Shotgun Justice

by Angi Morgan

  Anna threw back her head, hitting it against the door and perhaps giving herself a concussion. She didn’t care if she did. That’s because the only thing that mattered now was the pleasure. Such a puny word for the incredible things Heath was doing with his mouth.

  “Your rating?” he asked, and mercy, he added some breath with that question.

  “Six million,” she managed to say.

  He laughed.

  “One more kiss,” he said. “Then it’ll be your turn.”

  Oh, she wanted a turn all right. Wanted it badly. Until he shimmied down her panties, put her knee on his shoulder and kissed her again. A special kiss.

  Tongue flicks included.

  After a couple of those flicks, Anna went into forget mode again. The thought of taking her turn went right out of her head. Everything vanished. Except for the feeling that she was about to shatter. And fall. And shatter some more.

  Heath made sure he gave her the more she needed for shattering. One last well-placed kiss. An equally well-placed tongue flick. And all she could do was fist her hand in his hair and let him shatter her.

  She had to take a moment to gather her breath. Another moment to keep gathering it. But even with the ripples of the climax tingling through her, she wanted to get started on her turn. And she was going to torture the hell out of Heath and his junk.

  “Damn,” Heath growled.

  It took her a moment to realize that he was reacting to something he heard.

  A knock at the tack room door.

  “Heath?” Riley called out.

  Hell.

  “Uh, Heath, I need to talk to you,” Riley added. “It’s important.”

  Unless the world was about to end and Heath could stop it, then it wasn’t that important, but Anna conceded that was the lust talking.

  “How important?” Heath asked.

  “Very.”

  Heath and she both cursed.

  “Anna’s in here with me,” Heath volunteered.

  It took Riley several snail-crawling seconds to respond to that. “Yes, I figured that out. Didn’t think you’d go into the tack room alone and close the door. But this isn’t about Anna. It’s about your assignment.”

  Heath groaned, stood back up, helping her fix her jeans and panties. “You can wait in here if you want,” he offered.

  “Not a chance,” Anna argued. “Riley knows what we’ve been doing. Or rather what we started doing, and the assignment thing could be a ruse to draw us out so he can ambush you with a shovel.”

  He brushed a kiss on her mouth. “You’ve got a very active imagination.” Though she knew there might be a grain of truth in her theory.

  Heath went out ahead of her, and Riley was indeed right there. He was sitting on a hay bale, drinking one of the beers. She braced herself for him to say something snarky like had she been trying to get Heath drunk or why did she have this thing for barn sex?

  He didn’t.

  Riley did give her a look that only a big brother could have managed, but it had some, well, sympathy mixed in with the brotherly snark. A strange combination.

  “I just came from the base,” Riley said to Heath. “They want to see you about your deployment request.”

  “Deployment request?” Anna repeated. “I thought Heath was going to Florida.”

  Riley remained quiet, clearly waiting for Heath to explain.

  “I asked to be diverted from the instructor job to another deployment,” Heath said.

  Riley’s arrival had been a killjoy in the sexual-pleasure department, but hearing about Heath’s request was a different kind of killjoy. Although obviously not for Heath since this was something he wanted.

  Very much.

  After all, he’d told her that the instructor job made him feel washed up, and maybe now he wouldn’t have to feel that way because he could go back to one of those classified sandy locations. Where people shot at him and where he could be hurt or killed.

  Mercy.

  That felt as if she’d been slammed with a truckload of bricks. And there was no reason for it, because this was Heath’s job. No logical reason anyway. But Anna wasn’t feeling very logical at the moment.

  “They want to see you out at the base right away,” Riley added.

  Heath nodded, looked at her as if he needed to say something, but Anna let him off the hook. She smiled, brushed a kiss on his cheek.

  “Go,” she insisted, trying to keep that smile in place. “We can talk when you get back.”

  Heath hesitated, gave another nod and then walked toward the house. Anna managed to keep her smile in place until he was out of sight. Riley opened a bottle of beer and handed it to her.

  “Will he get to come back here to the ranch if the deployment is approved?” Anna asked, though she was afraid to hear the answer. “Or will they send him out right away?”

  “Hard to say.”

  Or maybe not. The next thing Anna saw was Heath leaving the house, carrying his gear. He put it in his rental car and drove off. Obviously, he was prepared to go.

  Anna took a long swig of that beer and wished it was something a whole lot stronger.

  “Best to forget him,” Riley said as they watched Heath drive away. “Heath isn’t the settling-down type.”

  If only that weren’t true.

  “It’s just a fling,” Riley added. “That’s what it was nine and a half years ago, and that’s what it is now.”

  If only that were true.

  Chapter Five

  THE MCCORD BROTHERS were waiting for Heath when he got back from the base, and they didn’t even try to make it look like a friendly, casual meeting. They were in the living room just off the foyer, and the moment Heath stepped inside, they stood.

  No shovels. Not physical ones anyway.

  “Where’s Anna?” Heath asked. “You didn’t lock her in her room, did you?”

  The joke didn’t go over so well, but Heath didn’t care. He was tired, frustrated and wanted to talk to Anna, not the kid-sister police.

  “Anna’s Christmas shopping in San Antonio,” Logan answered. “She’ll be back any minute now.”

  Good. Well, sort of good. Heath definitely wanted to see her even if she probably hadn’t liked his news. Hell, he hadn’t liked it much, either.

  “My request for deployment was denied,” Heath explained. “The Air Force wants me to report to the base in Florida day after tomorrow so I’ll have to cut my visit here short.”

  He expected them to jump for joy. Or at least smile. They didn’t.

  Riley immediately shook his head. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

  Heath nearly snapped out “Right,” but he knew in his gut that Riley was telling the truth. He wouldn’t do anything like that even if it meant saving his sister from having sex with a guy Riley didn’t think was right for her.

  And Riley was spot-on.

  Heath wasn’t right for her. End of subject.

  “I’ll leave tomorrow,” Heath added. “I just want a chance to say goodbye to Anna first.”

  None of the brothers objected, and Heath wouldn’t have cared if they did. Yeah, it was the pissed-off mood again, but he had to get something off his chest.

  “I know you think I’m a jerk, that I’m here only to try to seduce Anna, but I do care about her. Always have. If I hadn’t cared, I would have never had sex in the hayloft with her nine and a half years ago.”

  There. He’d said it. But they weren’t saying anything back to him. Maybe because Riley and Logan hadn’t known about the sex. Lucky had, of course, because of the pee stick discovery, but even Lucky might have been stunned to silence to hear the de-virgining had taken place in the barn.

  “Anna cares about you, too,” Lucky finally
said.

  “She’ll cry a lot again when you leave,” Logan added.

  “She’ll be hurt,” Riley piped in.

  Maybe. Probably, Heath silently amended. Yeah, he was a jerk all right, but he was a jerk on orders, and that meant leaving whether he wanted to or not.

  And he did want to leave, Heath assured himself.

  He did.

  Silently repeating that, Heath went to the guest room so he could finish packing.

  * * *

  HER BROTHERS WERE waiting for Anna when she got home. Hard to miss them since they were on the sofa in the living room.

  She so didn’t have the energy to deal with them now.

  “You’re all grounded,” Anna said, going on the offensive. “Now, go to your rooms.”

  Of course, they didn’t budge. Well, except to stand, and judging from the somber looks on their faces they had something serious to tell her. But she had something to say, too.

  “I already know about Heath’s deployment being denied. He texted me right after he got the news. He was at the base and couldn’t talk, but he wanted to let me know that he’s leaving tomorrow.”

  They stared at her as if expecting her to sprout an extra nose or something. Then Riley’s hawkeyed gaze moved to the Victoria’s Secret bag she was holding.

  “Yes, I bought it for Heath,” Anna admitted. “For me to wear for Heath,” she amended when their stares turned blank. “It’s red and slutty, and if you don’t quit staring at me like that, I’ll give you lots of details about what I want Heath to do to me while I’m wearing it.”

  Logan’s eyes narrowed. Riley’s jaw tightened. Lucky shrugged and went to her. He pulled her into his arms despite the fact she was as stiff as a statue from the mini hissy fit she’d just thrown.

  “I’ve got two words for you,” Lucky whispered to her. “Condom.”

  She pulled back, looked at him. “That’s one word.”

  “If you wear what’s in that bag, you’ll need two condoms. Three if you skip what’s in the bag all together and just show up in your birthday suit. Either way, condoms.”

  In that moment he was her favorite brother. Lucky had always been her champion and not judgmental. Most of the time anyway. Plus, he was the only brother who talked safe sex with her. Or any kind of sex for that matter. He wasn’t just her brother, he was her friend.

  Anna kissed his cheek. “Thanks.”

  He shrugged in that lazy but cool way that only Lucky or a Greek god could manage. It was as if he drawled his shrugs. And his life.

  Lucky returned the cheek kiss and apparently considered his brotherly/friendly duties done because he strolled toward the door and headed out. Logan went to her next.

  “I love you,” Logan said. “And no matter what happens, I’ll be here for you. You can cry on my shoulder all you need. Or if you prefer, I can kick Heath’s ass for you. Your choice.”

  She had to fight a smile, but she didn’t have to fight it too hard because the nonsmiling emotions were just below the surface. “I don’t want his ass kicked, but I might need the shoulder.”

  Logan tapped first one shoulder, then the other. “Any time. They’re reserved just for you, and I swear I told you so will never cross my lips or my mind. You’re a grown woman, and if you want to wear what’s in that bag, then you have my blessing.”

  In that moment she loved Logan best. Logan had been her father more than her brother, mainly because he’d been the one to step up after their folks died. He’d been the one to bust her chops when she needed it and had been a whiz helping with her math homework.

  Logan would walk through fire for her and not once complain. Well, maybe he would complain, but he’d still do it.

  He kissed her forehead and headed off, not out the door but to his old room. Since he lived in town and no longer spent many nights at the ranch, Logan must have wanted his shoulders to be nearby in the event of an impending crying spell.

  Uh-oh.

  It was Riley’s turn.

  “If Heath makes you cry again, I’m hitting him with the shovel,” Riley growled. “And wear a robe with whatever’s in that bag.”

  Anna sighed. The support of two out of three wasn’t bad.

  Riley sighed as well, and he pulled her into his arms. “FYI, Heath did some crying, too, after he left here that summer.”

  Anna wiggled out of his grip so she could see if he was serious or not. He was.

  “I don’t mean he actually shed tears,” Riley went on, “but he cried in his own man kind of way.”

  “How do you know that?” she asked.

  “Because I’m the one who drove him to his basic training.” A muscle flickered in his jaw. A sign that he was remembering that day as unfondly as she was. Some of the anger returned. “Heath asked me to make sure you were okay. Can you believe it?”

  “The bastard,” Anna joked.

  “He said it as if I needed to be reminded of it. I didn’t. Not then, not now. If you need someone to make sure you’re okay, I’ll do it. As long as I don’t have to hear any sex details. Or see what’s in that bag. And I’ll do that—minus the exceptions—because you’re my sister.”

  Anna blinked back tears. In that moment, she loved Riley best. Yes, he was hardheaded, and they had a history of sibling squabbles. Plus, there was the time when he’d ruined all her dolls with camo paint and duct-tape combat boots, but still she loved every stubborn, camo-painting ounce of him.

  Riley wasn’t her father or her friend. He was her brother.

  And sometimes, like now, that was exactly what a sister needed.

  Chapter Six

  HEATH PACED. CURSED. He figured this much debate hadn’t gone into some battle plans, but a battle plan would have been easier than trying to figure out what to do about Anna.

  Or better yet what to do with Anna.

  If he went to her room, sex would happen. Then tomorrow he would leave—just as he’d done nine and a half years ago. That hadn’t turned out so well, what with all the crying and her brothers wanting to shovel him.

  If he didn’t go to her room, sex wouldn’t happen. But then he would have to leave things unsettled between them—again—as he’d apparently done before.

  He was screwed either way, so Heath decided he might as well go for it. He threw open the door and nearly smacked right into some idiot wearing a hoodie and an army-green vinyl poncho.

  Except this was no idiot. It was Anna, and in addition to the garb, she was also carrying a blue sock.

  She practically pushed him back into his room and shut the door. “Shhh,” she said. “Della and Stella’s book club is meeting tonight.”

  He was still wrapping his mind around the fact that Anna was there, that she had come to him, and maybe that’s why Heath couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the book club or the poncho.

  “There are six of them in the living room, and I had to sneak past them,” Anna added when he gave her a blank look.

  When Heath kept that blank look, Anna pulled off the poncho, and he saw the hoodie. No pants. No shoes.

  Just a pair of really tiny devil-red panties.

  He was sure his blank look disappeared because his mouth dropped open. This was the best kind of surprise.

  “I didn’t have a robe here at the ranch, and the plastic poncho felt sticky against my skin so I put on the hoodie,” she explained. Then she unzipped it.

  No top. No bra. Just the Be My heart locket dangling between her breasts. Heath thought maybe his tongue was doing some dangling, too.

  “And the sock?” he asked.

  She smiled and emptied the contents onto the bed. Condoms. At least a dozen of them.

  “I took them from Lucky’s bathroom,” Anna explained. She was still whispering, but it had a giddiness to it.
“The poncho and hoodie didn’t have pockets so I put them in the sock. I only brought the normal-looking ones. Some had pictures on them and some were glow in the dark.” Anna looked at him. “Why would a man need that?”

  Heath didn’t have a clue. He didn’t need any illumination to find anything on Anna’s body. His most vital organ agreed. In fact, it wanted to go on that particular search mission right now.

  But there was a problem.

  “You got my text saying I was leaving, right?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Tomorrow. That’s why I didn’t want to wait until after the book club left. Sometimes they hang around until midnight if Della breaks out the tequila, and we don’t have much time.”

  Not if they were planning on using all those condoms, they didn’t, but Heath had to make sure that Anna was sure. She stripped off the hoodie, and he was sure she was sure.

  At least he wanted her to be.

  He wanted that even more when she slipped into his arms and kissed him. Heath was stupid and weak so it took him a moment to break the kiss.

  “Anna, I don’t want you hurt,” he said.

  She frowned. “I think that ship’s sailed. I’ll be hurt, but I’ll get over it. And tonight you’ll give me some really good memories to help me get over it, right?”

  Yeah.

  Whether they had sex or not, Anna would be hurt. Or at least she would be sad to see him go. Ditto for him being sad to leave her. But at least this way they’d have new memories, and they didn’t need glow-in-the-dark condoms to do it.

  Now that he had a clearly defined mission, Heath pulled her back to him to kiss her. One of those kisses that reached scorch level pretty darn fast. But Anna was aiming for fast, too, and not with just the kisses. She was already going after his zipper.

  “We’re going to play that scale-of-one-to-ten game,” she insisted.

  Maybe. But the way she was tugging at his zipper, it was possible she was also trying to finish this all way too fast. Tonight, he didn’t want the kissing game, and he didn’t want fast.