Danger Zone: Tales of Military Passion

by Marie Harte

  “Not helping.” Charlotte sing-songed it.

  “So let me make it up by taking you—”

  “You know what would help? Telling me you’ve gotten any further on figuring out the mix in that compound.” She’d been ecstatic when learning Wick had bagged Yun’s syringe and gotten it to Aims, though her hope had quickly mutated to despair. The substance in the vial was a special Yun cocktail, its recipe apparently dying with him. Despite repeated searches of “Sam’s” computer hard drive and paper journals, the trail for the “fish fuck antidote” grew colder by the day.

  “I’m so sorry, C.” Aimee’s gaze was genuinely contrite. “I’m almost wondering if Yun was some creepy sorcerer and cast a damn spell over the stuff.”

  “Ha freaking ha.”

  “Hey, it’s as good an explanation as any right now.” Her friend shrugged. “Besides the standard pharmaceutical stuff denoting it as some kind of blocking agent to Kaden’s pheromones, which may or may not be permanent, I’m in the dark. The chemical composition is insanely complicated—and way over my head.”

  Charlotte spread her arms on the counter and dropped her head between her shoulders. “As well as my heart.”

  “I really think we need a drink.”

  Crap. The woman was relentless. “I’m tired.”

  “You’re always tired.”

  She sighed. Aims was right. The days blended into each other now, their edges as blurred as her senses. Had it only been three weeks since that awful night on the Sparta? Every day had been a struggle to get through. She really, really wanted her DVR and her pillow. And the bliss of forgetting everything, especially Kaden, in the rescue of sleep.

  “Tell you what?” She forced a bright smile. “Let’s rain check. Maybe this weekend? I’ll finally return Giselle’s phone calls, and maybe we can meet her…somewhere.”

  Or maybe not. Because thinking of Giselle makes you think about everyone else at the villa—and that’s just not going to happen.

  Too damn late. Like a switch throwing light into a room, the thoughts flickered to life. She wondered about the tomato bushes in the backyard. Nobody ever remembered to water them except her. Were they dying? What about Wick’s latest musical creation, a rocked-up version of all Giselle’s favorite Katy Perry tunes? Had he finished it? And the most pressing question of all: had Kaden done a load of wash at all or were his socks now lining the bedroom floor?

  She swallowed and ordered the tears into retreat.

  God. She even missed his stinky socks.

  “Come. Onnnnn.” Miss Relentless USA wasn’t going to shut up. “There’s this great new place right near the water on Coronado, and the sunset’s going to be so pretty. And if that’ll make you mope more, we can go inside. I hear the man candy is off the charts.”

  Charlotte groaned again. Then sighed and threw up her hands. “Fine. You win.”

  About forty minutes later, Aimee parked in front of a gorgeous Victorian manor in a picturesque neighborhood on Coronado Island. As her friend climbed out of the car, Charlotte gaped up at the place. It looked like a hot hangout, all right—if they were wearing day gowns, gloves, and bustles with matching Gibson Girl hair. “Errr, Aims? You sure about the address on this place?”

  “Hundred percent.” Her friend smiled and added a couple of guileless blinks. “All ready?”

  She shrugged and pulled on her sweater. “Okay. You’ve certainly led me to stranger places before.” But as they walked past the cute front gate and up the flagstone walkway, her curiosity persisted. For a banging nightspot with “off-the-charts man candy,” the place seemed inordinately quiet. “Hey.” She pulled on Aimee’s arm as they walked inside. “Are you certain they’re even—”

  “Surprise!”

  “—open?”

  As the word tumbled out, Charlotte swung her sights around. There was the explanation for the quiet. The joint was closed for a private party, into which she and Aims had just intruded. That explained all the streamers, balloons, and confetti. It didn’t explain why the house still seemed like a house. Cozy living room. Kitchen with warm woods, the counters strewn with bowls of fruit and chips. Even a little car key ring near the door.

  That was when she looked at the faces around her. Really looked.

  “Oh my God. Dreah! Shark…Giselle…Wick. Trig?” She slid her gaze to a very thrilled Aimee over that one. The guy seemed hopped on a cocktail of heavy drugs but visibly brightened when locking stares and smiles with her friend. “What the hell are you all doing here?”

  Giselle stepped forward, pressing a glass of wine into her hand and a kiss to her cheek. “Happy birthday, honey. We love you.”

  “I—I love you, too. But nobody’s answered my question. What the hell?”

  Dreah swung her head toward an open door that led to a stunning stone patio that glowed in the golden light given off by hanging wicker lanterns. “You think he was going to let any of us take a pass on this?”

  As soon as Charlotte followed the trajectory of Dreah’s jabbing thumb, her breath refused to cooperate with her lungs.

  Kaden stepped into view.

  And he looked…nervous.

  And intense. And unsure.

  And beautiful.

  “Oh, my God.” She pushed her wine back at Giselle to press her fingers over her mouth. No use. Her sob erupted, anyway. He seemed happy to see her…sort of. She tried to figure it out but after being able to read the man within ten seconds of seeing him, this normal shit was a pain—and yet a surprise. Her heart sprinted. Her nerves sparked. Her mind raced.

  And holy shit, did her hormones jump.

  Pheromone bond or not, the man turned her legs to spaghetti and her pussy into a pool of goo. Nothing about her memories had done him justice. His chest, encased in a white button-front shirt, was broader and more chiseled than she remembered. His jaw was more determined, his features more defined, his lips more full. His eyes were more mesmerizing, gleaming at her like a matched set of dark topaz gems. Their color intensified as the edges of his lips quirked, still betraying the uncertainty that confused her and excited the crap out of her at once.

  Charlotte dropped her hand, showing him the joy spread across her own lips.

  The man didn’t hesitate a moment longer.

  With a determined growl, he marched into the house toward her.

  Make that…at her.

  Air came to her in torturous spurts, coinciding with every floor-shaking step he took. Even those breaths were a luxury once he hauled her body against his, crashing his mouth to hers. A whimper escaped her as she opened her mouth fully for him, drenched in shock and ecstasy and a bunch of holy-shit-is-this-really-happening sighs.

  “Well, okay then,” Wick chuckled.

  “Daaaammmn.” The drawl came from Trig. “Guess I’ve missed out on a few things.”

  “Oh, dear fuck,” Dreah mumbled. “Get a room!”

  The whole gang joined her on the order, breaking into a rainstorm of laughter afterwards. Charlotte giggled a little herself, while inside she chalked it up as the best birthday present ever. Kade, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and grunted—just before sliding his hands around both her buttocks and hiking her knees around his waist. “Well, if you all insist…”

  “We insist,” Dreah countered. “Dear God, do we insist.”

  Charlotte’s equilibrium spun a little as Kaden carried her up a two-part stairway that led to the house’s second floor. Unlike the villa, he took her to the end of the hallway, through a door that led to a spacious bedroom decorated in Mission-inspired pieces of heavy wood and iron. Set into an alcove to the left was a huge spa-style tub, surrounded by red and gold pillar candles in different heights. A ledge along the wall held more candles, as did the tables to both sides of the room’s centerpiece: a huge canopy bed covered in white and adorned with red velvet pillows.

  “Oh…wow,” she murmured.

  “Do you like it?” Again, the open question in his voice provided a strange new thrill.
They’d taken so much for granted before, being able to decipher each other without much effort. Charlotte’s pulse quickened when she realized he was actually pursuing her now…and she wanted to chase him in return. Needed to. Some puzzle pieces were missing here, in the most glaring sense of the word.

  “Oh, yeah.” She said it with a little laugh, suddenly nervous as the object of his unblinking intent. “‘Like’ is probably a huge understatement, but I’ll let you know for sure once I try out that tub.”

  He grinned. “Good, because I’m hoping to see you in it an awful lot, geek.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Okay. Officially, really, confused now.”

  “The pheromone freaks have decided to expand the empire.” Though his cocky smirk had returned, his all-business side underlined his voice. “Welcome to safe house, the sequel. It was actually a choice of necessity. Since you dove into hiding, we’ve had three new incidents of the fever pop up. Wick was able to catch Chance Knight and Sky Tremaine when they stumbled into the hospital with it, while I was still there. Three days ago, we heard Cherish Howe was out in the Gaslamp District trying to start bitch slapdowns with everyone she met, women and men.”

  He pulse quickened. “The virus manifested in violence?”

  Kade nodded. “Luckily, Dreah and I found her before any damage was done.”

  “Dammit. This could mean the cells are mutating again. This is troubling. But fascinating…”

  Kaden cut her off with a rambling growl full of blatant warning. At the same time, he kicked the door shut and strode with her to the bed, dominating her lips in another bone-dissolving kiss while lowering them both to the pillows. “No more geek speak.” He grated it against her throat, gently scoring her skin then soothing it with long licks. As he glided a hand beneath her top, seeking the sensitive nub beneath her bra, he dictated, “Moan for me instead, Lottie. Let me hear how much you’ve missed me.”

  “Kaden. Ohhhhh…” She dug her hands into his shoulders to get better traction at arching for him, needing more of all the heat he brought. The liquid heat in her limbs, matched so perfectly by the straining tension in her womb. Her body began throbbing for him. Badly.

  “Fuck yes,” Kade murmured. “For the first time in two weeks, I’m sane again.”

  Charlotte angled away a little. She lifted a hand to his face, softly tracing the lines of his eyebrows. “Really?”

  He considered that for a moment—just before nudging his hips toward the crux of her body. “Well, not completely sane.”

  Charlotte erupted on a high sigh. The ridge of his arousal was huge, hard, and absolutely perfect—yet she refused to let him distract her from the point. Not yet, at least. “But when I talked to Betsy in the hospital—”

  “You mean when Betsy talked to you in the hospital?” The ire at the corners of his eyes was a weirdly gratifying sight. “When she put words in my mouth and thoughts into my head that never existed?”

  “Never?” She widened her gaze with the challenge. “Who’s putting words where now?”

  Kade nodded. Reluctantly. “Fine; okay. But three years ago, things were different. You were the little brainy spitfire I didn’t know what to do with. My dick craved the shit out of you but I was too damn insecure to think I would ever be able to keep a treasure like you—so I pulled out an easy label, making it easier to simply write you off.” He tugged his jaw to one side, adding quietly, “And much easier to resist you.”

  Charlotte felt her lips tilting up. “Really?”

  He huffed. “Yes! Really.”

  “Okay…you weren’t the only one looking for the coping pills.”

  Kade smirked. “Oh?”

  “I used to scope out the lab for new ways to stare at you through the fish tanks.” When he rolled his eyes once more, she protested, “I did! You were this unattainable god, so perfect and brawny and beautiful—and available to everyone but me. You always had cute things to say to everybody.” She didn’t hide her pout. “Flirty, cute things.”

  “Flirty, cute things?”

  “Don’t deny it, mister. I used to fantasize about what would happen if you said one of those things to me. About all the witty things I’d say in return to transfix you.”

  He lowered a gentle kiss to her mouth “When I was already transfixed.”

  She laughed. “And I was so damn smitten that anytime you did talk to me, I babbled like an idiot.”

  “We were both idiots.”

  Charlotte giggled. “It just took a shit-ton of runaway pheromones to make us realize it.”

  He kissed her again, meshing their mouths in longer, wetter contact. “Thank fuck for the pheromones,” he growled when they finally tore apart.

  “As usual, you’ve read my mind.”

  His lips parted on a cocky grin as he sidled closer, brushing both thumbs over her cheeks. “See? Totally possible, even though you can’t detect every drop of blood filling my cock with need for you right now.”

  “Oh, no?” She parted her legs farther, letting his crotch slide harder against hers. As always, their bodies notched together as if synchronized by the universe to fit. The friction caused Kade to moan. Another blissful sigh fell from Charlotte’s lips. “Raging hard-on? Think I got that one on the radar now, Ensign.”

  “Damn. Me too, beautiful. Me too.” He framed her face with his hands, rendering her immobile as he drove his tongue into her mouth with the rhythmic thrusts that were their bodies’ special dance. He copied the tempo with sensual rolls of his thighs, using the abrasion of their clothes to spiral them both to a place where they craved to get the damn things off.

  Radar? Had she really just mentioned a damn radar? He shattered all her gauges merely by exposing more of his chest. After he politely freed the first two buttons of his shirt, she couldn’t resist the need to lift a hand, running it as low as she could into the rippled V of flesh there. A feral hum vibrated through him from the contact. Three seconds later, the whole shirt was peeled back from his incredible torso, buttons ripped out of their slots.

  His hum roughened into a snarl as he lowered back over her, hooking hands into the scoop of her neckline then yanking back, revealing her flesh as feverishly as he’d done to himself. Charlotte smiled as he snapped her bra open with the same deft grace he’d possessed while high on her pheromones.

  His grin dropped as he pushed all the fabric from her torso. “Goddamn.” His lips parted, revealing the lusty grit of his teeth. “Who the hell needs those chemicals when I have all this beauty beneath me?” He lifted his head, capturing her gaze with the powerful darkness of his own. “When I have you in my arms? When I have the certainty of what I know in my heart?”

  Her smile grew. The masses of ice on her chest, so heavy and freezing, finally began to shift. In the light of his words, they melted into happiness. In the warmth of his eyes, they found the courage to finally weep. “Kaden,” she whispered.

  “The pheromones…if we get them back, if we don’t…it doesn’t matter. I’m in love with you, Charlotte Sinclare. For now. For always. I simply want you, in any and every way I can have you.”

  Beyond the open window, waves crashed over the sand. In Charlotte’s heart, joy finally splashed and flooded, filling the crevices between the boulders of a soul she’d confined to loneliness and fear for so long. Tide pools formed between the rocks, puddles containing laughter and sharing, passion and ecstasy, hopes for tomorrows and dreams of forever…

  With the man she’d given every corner of her heart to.

  “I love you, too.” She pulled him down for a kiss, using her other hand to slide her touch beneath his jeans, around the swell of his tight, hot ass. “Fill me up, Kaden. Please…”

  After they swiftly shucked their bottoms, he did just that. As his body surged into hers, Charlotte let more tears flow. She needed the room inside for other things. She let Kade see all of them as he thrust his cock down her tight sheath, emitting the deepest growl she’d ever heard from him before.

  Their st
ares remained twined as their bodies, now one, prowled together for a release in a wilderness of need, hunger, and lust unmet for too damn long. Charlotte twisted her hands in his hair, urging out more of that primal creature who still existed inside Kade, silently assuring him that she’d always be here for that beautiful, bold beast inside him…that she’d never be afraid of loving that creature ever again.

  It wouldn’t be easy. She had years of Yun’s notes to study, in between working with Kaden, Wick and the others to find the “freaks” before the feds did. And as the government started to piece things together, God knew how they’d insist on being involved.

  Life really was a damn jungle.

  But she never had to roam it alone again.

  Her heart replied with one word, drenched in the perfection of her love and joy.

  Roar.

  The End

  Hold the Line

  Inked #1

  SE Jakes

  ‡

  Chapter One

  ‡

  QUINN MCKENNA GLANCED down at the stack of paper that had arrived certified mail just hours before, care of his younger brother, and then back up at the man hanging out by the pool table.

  He didn’t have a picture of Conlan “Con” Jenkins in his packet—just a basic description—but he realized now he’d have known the tall, handsome Delta Force soldier anywhere. There was something in his bearing that Quinn picked out easily. Maybe it was because Quinn’s father and brothers had been Delta too, so he was in tune with the way they operated. Most of the Special Forces soldiers he’d come in contact with in his younger days, including his father and his brothers, appeared so outwardly casual to the rest of the world, blending in when they needed to. But Quinn knew that Con was consistently on alert, and that, if asked, he’d be able to give a description of every single person in the place tonight.

  Bet you’ll find him playing pool, Scott had also offered next to the name of the bar/restaurant picked for the initial meet-up, then added, He’ll be the one winning, with a lot of pissed-off guys around him.