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Buck the System
Breaking the SEAL, Book 2
Margaret Madigan
Contents
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Acknowledgments
Also by Margaret Madigan
About the Author
Dr. Melinda Emerson is still reeling after her escape from Russian mafia terrorists. If she never sees or hears anything Russian again, it’ll be too soon. She’s ready to go back to researching a cure for Alzheimer’s and to begin building a life with her new man, Grady “Buck” McCormick. But the Russians aren’t done with her just yet.
Grady “Buck” McCormick likes to be in charge. But he loves Melinda more. Turns out it’s not so easy for a single alpha male to learn how to be a partner rather than a leader, but he’s determined to do it. That resolve is put to the test when his team gets orders for a new mission where the tables are turned and he must relinquish control, depending on Melinda to protect him.
The Russian mafia is back like a bad penny. They’ve been experimenting on the cognitive enhancing drug Melinda invented. Their version makes users obey orders without question, but it’s also fatal. Melinda is sent along as a civilian consultant with two SEAL teams to infiltrate a secret Siberian lab, secure the head scientist, and retrieve all the research on the drug. But the mission goes sideways when Buck and several of the SEALs are injected, and Melinda is forced to find a cure, or lose the man she loves.
Dedication
To my husband Darin who hates it when I tell him how to drive, yet still insists on criticizing my driving. I love you, but stop telling me how to drive.
To all those who wear the uniform of the American military, you have our boundless gratitude.
And to Susan—Thank you so much for welcoming me (and Buck and Melinda) into your Kindle World. It’s so much fun to be part of this wonderful community!
1
Melinda Emerson drew in a deep breath and held it for just a moment before releasing it, telling herself murdering her boyfriend would lead to jail, and she wasn’t cut out for that kind of lifestyle.
“It’ll be faster if you turn left at the next light,” Buck said from the passenger’s seat of Melinda’s Jeep.
Maybe she could adjust to a new lifestyle.
“Stop telling me how to drive.”
“I’m not telling you how to drive. I’m just suggesting a more efficient route,” he said.
“I disagree.”
“Fine. But you’re wrong.”
The terse answer grated on her nerves. In the midst of their previous kidnapping adventure on a Russian cargo ship, Buck had promised to teach her how to handle a gun, and how to swim. Today would be their second trip to the shooting range. They hadn’t made it to the pool yet, but they’d scheduled it for next week.
“I’ve lived here longer than you. Trust me,” she said, trying to make the comment sound light and teasing rather than pissed.
But when she turned her smile on him, he just harrumphed at her.
At the light he’d specified, she braked hard enough to jerk him forward in his seatbelt.
“What the hell is your problem?” she asked.
“I don’t have a problem.”
“You definitely do.”
“Maybe if you’d let me drive, we wouldn’t be fighting about it.”
“We wouldn’t be fighting if you didn’t always tell me how to drive.”
“I like to drive.”
“So do I.”
“But I’m better at it.”
“Oh really? How do you figure?”
Animosity filled the car like a thick fog and she had no idea how they’d got to that point. She didn’t want to argue and her first instinct was to do whatever she could to placate him and make things better. Conflict made her nervous and uncomfortable. She didn’t like being told what to do, but without any significant experience at relationships, she hadn’t figured out yet how to deal with Buck’s enormous personality.
The light turned green and Melinda drove straight through. She could have turned left, and they would have got there, and it would have been a reasonable compromise, but every time she drove he tried to tell her how to. It made her crazy, and if they were going to continue their relationship, they had to figure out how to be together in a way that allowed for compromise.
“I’ve had more experience at it,” he said.
He had to know the argument was lame, but her working theory was that as a single, alpha male he was used to being in control and doing for himself. Despite her social anxiety issues and basic peacemaker personality, Melinda was no weak damsel who would give up her own identity to make her man happy. If he wanted to be part of a couple, he’d have to learn how to be a partner, not a leader.
She directed a skeptical glance his way. “This isn’t an all-terrain vehicle and we aren’t on a mission. I’m pretty sure I’ve been driving civilian vehicles as long as you have.”
“Hmph.”
Fifteen minutes of awkward silence later, she pulled into a parking space at the range. He released his belt, grabbed his gun case, and reached for the door handle.
“Wait,” she said, resting a hand on his thigh. Despite arguing, the tension and bulk of the muscles under her palm sparked the same heat she always experienced on some level when they were together. Their chemistry was white hot, and as a chemist, she would know.
“What?”
The word came out gruff, which for some stupid reason, fanned the spark that had settled low in her belly.
“I don’t want to argue with you about something as stupid as driving. I mean, I get it that you’re one of those guys who likes to do all the driving.”
“You make me sound like a douche.”
“Well…”
“Ha ha.”
“We just need to get used to each other. Both of us have been single for a long time. I’ll admit, one of the best things about being single is making all my own decisions. I don’t have to consult anyone,” she said.
Maybe he just needed to be taught how to meet her halfway.
“Yeah.”
“But I like to drive, too, so you need to learn to sit back and shut up when I’m in the driver’s seat,” she said, adding a cocked eyebrow and confident smile to convey her teasing. “You might just like it.”
He turned to face her, a spark of humor in his eye. “You’re probably right about adjusting to each other, and yeah, I’m bossy. But you didn’t complain about it last night.”
She rolled her eyes. “Just because I’m not an extrovert, and I’m not generally sexually aggressive, doesn’t mean I don’t expect to be treated with the sam
e respect you insist on.”
He nodded. “You’re right. But you should know by now I tend to take charge of things. I can’t help it, it’s just who I am.”
She smiled and squeezed his thigh. “It’s okay. I’m fine with that for the most part. Except when I’m driving, I’m driving. Stop telling me where to turn, or to speed up or slow down, or how the car’s going to react in the rain, or whatever.”
“Okay, fine. But in here,” he pointed at the range. “I’m in charge and you do what I say.”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
“You know, it turns me the fuck on when you say that.”
He wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her into a kiss. His warm, firm lips on hers melted her irritation at him. She couldn’t get enough of the man. It was embarrassing.
His tongue swept into her mouth, drawing a quiet moan from deep in her chest.
“That turns me on, too,” he said.
She chuckled. “Everything turns you on.”
“Pretty much. You’re in my blood.”
“Same here.” It was an understatement. They’d been together a short time, part of which had been fraught with Russian terrorists and Jason Bourne-like adventure, but whether on a cargo ship escaping from bad guys or sitting on the couch in her living room watching movies, Buck had become irrevocably entwined in her life. She was fine with that. Whatever their issues, they’d work them out.
“How about we go do some shooting,” he said. “We can finish this when we get back to your place.”
He waggled his brows at her. His moods sometimes gave her whiplash; then again, her steady personality probably confounded him.
“I suppose shooting turns you on, too?” she asked. “Oh, wait. Of course it does.”
“See? You know me so well. And the weapons and shooting only turn me on if nobody’s shooting at me. That just pisses me off.”
She shook her head, wondering if all military men were the same way. If so, she had renewed respect for the patience of military wives.
“Let’s go,” she said.
She grabbed her gun case and exited the car. Her body still hummed with the heat generated by his kiss, so when he used his hand at her back to guide her into the range she focused on it as an anchor. There weren’t a lot of people inside, but any situation with strangers put her on guard.
“Can I help you?” The blond girl behind the counter asked.
Buck gave her his charming smile. “You sure can. We’d like a lane, please.”
Maybe one of the reasons Buck thought it was okay to tell her how to drive was because in public situations she’d started deferring to him and allowing him to take the lead. It relieved her social anxiety, but that also meant it relieved her of the responsibility to deal with it. Part of her realized it was bad for her, but the anxious part was grateful to give up that obligation.
“I’ll need ID, and you have to sign off on the rules.”
This was their second visit to the range and Melinda remembered the procedure from the first time, so went through the steps of presenting her ID and signed that she understood the rules.
The woman assigned them a lane and after putting on their earmuffs, Buck and Melinda entered the range.
The metallic scent of spent bullets mixed in the air with the smell of gunpowder. It reminded her of the time she and Buck spent on the cargo ship being shot at by Russian terrorists before they finally escaped. Those scents meant fear for her, but they also steeled her determination to be better prepared. Maybe if she’d had a gun in her bedroom on the night those men had broken in to kidnap them, it would have made a difference. Then again, there were five or six of them with semi-automatic weapons, so her little handgun probably wouldn’t have mattered.
Still, it seemed prudent to know how to use a gun, especially now that she’d be working at least peripherally for the CIA.
They got to their lane at the end of the row and both of them placed their cases on the counter. On their first trip, Buck had taught her how to load the gun, and where the safety was, what it sounded and felt like when the magazine clicked into place. She’d practiced dry-firing and how to hold the gun properly. She’d only fired it a few times in one stance.
Buck stood behind her, his body close enough to touch hers, and pushed one ear of her muffs aside. The heat of his breath and the brush of his lips against her ear shocked her at first and she jumped, already hypersensitive to him. Her low level arousal still simmered in the background of the practical activity of shooting practice.
“Do you remember what I taught you last time?” Buck asked.
She imagined his tongue darting into her ear and had to bite her lip hard to force the image out of her head. If she didn’t focus, she’d make a stupid mistake.
“Yes.”
“Okay, show me.”
She went through the steps he’d taught her, and he nodded his approval. When she was ready, he clipped a target to the mechanism that sent the paper down the alley and pushed the button. After it had sailed to the end of their lane, he gestured for her to take her shot.
Closing her eyes, she took a cleansing breath. She didn’t like guns, but in this situation, she trusted Buck. He may irritate her when he nagged her about driving, but he knew more about guns than she did, so she’d listen because it might save her someday.
She opened her eyes, squared her shoulders, braced her feet shoulder-width apart, wrapped her hands around the gun the way he’d showed her and when she’d sighted the target, she moved her index finger to squeeze the trigger.
And missed the target completely.
She grumbled her frustration, but she read Buck’s lips as he said ‘it’s okay.’
He stepped up behind her and put his hands on her hips. Through pressure and guidance, he adjusted her stance. When he moved his hands to her arms, lifting them up into position from behind, he stepped closer, fitting his body to hers. The hardness that nudged her lower back only proved he was as turned on as her.
He pushed the earmuffs aside again and said, “Relax your shoulders and don’t hold your breath when you pull the trigger. Try again.”
After replacing the muffs, he stepped back, his sudden absence cold and empty.
She pushed the notion aside and focused on the target. This time she followed the new instructions, relaxed, breathed, shot, and hit the very edge of the paper.
If it had been a person, she might have startled him, which was still better than nothing, but not good enough.
Buck grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. He mouthed ‘again.’
Melinda nodded, but made the mistake of glancing down at his body. His erection bulged plain as day and he did nothing to hide it. When she dragged her gaze back up to meet his, he grinned, waggled his brows at her then mouthed ‘later,’ pointing at the target to redirect her attention.
At least now she had some motivation. The sooner she hit the target, the sooner she could hit Buck.
2
Buck drove them back to Mindy’s place. Was it alpha douchebag behavior that he’d wanted to drive home? Yes. But between his raging erection and Mindy’s bedroom eyes he didn’t think he’d be able to sit still in the passenger’s seat. His mind—and cock—were focused on getting back to Mindy’s place.
He’d only been in San Diego for a short time, and he was still settling into his new team, the new command, his new apartment, and his new relationship. He’d taken an enormous risk leaving everything he knew to move across the country for a relationship with a woman he hadn’t known very long. But he couldn’t ignore the attraction or connection between them.
So, he’d taken the chance.
Now Mindy was right, they were bobbing and weaving, dancing around each other, trying to figure out how they fit together.
A light November drizzle obscured visibility, so he sprayed and wiped the windshield as he followed his chosen route back to Mindy’s place.
Her driving made him crazy and he couldn’t h
elp himself from saying something. He’d be the first to admit he was a control freak, and part of that was his need to drive when they were out together. It wasn’t a man versus woman thing. He just liked being in charge.
But so did she.
Her cell rang, interrupting his internal rationalization.
“Hi Jayla,” she said.
He glanced over to see the scrunched-brows of confusion on her face. “Um, okay,” she said, adding, “Love you, too.”
She hung up, but didn’t put the phone away.
“What was that all about?” Buck asked, breaking the silence between them.
“I’m not really sure. Jayla asked me to call back in a couple of minutes and invite her and Noah to dinner tonight.”
Buck cocked his head. “Why?”
“I don’t know. She was whispering like she didn’t want Noah to know she was calling.” Mindy said.
“That’s weird.”
“I’ll get the whole story later. Are you okay with a double date dinner tonight?”
“Sure.”
He liked Mindy’s friend Jayla, though they’d only met the one time at Wolf’s barbecue. She was a cute little punkish girl. Her boyfriend Noah was a SEAL, too, though on a different team than Buck. Being the new guy left him kind of isolated, so it wouldn’t hurt for him to get to know the other SEALs at the Coronado base.
But first, he and Mindy had unfinished business.
He pulled up in front of her little yellow house. Before getting out of the car, Mindy held up a finger for him to wait a minute, then dialed the phone again.
“Hi Jayla,” she said. “I don’t know what this is about, but you will fill me in later, right?”
Jayla must have said yes.
“Okay, so how about you and Noah come to my place for dinner? I’m not cooking anything fancy. I’ll probably just order pizza. You bring the beer.”
Mindy rolled her eyes and shook her head while Jayla talked, but smiled, too. “We’ll see you this evening.”
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Buck the System (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Sealed With A Kiss Book 2) Page 1
