“Thanks, hun. I’ll do my best to take it easy on her.” Eli set the framed photograph down and picked up the image of the supermodel. He dropped it back on the pile, slipped on his safety vest, and started for the division formation out front of the headquarters building. Today, they were doing a big run, and he planned to have his date up front with him. It would take a special woman to make him date again. If she was the one, as Peggy told him, she’d pass the test.
And the closer he got to the formation, the more he realized he really wanted her to.
As he approached, the post’s highest-ranking NCO, or non-commissioned officer, called attention, did an about face, and saluted him. Eli saluted back. “We have a special visitor today, Sergeant Major Danners. Would you put the troops at parade rest while I retrieve her?”
“My pleasure, sir.” He saluted again.
Eli returned it and headed for Anya.
Danners did another about face. “Parade rest!”
Off to the left, beside Lieutenant Winters, stood his date, dressed in gray shorts and a standard issue Army T-shirt. A size too small with the way it stretched over her breasts, but he wouldn’t complain. Her legs practically stretched to the sky. Anya wore her curves with confidence, demonstrating she couldn’t care less about looking like the typical, bag-of-bones model. She sported an hourglass figure, with softness where it belonged, and her face—her face could be an angel’s.
She didn’t appear the least out of place. He strode over to her, taking her hand. “Ms. Volkov.” He kissed her knuckles. “I’m General Eli Wells, your date.”
“Nice to meet you, Eli.”
He tucked her hand through the crook of his arm and walked her in front of the formation.
“Attention,” Danners commanded and did an about face. They exchanged salutes again and the sergeant major turned the formation over, taking his place on Eli’s left.
“This is Ms. Volkov, a celebrity. She is my guest for the day and will be running PT with us this morning.”
“Hu-ah,” the troops barked back. He smiled. They sure as hell were showing a lot of enthusiasm today, but who could blame them. Even at fifty, the woman was drop-dead beautiful and eye candy.
“Treat her with courtesy, but show her how we do this in the Army.”
“Yes, sir!”
He turned to the old non-com. “They’re all yours, Sergeant Major.” He saluted and Eli returned it one last time. While Danners began to lead the unit through stretches, Eli turned to Anya. “You ready to run four miles?”
“Excellent. I thought I’d miss out on it this morning.”
“You run?”
“You could say so, General Wells. Try to keep up.”
He raised a brow. “Why, Ms. Volkov, a challenge?”
“You bet your combat boots it was. Please, call me Anya.”
“Right face,” Danners called and the unit turned. “Forward—march! Your left, your left, your left right left.”
“You better be sure of yourself, Anya. Last chance to drop out before we set the pace for this unit.”
“I never back away when I want something.” She winked and gave him a hip bump. A freaking hip bump. God—not what he’d expected at all. Maybe he’d enjoy this date after all.
“Double time—march!”
And off they went.
C-130 rolling down the strip,
10th Mountain soldier gonna take a little trip.
Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door,
Gonna jump right out on the count of four.
***
Was her tongue hanging out? Someone get her a towel. She’d modeled a lot of years, met some of the most attractive men in the world, but none of them compared to the man Madame Eve provided. Eli looked exactly as she’d pictured him—but better. Now, if she could get through this date without tripping all over herself, she’d call it a bonus.
Eli had surprised her with the running clothes, the last thing she expected to wear for a date. Even so, they weren’t unwelcome. He’d provided her the chance to show him she was more than just another pretty face. Eve described the date in her correspondence perfectly. Adventurous. A chance to win the admiration and respect of a powerful and compelling man. And she would. Running with heroes—it didn’t get any better.
Two miles into the run, she felt inspired. “Eli. What’s a girl got to do to if she wants to sing a song to the troops?”
“You want to call cadence?” He staggered, missing a step. She fought a smile. If there was anything she loved, it was to take a man off guard.
“I’ve sung in public before.”
“Yes, but this is while you’re running, and it takes practice.”
“I can handle it. Pick a song—any song.”
“Something by the Rolling Stones.”
“Ah, I got the perfect song. So, do I go back and talk to the man over there?”
“The sergeant major?”
“Da.”
Eli chuckled. “Knock yourself out. I’ll be up here.”
Anya dropped back until she jogged beside the man in question. “Can I call some cadence?”
“Have you ever, ma’am?”
“No. But I’m a pretty good singer.”
“They’re all yours. I’ll be right here when you’re ready to hand the reins back, ma’am.”
“Listen up, help me out here. I’ve never called cadence before. Gonna do a little Rolling Stones. It goes a little something like this.” She took a deep breath and started her first song. “Time—is on my side....”
To her surprise, the troops called back the next part of the song. Thrilled with the response, she dove right in. She’d sing a line, they’d sing a line, traveling two miles and covering another five various songs from the seventies before Sergeant Major Danners jogged up next to her. “I’ll take them home now, ma’am. Been a pleasure having such a lovely voice lead us in cadence.”
“Thank you, for letting me.” She smiled and sprinted up beside Eli. “So much fun. Thank you.”
“You are full of surprises, Anya.”
He has no idea.
***
The moment she started singing, Eli knew he’d sunk chin-deep in trouble. Good lord, the woman had a set of pipes. Unexpected. Bold. Brazen, and not afraid to lead the division headquarters in cadence. Peggy would never have had the guts to do it. Not only did Anya do it, she did it better than anyone he’d ever heard.
Tom came up alongside him while Anya led the unit. “So, she’s not what you expected, is she?”
Damn, he hated it when his boss was right. “Morning’s not over yet.”
“Quit being stubborn and just admit Eve picked the perfect woman for your date.”
“That remains to be seen. We’re going to hit the obstacle course next.”
The major general snorted. “You got a bad case of denial. I can’t wait until she turns the tables on you. Winters told me she gets to choose what you do tonight, if she makes it through today. You ever think she might just test you in return?”
Eli frowned. Actually it hadn’t crossed his mind. Shit.
The major general punched him in the arm lightly. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. You have a good date. ” Tom turned off and headed back the other direction, having successfully rubbed his friend’s nose in prior claims the woman couldn’t handle his kind of life.
Point—score, General Gilbert. Damn.
***
Anya went with Lieutenant Winters to shower and change into her ACUs and boots, while Eli did the same. When he met Anya out front of the division headquarters by his JLTV, light tactical vehicle, he couldn’t believe how beautiful she looked in fatigues.
Eli glanced at the passenger-side front seat, his normal post, and opted to sit in back with Anya. He’d earned the right to sit wherever he wanted, and if anyone dared to say anything, he’d stick his boot in their ass. His driver would be the only one to see it, and he knew to keep his mouth shut.
“This is some carr
iage.”
“I aim to please. Not the most comfortable ride. You might want to save the compliments until after we’ve gone down the road in it. It’s not a limo.”
“That’s what makes it so impressive. Any man could give me a ride in a limousine. And....” She leaned in and pressed her lips to his ear, speaking softly. “Sometimes I like a rough ride, Eli.”
Shit. Eli sucked in a breath and fought the urge to bark an order to his driver to take them to a room. If she kept talking dirty like that, he’d cancel this test and move on with the one-night stand part of the date. His cock twitched and he reached over and opened the door to let her climb in the back before an emerging problem became obvious. Hopefully, he would get it back under control before they reached their destination. He’d never gotten wood looking at a soldier, but then again, she wasn’t a soldier. If she graced Army recruitment posters, there’d be lines to join everywhere. Holy hell.
They passed the gates and turned down the road past the range, which they’d hit on their way back into post. The vehicle bounced down the dirt track, bumping them up and down and not helping make his erection any less painful.
“So....”
He turned from staring out the window. “So?”
“What’s our next adventure, Eli?” She grabbed his hand and laced her fingers with his. Eli stared at it for a minute. Should he pull away? Would anyone see? He opted on the side of caution, not quite ready to make the date public, and tugged free.
Anya lifted a brow.
“No PDA in uniform.” Lame. Maybe a bit of it stemmed from guilt of stepping out on his dead wife, despite her possible sunny sign of approval. What was his problem?
Her lips formed a succulent O and he caught himself staring a little longer than he liked. Holy hell, the woman’s damn sexy mouth would get him further into trouble. “We’re going to hit the confidence course, or obstacle course, whatever you’d prefer to call it. A lot of the troops on post participate in the obstacle charity events to raise money for wounded vets. They use the training area a lot lately in order to get ready for the challenge coming up next month.
“Have you ever competed in one of the events?”
He shook his head and frowned. And why not? Tom did. Why had he let his grief over his wife’s illness, and then death, control his life? Peggy never wanted that for him. She’d embraced life and so had he—once. So many, some under his command, suffered worse tragedies than he, and not once had he stopped to consider he didn’t have a monopoly on misery. Perhaps putting others first would have pulled him out his emotional nosedive. Never too late to change. “But I think I just might register for the next.” He gave her a smile as an idea came to him. “If you might be willing to join with me. Having a celebrity on the team could really bump up the donations and exposure for a good cause.”
She clapped her hands together. “Excellent. I can get all kinds of publicity for the event, and I’d love to do it.”
This time he snagged her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed. His balls hardened. Why not call off the rest of this stupid test and get down to the real date? He enjoyed her company thus far, more than he could have imagined, but she might resent him after crawling on her belly through the mud. The vehicle lurched to a stop. The driver put it in park and waited. Proper etiquette said the highest ranked person should exit the vehicle first. General Eli Wells opened the door and climbed out, going around to help Anya exit. A unit already occupied the course. Climbing the obstacles, tackling the net and tower. Would she mind the crowd?
“We can go somewhere else, if you don’t want all the company.”
“No, it looks like fun, and if I’m going to do this charity obstacle course, I ought to have some idea what I’m getting into.” She tilted her head back and studied the tower. “Except the tall thing there. Can we skip that?”
Eli followed her gaze. “It’s not part of the charity event anyway. You got a fear of heights?”
“No, but it looks like it could take all day to get to the top, and I’d rather not waste the entire date climbing a wooden tower.”
“Fair enough.”
***
Anya shifted from foot-to-foot, staring down at the mud pit under the barbwire. Okay, so maybe the height of the tower intimidated her a bit and she didn’t want to admit it. But that.... She couldn’t hide her distaste. The brackish sludge before her couldn’t be good for her pores. She’d enjoyed most of the obstacle course, but when she came to this portion, no way in hell did she want to crawl through the mud for this guy. This time, she planned to put her boot down—adventure or not. Anya sniffed as General Wells trotted up next to her.
“Not going to go?”
“That’s nasty. It smells bad, and who knows what’s in it. It could hold some kind of flesh-eating bacteria.”
He frowned. “It’s a little bit of mud. Nobody’s lost a limb because of it.”
“Fine, then you crawl through it.”
“I have a better idea.” Eli peeled off his utility top and draped it over a wooden wall they’d both just gone over.
He didn’t hide his appreciation as his gaze raked over her curves, and she’d never felt shy when men gave her a once over, but something about the way he consumed her as he did it, was different. Heat moved to her cheeks and she cleared her throat, looking away.
His heated stare promised more than a little flirting, and the time finally arrived to address the one-night stand part of this date. Wasn’t that what she’d signed on for? Time to end her sexual drought, and what better way to do it than with the powerful man who stood before her now, challenging her, throwing down a gauntlet he knew she couldn’t resist picking up.
She lifted her chin and looked into his eyes. “And what do you propose, Eli?” Not like she needed to ask. She made her living by reading people’s faces as much as acting for a camera—and off it.
“Let’s race. If you make it through before me, we’ll do whatever you want the rest of the day. If I make it through before you, I get to help you scrub the mud off.” Eli beamed and her heart damn near stopped. Shit. What woman could say no to such a disarming smile?
“What if I want to help you scrub the mud off, too?”
“Bonus.”
Anya’s stomach fluttered. She let her gaze travel from the sexy smile down his impossibly broad shoulders and toned stomach. Lower. She licked her lips and stared at the bulge he exhibited zero shyness over. Something told her he wouldn’t hand this to her. If she took him up on his dare, he’d certainly do everything in his power to beat her—even if they wanted the same thing. But, a wise woman kept control, especially with a man like Eli. Either way this went down, Eli Wells would be scrubbing her back—on her terms.
“Okay. Let’s do this.” She smiled, reached up and undid her ACU top, stripping down to her T-shirt. She balled the camouflage fabric and discarded it on the ground. “Unless you’re chicken.”
He shook his head and laughed as he walked over to his side of the pit. “Prepare to eat a little mud.”
“Don’t count on it, big boy. I’ve crawled through worse.” With bullets flying over her head, while bleeding from a wound in her leg, but she couldn’t disclose that information. She blew him a kiss and took her place next to him.
“I just bet you have, with all the weird things they make you girls do to get a picture. Okay, on the count of three, we go.”
If he only knew what she’d done, and not for a pretty picture. She nodded and took a racing stance.
“One,” Eli said and glanced sideways at her.
She dove under the wire, scrambling through the chilly mud as fast as she could go, not daring to look back.
“You little cheater.” She heard a splash as Eli entered the obstacle behind her.
Ten seconds later, she did a victory dance, shaking her ass, jumping up and down, mud flying everywhere, as he crawled out.
“Disqualified!” Her muddy general wagged his finger in her face.
�
�There is no such thing as cheating in war, but I think you already knew that, Eli.” She reached out and swiped some mud off his chin. “I think I like this look. Dirty—like I fight.”
He laughed again. “Okay, so what are we doing the rest of the day?” He cocked his head and watched her with such intensity, the mud threatened to melt from her body.
Covered in slime, the general made one hell of a sexy picture, his wet T-shirt and pants molded to his body, defining each muscle forced into compliance through years of hard training. His was not the body of an athlete, but of a warrior—her warrior. Damn, she wanted him and she had no desire to wait for a shower to get him naked. Anya planted both hands on Eli’s chest and shoved him backward into a bush and off the obstacle course. He lost his balance and hit the ground behind the thick vegetation. She landed on top of him, straddling his hips. Planting her hands on either side of his head she leaned in. “Fuck public displays of affection. I’ve decided the rest of our day should be spent naked.” And then she leaned down and claimed his mouth, inhaling the taste of him.
Eli grabbed her ponytail and wrapped it around his fist. He flipped her to her back and took control of the kiss, the last thing she’d expected. But, holy shit. Hot. He ground his erection into her as the kiss grew more intense, sapping away her strength and any thought of teasing him further. Anya always loved to lead a man on for a bit and make them work for what they wanted. She loved to play the game and took a great deal of satisfaction from when they struggled to keep their hands off her. Eli completely bypassed the tease phase of the game and took what he wanted. He’d more than made it perfectly clear he didn’t play. As her world went into a spin, someone cleared his throat behind them.
“Go away,” the general grumbled against her lips, not bothering to tear away from the kiss to see who.
“If this is part of the confidence course, I really need to give it a try again.”
“Tom.” Eli sucked in a breath and looked back. “What do you want?”
Beauty and the Brigadier Page 3
