE
Books by Megan Mitcham
BASE BRANCH SERIES
ENEMY MINE
JUSTICE MINE
STRANGER MINE
WARRIOR MINE
DANGER MINE
PRISONER MINE
VERSIONS
VIRTUES
VARIATIONS
NEVER MINE
RELENTLESSLY MINE
FURIOUSLY MINE
CAPTOR MINE
BUREAU SERIES
FOR ALL TO SEE
ANTHOLOGIES
ANTICIPATION
COWBOY HEAT
HIGH OCTANE HEROES
CONQUESTS
ROGUES
SEX OBJECTS
WILD AT HEART VOLUME II
benefiting Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge
BOX SET
HEARTS IN DANGER
Limited Edition
benefiting the American Heart Association
For information on new releases and giveaways, sign up for Megan’s newsletter at www.meganmitcham.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Megan Mitcham was born and raised among the live oaks and shrimp boats of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where her enormous family still calls home. She attended college at the University of Southern Mississippi where she received a bachelor's degree in curriculum, instruction, and special education. For several years Megan worked as a teacher in Mississippi. She married and moved to South Carolina and began working for an international non-profit organization as an instructor and co-director.
In 2009 Megan fell in love with books. Until then, books had been a source for research or the topic of tests. But one day she read Mercy by Julie Garwood. And oh, Mercy, she was hooked!
The USA Today Bestselling Author lives in Southern Arkansas where she pens heart pounding romantic thriller novels and window-steaming erotic romance. For information on releases and giveaways subscribe at meganmitcham.com!
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Twitter: @MeganMMMitcham
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Website: www.meganmitcham.com
For information on new releases and giveaways, sign up for Megan’s newsletter at www.meganmitcham.com.
Dallas Fire & Rescue: Relentlessly Mine (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Base Branch Series Book 11) Page 8