Her Ranger Rescuers

by M J Adams

“Yes, sir,” James said, because the Army had taught him to respect his superiors.

  Jonas grinned at him. “Miah?”

  “Yeah, okay.” Miah laid back down. “But she’s hot, and she might need us to show her some affection.”

  “Jeremiah,” Jonas said again, heavy warnings in the four syllables.

  “I’m just saying that she hugged me last night, and I didn’t initiate that. She’s as starved for the human touch as we are.” He looked at James. “She held my hand too. I swear I didn’t touch her first.”

  James believed his brother, as all of them knew how high the stakes were these days. “She’s been alone for a lot of years,” he said thoughtfully.

  “And in Witness Protection for months,” Jonas added. “And we know what kind of men those agents are.” He sighed, his hand on the doorknob and his phone flashing at him. “Use good judgement, guys. I love you both, and I’m doing everything I can to get us out of here.” With that, he left, even before James could tell him to be careful, that he loved him too.

  Jonas carried a heavy burden, James knew that. He didn’t blame his brother for bringing him to Parkwood Academy after the death of their parents. In many ways, it had saved James from a much darker future.

  “Well, I’m up,” Miah said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “I’m taking the dogs down.”

  “It’s not curfew yet,” James said.

  “I know what time it is.” Miah pulled on a pair of basketball shorts. “And I get a pass because of the dogs.” He flashed a grin in James’s direction. “Maybe I’ll overhear another privileged conversation.”

  “Be careful,” James said, a dangerous balloon of hope expanding in his chest.

  “Come on, Tootsie,” Miah said, picking up the dog from where she huddled on James’s chest. Their eyes met, and Miah added, “I’ll be careful, bro. I always am.”

  James nodded and watched his second brother leave the room. Once alone, he got up and moved over to the window. Cimony was only one wall away, and he thought about her next door. Would she be able to sleep tonight? She’d likely been given less than stellar living conditions over the course of the trial, as well as the months leading up to it. So Parkwood should be a huge step up.

  He thought about her hugging Miah and holding his hand, and his own fingers tingled. He had no idea what that felt like, as he’d also entered the Army at age eighteen, gone right off to basic training, and served his country honorably until the carbon monoxide poisoning of both of his parents.

  With his eyes closed, he could still see their sleeping bodies. Still feel the miles and miles between him and them when he’d heard. Still feel the utter exhaustion way down deep in his soul.

  His response to the tragedy had been to check and double-check everything, all the time. He was almost obsessed with the little things, as it was something small and often overlooked that had taken the two people he loved most from this world. And he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if something he could’ve prevented happened.

  But at Parkwood, nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. They got charge after charge. They trained them for a new career. Helped them get in top physical shape should they need to run or fight. Built up their confidence, and provided them with a new, bright future.

  Nine women. Nine missions in just over two years. It didn’t feel like he’d accomplished a lot, but the Grand Master had always praised his team. None of their charges had relapsed or needed much follow-up. Not like Avery Tyson, who Jonas was on his way to intercept from doing something that would either endanger her or endanger Parkwood Academy and what they did.

  A light went off in his head, and he suddenly knew exactly what they needed to do to get out of their current situation.

  “Create danger,” he whispered to himself. Parkwood Academy operated with funding from private and government sources, but they weren’t on any official books. Therefore, the secrecy of what they did was paramount. Any time anyone even got close to mentioning Parkwood to the general public, or if anything was about get out about the organization, those channels got shut down swiftly.

  That was what Jonas was headed to do.

  But if he, Miah, and Jonas could somehow create a situation where they were the ones about to make everything public…they could get away.

  Sure, the General would send people after them, but they could split up. Go deep underground. Heck, they’d all done it before.

  And Max, Luke, and Isaac managed it, his mind whispered to him. They’d been gone for three months, and as far as James knew, no one had seen nor heard of them since. Almost as if they’d been erased from the planet.

  “Isn’t that what Parkwood does best?” he asked his reflection in the window bitterly. “Erase people. Help them start over?”

  He just wanted the same thing for himself that he’d provided to nine women.

  #

  Hours later, he stood outside Cimony’s door, one ear practically pressed to the wood. He couldn’t hear a thing, and she should be up by now. They didn’t have anything to do, but he was bored, and they could only get outside during certain hours with the new rules.

  He finally knocked, and from inside the room, she said, “Yeah?”

  James opened the door to find her standing there in a pair of jeans that seemed painted on her body and a bra. “I’m sorry,” he said, quickly backing out.

  “It’s fine,” she said, pulling a red T-shirt over her head. Her confidence and gorgeous smile sang to his soul, but he still believed Miah when he said she wouldn’t be easy. She was incredibly beautiful, and she seemed to know it. “Morning, James.”

  “How was everything last night?” he asked.

  She glanced around the room and sighed. “Just fine.” She started gathering her hair into a ponytail on top of her head. “What are we doing today? I hope I’m not late. Miah said I could sleep as long as I wanted.”

  James entered the room with two steps and clasped his hands behind his back. “And did you sleep?” The dark circles under her eyes testified differently. As did the way she raised her chin as if she would challenge him.

  “Not much,” she finally admitted, her slim shoulders deflating slightly. “But I’m hungry.”

  “Why didn’t you sleep well?” he asked. “Maybe there’s something I can do to help.”

  “The room is fine,” she said, glancing around again. When her eyes met his, James saw fear there. “It’s just so big.”

  “Too big,” he said. “Interesting. What would make it smaller?”

  Cimony approached him, something firing in her eyes he didn’t understand. She really wasn’t like any other charge he’d ever dealt with. She wasn’t a high school girl like any he’d known growing up. She possessed some of the hardness of the few women he’d known in the Army.

  But really, Cimony was a puzzle to him, and he frowned at her as he tried to figure her out.

  “Where do you sleep?” she asked.

  “What?” His mind blanked as the floral scent of her skin met his nose.

  “I’m used to being alone,” she said quietly. “But maybe if I knew where I could find you guys, I wouldn’t be so worried.”

  James blinked in surprise. “We’re right next door, Cimony.” He backed outo f the room, gesturing for her to come with him. “Right there.” He pointed left, where their door sat a couple dozen feet down the hall. “And Jonas had to go out on another mission for a couple of days. You could sleep in there with us.”

  As soon as he said it, he regretted it. She wouldn’t want to sleep with him and Miah. James didn’t even own pajamas, for crying out loud.

  “I mean—a”

  “Really?” Cimony asked, her voice filled with hope. “There’s enough room?”

  “Come see,” James said, the words scratching his voice. He had no idea what he was doing as he led her down the hall and opened the door to the room he’d been living in for two years. “That’s my bed there,” he said, pointing to the one right ne
xt to the door. The foot of it practically met the doorframe.

  “Miah’s there.” He indicated the bed almost behind the door. “Jonas is under the window.” He hadn’t made his bed before he left, and in fact, only James ever made his bed at all. Details, details.

  “This is the same size as mine,” she said, looking around. ‘And there’s three of you here.”

  “Just two for a couple of days,” he said, moving over to Jonas’s bed to put it back together properly. “You really could sleep here. I’ll get some fresh sheets, and you can bring your own blanket over. It might smell like Jonas still, but he showers every day.”

  Cimony laughed, the sound light and carefree, and James spun back to her, utterly confused by it. Had he made a joke? He didn’t even know he was capable of making a woman laugh—and he wanted to do it again and again.

  Something hot ran through him then, and while he hadn’t had much experience with women, he could recognize attraction when he felt it.

  This can’t be happening, he thought as Miah walked in. “Dogs have scored me—oh. Cimony.” He looked at James. “What’s going on?”

  James had no idea. He was just eternally glad his brother couldn’t see the way his heart wsa pulsing in his chest.

  Thoughts clean, Jonas had said.

  Nope, James’s thoughts in that moment were definitely not clean, and he didn’t know how to rid himself of the fantasies.

  And when Cimony said, “I’m going to sleep with you guys,” James very nearly choked, all kinds of inappropriate ideas running rampant through him now.

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  HER RANGER RESCUERS

  Book 1, Parkwood Protectors Reverse Harem Romance

  by MJ Adams

  Copyright © 2019 by MJ Adams, All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

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