by KaLyn Cooper
Jokingly, Marcus wiggled his fingers. “If you need help getting into, or out of a dress, I’m more than happy to help.”
She held his gaze as a slow sensual smile crossed her face. “That can be dangerous.”
“Yes, it could.” Marcus had been good at flirting…before…but he knew what he looked like now. He hadn’t been movie star handsome, but he’d had a Latin lover look about him that seemed to attract women. The fact that he loved to dance, especially in the salsa style he’d grown up with, never hurt his chances in leaving a nightclub with a woman.
But all that was in his past. He still faced several more surgeries, each with the caveat that they would do their best but there were no guarantees.
He stepped back into the shadows so Tori didn’t have to see his face.
“Do you have to go?” Tori tilted her head to where the driver and Dash stood talking quietly.
He should go before things got awkward between the two of them. Not that he liked the friend zone, but he knew she was comfortable with him in that box.
Nodding, he said, “Yeah. I should get back to them.”
“You’re unarmed.” Tori tilted her head toward her rifle. “I’ll walk you back.”
He wasn’t about to argue if it meant spending even a few more seconds with her.
Tori touched her ear then said quietly, “I’m escorting ATF Special Agent Marcus Hernandez back to the driver.”
As they approached the other two men, Dash’s phone rang. He didn’t bother stepping away. “Lawson.” There was a long silence while the Department of Energy agent simply listened. “You’re fucking with me?” He closed his eyes and tilted his face toward the starless night. “Who knows about this?” Dash dropped his head and held Tori’s gaze. “I’ll handle informing the other agencies.”
Thumbing the off button, Dash glanced between Tori and Marcus. “You’re not fucking going to believe this.” His arm shot out, finger-pointing at the trailer. “This was a decoy. There are no nuclear weapons in that trailer. Some fucking genius in the Transportation Department decided to send out two loads tonight. We got the decoy. The real rods were only twenty miles from the Navy base when they were hijacked.” He rolled in his lips and glanced away.
After a few deep breaths, Dash seemed to have his emotions under control. “The driver and…” He cleared his throat. “Both the driver and the DOE agent were found dead in the truck. The trailer is gone.” He looked at Marcus. “And so is the nuclear material.”
“How accurate is your source?” Tori took a step toward Dash, fury in her large brown eyes.
“Completely.” Daschle swallowed hard. “When the driver didn’t report in within five minutes of his ETA, protocol is to make contact. When nobody answered their phones, transportation has to contact the state police. My boss is on the scene.”
“General Lyon, we have a situation.” Tori’s report was brief and accurate. The roar on the other end of the line forced her to pull her communications unit out of her ear. She glared at Daschle. “I don’t know how to break this to you, but USSOCOM doesn’t like to be lied to. The idiot who made that decision won’t have a job tomorrow.” She screwed the earpiece back in.
She started walking away but after two steps spun around and got into Daschle’s face. “I need you to open the back of that trailer. I have been ordered by the President of the United States to verify that there are no nuclear materials in that trailer.” She poked his chest. “I’m sure you have a portable Geiger counter somewhere in that truck. Get it.”
Twenty minutes later, both Tori and Katlin had walked up and down the aisle between the boxes verifying the lack of fissionable materials. Their cargo was new, unarmed missiles to be loaded onto a submarine and armed with the nuclear rods on the other truck.
“General Lyon is pissed.” Katlin wasn’t telling the group anything they didn’t already know.
Marcus glanced around the makeshift circle taking in the reactions. The eight men in black reacted as though the situation was nothing new for them. All five of his female friends looked disgusted.
“What a fucking waste of time.” Nita shook her head.
Marcus hadn’t considered it a complete waste. He learned several things about the women he’d known for over a year, including their codenames or handles. Nita Banks Callahan, who had recently married Katlin’s brother, Daniel, and gained a little boy and an infant girl in the process, went by Lady Harrier when on an op. The newly engaged Grace Hall was Lady Eagle, Lei Lu Sorensen was Lady Kite, and Tori’s code name was Lady Falcon. She looked like the bird of prey with her talons extended, anger seething beneath the well-controlled emotions.
All at once, everyone else started moving. The quiet men in black headed toward the vehicles they’d arrived in after mumbling quietly, obviously talking to someone in their headsets. Daschle’s phone rang and after looking at the caller ID, he stepped aside. The driver’s phone rang a second later and he wandered around his truck as though inspecting its condition.
All five women surrounded Marcus with smiles, tapping something next to their ears, probably turning off audio. The conversation was going to be private.
“Thanks for handling this well and not giving away that you know us.” Katlin looked at the retreating backs of the special operators. “We try to keep our private lives just that, private.” She let out a heavy breath. “Now that we cleared that up, we’ve been ordered to leave. We’ll see you back in D.C.”
With goodbyes and thank-yous from the other women, they all turned and walked away…except Tori. She stepped closer.
“We haven’t seen you in weeks.” Her voice was filled with concern. She touched his bicep and gave it a light squeeze. “Don’t be such a stranger. You know you’re welcome anytime. You have my number. Call. Text. Let me know how you’re doing. Please.” She squeezed his upper arm a little harder and held it longer before releasing her grasp and walking away.
He hadn’t missed the change from we to me. Marcus smiled as he touched his arm where the heat from her body was already cooling. Did she really want him to call her? Just her? Was she worried about his physical condition? Or maybe even about his mental state? Or did Tori want him to call her so they could talk?
The vibration of his ringing phone in his pocket startled him out of thoughts. Looked like his next orders were coming through.
He hesitated as the luscious female form of Tori Denton disappeared into the darkness.
“Hernandez.”
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This concludes your Sneak Peek at
Unbeatable Love: Marcus & Tori
Black Swan Novel #5
Available in all formats
https://kalyncooper.com/unbeatable-love
Also by KaLyn Cooper
Black Swan Series
Military active duty women secretly trained in Special Operations and the men who dare to capture the heart of a Woman Warrior.
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Unconventional Beginnings Prequel (Black Swan novella #0.5)
He’s dead. But they can’t allow it to affect her. She’s too important.
Download FREE https://dl.bookfunnel.com/uec4utb66d
Unrelenting Love: Lady Hawk (Katlin) & Alex (Black Swan novel #1)
Women in special operations? Never… Until he sleeps with the most lethal woman in the world.
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Noel’s Puppy Power: Bailey & Tanner (A Sweet Christmas Black Swan novella #1.5)
He’s better at communicating with animals than women, but as an amputee she knows firsthand it’s the internal scars that can be most difficult to heal.
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Uncaged Love: Harper & Rafe (Black Swan novel #2)
The jungle isn’t the only thing that’s hot while escaping from a Colombian cartel.
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Unexpected Love: Lady Eagle (Grace) & Griffin (Black Swan novel #3)
He never believed in love, but he never expected to find her.
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Ch
allenging Love: Katlin & Alex (A Black Swan novella #3.5)
A new relationship can be fragile when outsiders are determined to challenge that love.
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Unguarded Love: Lady Harrier (Nita) & Daniel (Black Swan novel #4)
She couldn’t lose another sick baby…then he brought her his dying daughter.
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Choosing Love: Grace & Griffin (A Black Swan novella #4.5)
Hard choices have to be made when parents interfere in a growing relationship.
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Unbeatable Love: Lady Falcon (Tori) & Marcus (Black Swan novel #5)
Scarred outside and in, why would his beautiful friend ever want more with him?
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Guardian Elite Series
Former special operators, these men work for Guardian Security (from the Black Swan Series) protecting families in their homes and executives on the road, but they can’t always protect their hearts.
Double Jeopardy(Novella #1 Guardian Elite series crossover with Hildie McQueen’s Indulgences series)
Guarding a billionaire and his wife isn’t easy when you can’t keep your eyes off your bikini wearing, gun carrying partner who is lethal in stilettos.
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Justice for Gwen (Novella #2 Guardian Elite series crossover with Susan Stoker’s Special Forces World)
She’s not what she seems. Neither is he. But the terrorist threat is real. So is the desire that smolders between them.
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Rescuing Melina (Novella #3 Guardian Elite series crossover with Susan Stoker’s Special Forces World)
When Jacin awoke stateside, he remembered nothing about his escape from the Colombian cartel or his torture. He was sure of only one thing, his love of Melina, his handler. When she disappears, neither bruises nor the CIA will keep him from rescuing her.
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Snow SEAL (Novella #4 Guardian Elite series crossover with Elle James Brotherhood Protectors World)
Terrorists want her…but so does he. The chase isn’t the only thing that heats up when the flint of the former SEAL strikes against the steel of the woman warrior.
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Securing Willow (Novella #5 Guardian Elite series crossover with Susan Stoker’s Special Forces World)
Guarding her wasn’t his job, but he couldn’t let her die…even before she stole his heart. When he discovers the temptingly beautiful foreign service officer is being threatened, his protective instincts take over.
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SEAL in a Storm (Novel #5 is part of the Suspense Sisters new wave of connected books, Silver SEALs featuring a seasoned hero and heroine, second chances, and edge of your seat suspense.)
With a hurricane bearing down on the tiny island, they only have days to find and rescue ten kidnapped young girls and their chaperones…and keep their hands off each other.
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Cancun Series
Follow the Girard family —along with their friends, former SEALs and active duty female Navy pilots— as they hunt Mayan antiquities, terrorists and Mexican cartels in what most would call paradise. Tropical nights aren’t the only thing HOT in Cancun.
Christmas in Cancun (Cancun Series Book #1)
Can the former SEAL keep his libido in check and his family safe when the quest for ancient Mayan idols turns murderous?
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Conquered in Cancun (Cancun Series Novella #1.5)
A helicopter pilot’s second chance at love walks into a Cancun nightclub, but she’s a jet fighter pilot with reinforced walls around her heart.
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Captivated in Cancun (Cancun Series Book #2)
His job is tracking down terrorists so he’s not interested in a family. She wants him short-term, then needs him when their worlds collide.
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Claimed by a SEAL (Cancun Series crossover Novella #2.5 with Cat Johnson’s Hot SEALs)
How far will the Homeland Security agent go to assure mission success when forced undercover for a second time with an irresistible SEAL?
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Never Series
The mission brought the five of them together, disaster nearly tore them apart, a mystery and killer reunited them forever.
A Love Never Forgotten (Never Series novel #1)
Dreams or nightmares. Truth or lies. He can't tell them apart. Then he discovers the woman who has haunted his dreams is real. Is she his future? Or his past?
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A Promise Never Forgotten (Never Series novel #2)
As a Marine Lieutenant Colonel, he could take on any mission and succeed. Raising his two godchildren…with her…just might kill him.
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A Moment Never Forgotten (Never Series novel #3)
The moment he realized she was in serious danger…he couldn’t protect her.
About the Author
KaLyn Cooper is a USA Today Bestselling author whose romances blend fact and fiction with blazing heat and heart-pounding suspense. Life as a military wife has shown KaLyn the world, and thirty years in PR taught her that fact can be stranger than fiction. She leaves it up to the reader to separate truth from imagination. She, her husband, and Little Bear (Alaskan Malamute) live in Tennessee on a micro-plantation filled with gardens, cattle, and quail. When she's not writing, she's at the shooting range or paddling on the river.
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For the latest on works in progress and future releases, check out KaLyn Cooper’s website www.KaLynCooper.com http://www.kalyncooper.com/
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