Danger and Desire: A Romantic Suspense Anthology

by Kimberly Kincaid

  Josh hesitated.

  She gave him a fierce frown. “You know I’m right. I grew up in Texas. I learned to fire a gun before I learned how to comb my hair.” She pointed to the back of the building. “Go. Now.”

  Josh jumped and snagged Garcia’s good hand. “Hold on tight.”

  The sergeant groaned as Josh dragged him across the floor into the back of the building, out of sight.

  Kylie grabbed the soldier’s weapon, ejected the magazine to check for rounds and slammed it back in. She had enough left to do some damage. Question was, did she have enough rounds to protect them from an army of Taliban fighters, if there were more than a few?

  She found a wall to hide behind for cover and lay down in a prone position, elbows on the floor, the weapon resting lightly in her hands, her finger on the trigger guard. She sighted down the barrel at the entrance to the building and waited. With each measured breath, she calmed her wildly beating heart and focused on defending her cameraman and the soldier who’d been tasked to protect her.

  “Holy shit,” Josh called out.

  Kylie’s heartrate spiked. “What?”

  “We’ve got company back here.”

  “What do you mean?” she called out as quietly as she could. “And hold it down. We don’t want to give away our location.

  Josh poked his head around the corner. “Faaid.”

  “What about him?”

  “He’s back here, hiding behind a pile of boxes.”

  “What?” Kylie glanced over her shoulder. Not like she could see into the back of the building, but seriously. The man the Rangers had been tasked with extracting was hiding in the back of an abandoned building.

  He probably hadn’t trusted the Americans to get him out alive and figured on getting himself out.

  Until the village had been overrun by a contingent of Taliban.

  A noise outside the building brought Kylie’s attention back to the entrance. “Shhh,” she said as loudly as she dared, hoping that Josh had heard her, but the people outside hadn’t.

  Footsteps pounded on the ground on the other side of the front wall. They passed.

  Kylie started to let out a sigh when more feet pounded the ground outside and stopped.

  Her breath lodged in her throat. The finger hovering over the trigger guard slipped onto the cool metal trigger.

  She drew in a slow, steadying breath and waited, remembering her hunter education class in high school. Be sure of what you’re shooting at before you pull the trigger.

  The people on the other side of the door could be friendly forces.

  Then again…they could be members of the Taliban. They were searching for Faaid, along with the Army Rangers. While the Rangers wanted to get him out alive, the Taliban wanted to eliminate him.

  If they knew he was inside the building where Kylie, Josh and Sergeant Garcia were located, they wouldn’t hesitate to storm in, take what they wanted and kill anyone who got in their way.

  Where were the other soldiers? Had the Taliban killed them? Holy shit. Were they on their own?

  The door slammed open.

  Kylie’s heart leaped into her throat. She swallowed hard to keep from letting loose a startled scream. Though her heart pounded against her ribs, she kept her hands and arms steady, her eyes trained on the man walking through the door.

  Dressed all in black with a black turban, he wasn’t one of their guys. He carried an AK-47 at the ready.

  A noise sounded from the rear of the building, like someone kicked a stone or dropped something on the hard floor.

  Kylie winced as if she’d been stung by a bee.

  The man at the door swung his rifle in Kylie’s direction and fired a burst of bullets, hitting the wall above her head.

  Apparently, he hadn’t had the same shoot-don’t-shoot training Kylie had. He was of the philosophy of shoot first, pick through the bodies later.

  And he was headed her way.

  Kylie trained her sights on him.

  The man let loose another burst of bullets.

  Kyle winced as debris from the wall rained down on her head.

  If he got past her, he’d kill the others. Kylie aimed for his left chest and squeezed the trigger.

  One round to the heart, and the man went down.

  “Kylie?” Josh’s voice called out. “You all right?”

  “I’m good,” she said. More footsteps pounded in the street outside the building heading their way. “But I don’t know for how long.” She sighted her weapon on the open door.

  A shadow raced past it, and then a man in black dove through, rolled to his feet and came up shooting.

  Most of Kylie’s shooting experience had been with stationary targets. She aimed and fired, but the man moved so fast, Kylie missed her first shot.

  The man turned toward her, his AK-47 aimed at her position.

  Kylie fired again, hitting him in the chest as he pulled his trigger.

  His bullet hit just above her head, showering dust and pieces of wall down on her.

  Another man raced through the door with a machinegun and started firing indiscriminately.

  Kylie pulled back behind her wall and lay as low to the ground as possible until the man ceased firing.

  Then she poked her head and the barrel of her rifle out and fired at the man.

  At the last second, he moved, and the bullet hit his arm, but not badly enough to keep him from setting off another burst of gunfire, getting closer to Kylie’s location.

  She ducked back and lay flat against the floor

  She couldn’t come out long enough to fire again, the man kept shooting short bursts.

  Shouts sounded outside, and the sound of men running worried Kylie. She would run out of bullets soon, if she got another chance to fire.

  The gunfire ceased, and the clang of metal hitting the floor told her the Taliban shooter was changing magazines.

  If she hoped to get this guy, she needed to do it while he was vulnerable, reloading his gun.

  Kylie leaned around the corner and aimed her rifle.

  The shooter slammed another magazine into the machinegun.

  Before he could raise it to fire, Kylie launched a bullet into the man’s heart.

  Three men ran through the door, all wearing the same black outfits and the black turbans as the other two Kylie had nailed.

  She’d been lucky the first three times. The men had come in separately. How was she going to shoot three in a row?

  She aimed, fired and missed the first guy.

  The three Taliban men all hit the ground, making it hard for her to aim at them.

  Slowly, they moved forward, inching their way toward her.

  Kylie’s pulse pounded in her ears. She couldn’t let the fact that there were three against one get inside her head and mess with her. She had to protect Josh, Sergeant Garcia and Faaid. They were depending on her.

  One of the men fired at her, hitting so close to her head, she could almost feel the buzz of the bullet zipping past her ear.

  She ducked back behind the wall for a moment, dragged in a deep breath and whipped back around the corner, her rifle aiming at the last position of the closest combatant.

  He wasn’t there. The Taliban soldier stood over her, his AK-47 pointing down at her face.

  Kylie gasped. She didn’t have time to jerk her weapon up to kill the man. As she stared up at the barrel of his gun, her life passed before her eyes. The last few years as a war correspondent, before that, falling in love with the one man she’d almost given up her dreams for. He was her only regret.

  Several shots were fired.

  Kylie waited for the pain but felt nothing except for a spray of blood across her face.

  The man standing over her dropped his weapon, and then collapsed, landing on top of Kylie.

  His weight crushed the air from her lungs. Kylie fought to get out from beneath him, but he was too heavy. Who had shot him? Was there another enemy in the building? She had to get out from un
der the man and be prepared to protect her team.

  Suddenly, the dead Taliban man flipped over and landed on his back beside Kylie.

  She scrambled to bring her weapon up in her hands and aim at the man who’d saved her life, afraid he’d only saved her because he’d wanted the Taliban soldier to die. For all she knew, he’d want her and her team to die as well.

  Rolling onto her back, she aimed up at a different man staring down at her.

  He held up his hands. “Whoa, little lady. You don’t want to shoot your rescuer. It really destroys the whole superhero image.” He winked and smiled. As he stared at her, his smile slipped. “Kylie?”

  Those rugged good looks were a little more seasoned, but that voice could not be mistaken. Kylie’s heart stuttered. “Mac?”

  “What the hell are you doing out here in enemy territory?” he demanded, his brow descending.

  Even though he’d save her life, she bristled. “For the same reason you are.”

  “You came out here to shoot Taliban insurgents?” Mac shook his head. “I thought you were a journalist.”

  “I am,” she said, pushing to a sitting position. “Things just got away from us. I had it under control.” She looked away.

  Mac snorted. “Under control when you were about to be shot in the head?”

  She shrugged. “Well, I did…until those last three came bustin’ through.” Kylie sighed. “I guess I should thank you for saving my life.”

  “Don’t sound so disappointed.” He held out his hand. “And you could do a better job of saying thank you.”

  Her lips pressed into a thin line as she laid her hand in his.

  Suddenly, she was yanked onto her feet and into his arms. He kissed her hard, his mouth claiming hers just like he had all those years ago.

  And just like she had every time he’d held her in his arms, she melted against him, her arm circling the back of his neck. She returned the kiss, hungry for him.

  She could have lost herself in him forever.

  “Kylie?” Josh called out. “You okay?”

  Mac held onto her a moment longer, finally releasing her lips, though his arm remained around her waist.

  “I’m okay,” Kylie called out, her voice husky. Safe from the Taliban, but not sure she was safe from heartache.

  “Is it safe to come out?” Josh called out. “Sergeant Garcia needs a medic.”

  “You can come out,” she said and stepped away from Mac.

  His jaw tightened the way it had when she’d walked away from him all those years ago. Yeah, she’d missed him, and the spark was still there on her part. Based on his kiss, he hadn’t forgotten her either.

  The spark was there, but had he forgiven her for choosing her career over him?

  “Mac! You in there?” a male voice called out from the outside of the building. Rucker Sloan burst through the door, his weapon ready. He aimed at Mac and Kylie until recognition dawned in his eyes. “Damn it, Mac. I thought you were a dead man when I heard all that shooting.”

  “I’m fine,” Mac said, though his chest felt as if he’d been punched in the ribs. “Found a few of our Taliban friends about to make Swiss cheese out of one of our citizens.”

  Several more of his teammates entered, Sergeant Ryan “Dash” Hayes in the lead.

  Dash stopped, his eyes widening, a grin spreading across his face. “Whoa, Mac, where’d you find the babe?”

  Mac frowned. “She’s not a babe.”

  “From where I’m standing, I’d say she is,” Mike “Blade” Calhoun said with a flash of his bright blue eyes. He pulled his K-Bar knife out of the scabbard attached to his belt and rubbed his thumb across the blade. “You took care of all six of these guys?”

  Mac shook his head. “Only three. Miss Adams took out the first three before I arrived.”

  John “Tank” Sanders and Craig “Bull” Bullington turned over the three Kylie had killed.

  Tank whistled. “Hey, I think we have a winner.”

  “What do you mean?” Mac asked.

  Tank lifted his chin toward the body. “This guy looks like one of the guys on our most wanted list.”

  Rucker, Dash and Mac gathered around the dead man.

  “Looks like Abdul Ahktar,” Rucker confirmed.

  “Brother of Mullah Ahktar?” Dash asked.

  Tank nodded.

  “Isn’t Mullah Ahktar one of the bloodiest field commanders of the Taliban?” Kylie asked.

  Rucker nodded. “He’s not going to be happy to learn his brother was killed. Even worse…by a woman.”

  “Sweetheart,” Dash said, “you’ll have a price on your head as long as you’re in the theater.”

  “You might want to consider leaving Afghanistan,” Tank said.

  “I can’t leave,” Kylie said, frowning. “I’m covering the war for my syndicate. They expect me to give them live-action news about the war efforts.”

  “Ahktar will hunt you down.” Rucker said. “He’s done it before. That Marine who killed Ahktar’s second in command lasted a total of five days before Ahktar’s best sniper took him out.”

  Mac’s frown deepened. “Rucker’s right. Ahktar’s like a bulldog with his teeth sunk deep. He won’t let go. Kylie, you’re not safe around here.”

  “I was never safe to begin with. I’ll manage,” Kylie said.

  “You don’t understand.” Mac gripped her arms. “You killed his brother. Once he gets wind of his brother’s death, Ahktar won’t let you out of this country alive. Your best bet is to get the hell out before he learns who did the shooting. That it was a woman will make him even angrier.”

  Kylie’s brow dipped. “I’m not going. This is my job. It’s what I do. Besides, I came to get footage on the extraction and to interview Faaid.” She squared her shoulders and faced Rucker, her chin rising. “Now, we should concentrate on more important matters.”

  “What’s more important than keeping you alive?” Mac asked.

  “The life of one of our soldiers. Do you have a medic with you?”

  Bull lifted a finger. “That would be me.”

  “The Ranger I’ve been working with needs assistance. He has a couple of gunshot wounds. He’s in the back of the building with my cameraman and the Afghan the Rangers were sent in to find and extract.”

  Mac’s eyebrows rose. “Faaid?”

  Kylie’s lips twisted. “Yup. The man of the hour.”

  Bull hurried toward the back. Tank followed.

  Mac shook his head. “We were sent in when the intelligence guys caught wind the Rangers were being set up to fail. The Taliban found out where Faaid was and got here with twice the numbers of the Ranger squad sent in to extract the informant.” His lips quirked upward in a smile. “I can’t say that I expected to find you holding off all those Taliban soldiers, while protecting the man everyone was after.”

  “I didn’t plan it that way.” Kylie sighed. “This was supposed to be a fairly simple extraction. Get in, rescue Faaid and get back out. Capture the action on video, conduct an interview with Faaid and show what a great job our folks in uniform are doing.” She snorted softly. “Simple.”

  “Until it wasn’t so simple.” Mac nodded, glad he’d made it in time to stop the Taliban gunman from shooting the woman who’d ditched his ass all those years ago.

  Chapter 2

  Kylie’s heart beat fast and furious. She couldn’t tell if it was from the adrenaline rush of having had to kill three Taliban terrorists or because she was standing now with the only man she’d ever loved.

  She feasted her eyes on him, taking all of him in. God, he was sexy in his desert camouflage uniform and helmet. She couldn’t have distinguished him from any other soldier except for the eyes and that low, resonant voice that made her blood hum and her heart sing.

  One of Mac’s teammates poked his head through the door of the building. “You guys need to wrap up this party. We’ve got incoming.”

  Tank emerged from the back of the building, the Army Ranger slung ov
er his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Party?” he said. “I’ve had about all the fun I can stand in one day. Yo, Blade, what’s happening outside?”

  “Dawg’s on the roof,” Blade said. “He’ll provide cover while we make our way out of this village.”

  Mac held out his hand to Kylie. “Ready to blow this popsicle stand?”

  She nodded.

  Together, they hurried for the door.

  Rucker and Dash reached it first.

  “We’ll provide more cover while you get your lady, the cameraman, our informant and the Ranger out.”

  The two men moved out and into position to defend the others.

  Mac pushed Kylie behind him, stepped through the door first and looked around for any sources of trouble. Once he was convinced she was fairly safe, he turned to Kylie. “Come on.”

  She let him pull her down the street, taking them toward the edge of town. They ran, keeping ahead of any terrorists who might be stalking them.

  “Where are we going?” Kylie asked.

  Mac held her hand tightly. “Our extraction point is at the edge of town.”

  Tank followed, the Ranger draped over his shoulder, Faaid and Josh following close behind. Other members of Mac’s team formed a semicircle around the group.

  Ahead, she could see the edge of town. As they came up beside the last building, she spotted the Blackhawk helicopters, lowering to the ground.

  Army Rangers were loading onto one of them. As Kylie watched, the full chopper lifted off.

  “All we have to do is make it from here to the helicopter without getting shot,” Mac said, “and we’re off.”

  Kylie snorted. Running out in the open across an area void of vegetation would make them easy targets for getting shot in the back. However, they had no other choice. “I can’t wait.”

  “Good, because we’re going.” Mac hustled her in front of him, using his body as a shield for any bullets that might fly at them from behind. They ran across the open field.

  Mac forced them to zigzag to avoid being easy targets for whomever might be aiming in their direction. When she reached the helicopter, he gave her a boost up into the opening.