by Em Petrova
When the men turned, Lennon gave a small nod and then he and Linc took the shots.
* * * * *
Edie sat in the back of an ambulance being treated for smoke inhalation. The senator had been taken to a more secure area by Penn, and she wondered what would become of the very short moment when she’d felt a father-daughter bond.
“I think I’m all right,” she said to the EMT.
“Let me get one more read on your oxygen levels and then you’ll be free to go,” he said.
She nodded, and he placed a device on her index finger. A beep occurred almost instantaneously, and he gave a nod.
“You’re back to normal. Be careful out there, though, okay? There’s a lot of traffic with the medics and firetrucks.”
Not to mention the special ops team that had rushed in and saved so many.
After thanking the medic, she wandered the immediate area in search of Lennon. He was nowhere to be seen. Without anything to do to help, she found a place out of the way and leaned against a vehicle.
With her legs in such a shaky state, she wished she had a bench or something to sit on. But this would do for now. She pulled out her phone and texted her mother and then Hallie. She owed it to both women who loved her to let them know she was safe, even though they had no idea she’d been in danger.
Her mind still whirled over everything that had happened—facing down her father, learning the truth, his vow to tell his family and her refusal of it. Then the explosion that had rocked the building not once but twice. The smoke filling the space had stunned her at first, and then she’d grown furious, realizing the sprinkler system had failed to come on and that it had been shut down—if they hadn’t been killed by the blasts, they would be by the fire.
Each time she thought of what might have really happened to her, she wanted to get up and run into the burning building with a grenade launcher to look for the men who’d done this to her.
Was this how Lennon felt?
The look on his face when he’d found her…
Her heart gave a hard knock in her chest.
Hallie’s reply came at once, and her eyes blurred with tears as she read her friend’s gushing words about how much she loved her and was happy she was safe. Then Hallie told her she was coming for a visit ASAP. That had Edie chuckling through her tears.
Strong arms came around her. She looked up into Lennon’s hazel eyes.
“Oh baby.” He dragged her flush against his chest, both arms locking her into his embrace. He bowed his nose to her hair. “It’s all right. I’ve got you.”
She sniffled and breathed him in… smoke and man with an underlying note of his bodywash.
She held fast to him, finding him bulkier with all the gear he wore. She’d never seen him in full rig, and given other circumstances, she’d want to look her fill.
“Where is the senator?”
“He’s safe, his injuries being tended.”
“He’s injured?”
“Yeah, he crawled through some glass while we were making our escape.”
Suddenly, she replayed the sound of those two shots ringing out… the finality of them. Being hidden behind Lennon’s big body, she had been unable to see the bullets that had taken out their attackers. But her father had screamed.
“I’ll have to get in touch with him and thank him for all he did for me.” She shivered, and Lennon enfolded her more tightly in his hold.
“Yes, there is time to say things. I’ll get you access as soon as I can. Right now, the guys are wrapping up here, and the building’s being double-checked.”
“Did…” She could barely speak the words. “Did anybody die?”
“No casualties,” he said at once. “Just lots of injuries. One woman on the ground floor nearest the bombs is in critical condition.”
“How horrible.”
He nodded. “Jake’s okay.”
“I’m glad. You know I don’t care about him… I just hate to see him lose his life—for anybody to lose his life—because of something like this.”
He smoothed a hand down her arm. “I understand.” He looked at her for a long, silent moment.
“What is it?” she asked, heart starting to pick up pace.
“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but the unofficial word is that while we were in there”—he raised his jaw toward the building—“Breckham’s home was invaded, and he’s been taken into custody.”
She sucked in a gasp. “Will it end if he isn’t able to call the shots anymore?”
“We’ll end it. We don’t fuck around.” His teeth flashed white in his dark face paint.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him. “Thank God you were there, Lennon. How did you get there so quick?”
“We’re the Ranger Ops, baby. Guts and glory.”
She pushed back to search his eyes. “Guts and glory and a gorgeous man that I love.”
“Hey, that better be me.”
Disregarding the streaks of his face paint, she yanked him in for a kiss. “There’s no one else for me.”
* * * * *
Edie pushed open the door of her apartment. The familiar scents of home, though stale, were intact.
Penn stepped up. “May I?”
She waved a hand for him to go ahead and do his duty. Though the past two weeks had seen the entire Breckham clan and every person associated with his affairs in custody, Lennon still wasn’t taking chances and had kept Penn on as her bodyguard.
He moved through the place, hand on his spine, ready to pull his weapon. She stood there waiting for him to finish and give her the all-clear.
A minute later he was back, a half grin on his face. “You’re good. I’ll wait outside for you.”
“Thanks, Penn.”
He strolled to the door, boots thumping on the floor.
She spun. “Penn.”
He turned to look at her.
“You don’t have to babysit me anymore. I’m safe now and have been for weeks.” She’d returned to work even, though it had been a wrench for her to leave Ranger, if she was honest. The new dog sitter she and Lennon had chosen together came with excellent references, was very attentive and lived only a block away from him. She had seen Ranger on walks before and stopped to pet him every chance she got.
But that brief and odd part of Edie’s life hadn’t been all terror-filled.
She had made friends. With a dog, with Penn… and she had Lennon.
Penn’s grin widened into the real deal. “I know you’re fine. But tell that to your boyfriend.”
“I’ll speak to him tonight.” She smiled back. “Thank you.”
He shot her an affectionate wink and walked out of the apartment.
She closed the door behind him and leaned on it heavily. Looking around the place she had loved when she chose it and decorated it, she felt far removed now. How strange a few weeks with Lennon had changed her universe.
There were things to think about.
To stay here at the apartment or move in with Lennon on a permanent basis? She knew what he wanted already, but it was a decision that she must put some major thought into. After all, jumping into situations had caused all this mess in the first place.
The commute to Notable News would be killer, but she was hoping to work out some deal with her editor to work from home some days and email articles for consideration, as she had the write-up on Jordan and school lunches.
A big part of her feared that by staying here in her apartment, she’d allow that cold, unemotional portion of herself to creep back in and she would be distanced from the man she loved.
She couldn’t allow that to happen.
There was also the possibility of taking Hallie up on her offer to run her e-zine from a satellite office with weekly meetings in the country and leave behind her dreams of being a full-time reporter with Notable News.
Too many options, all the paths leading from what she knew.
She gathered a few things into a suitcase a
nd wheeled it out the door. Expecting Penn to be standing guard, she was shocked to look up into Lennon’s eyes.
Arms folded, he pulled away from the wall and sauntered over to stand before her. His expression changed as he saw hers.
“You okay, baby?” he asked, cupping her face.
She nodded. “I think I need a few days to think on things.”
Fear struck his eyes like green-gold bolts of lightning. “Think on us,” he grated out.
She nodded, eyes downcast. She couldn’t face the look she’d put in his eyes. “I love you, Lennon. That much I know. I’m just not sure how to sort everything out—to combine my old life with a new one. And that new one only came about from a mess with the senator—my father.” She sighed. “Well, it’s a completely different life from what it was. I can’t keep up with all the changes.”
He slid his hands to her shoulders and kneaded at the tension there. “It’s understandable. You’ve been shaken up and need to find your groove. I’ll be here to support you… or back off. If you need.” He swallowed hard.
She put her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. “I don’t want you to back off. But I might need to do some investigation into my own life story. I need to see if I belong at Notable News. Climbing that ladder past all the interns who were there before me will take a long time, and I’m not certain anymore if I’m up for that sort of news reporting.”
He arched a brow. “You’ll go to Hallie?”
She nodded. “I’m still thinking on things there, but I want to visit her.”
He shot her a smile. “Sure you can navigate all those farm roads?”
She chuckled. “Yes.”
“Here’s what I think you should do,” he said, taking up the handle of her wheeled suitcase. “You pack up for the country. Spend some time with Hallie talking things out. Then if I’m open this weekend, I’ll come join you, and you can meet my momma. But there’s no pressure. It’s just a suggestion. The last thing I want is to force myself and this life on you, Edie. I’m…” He searched her eyes and started again. “I’m deep in love with you, but your happiness is first and foremost to me. If it means giving you—”
She didn’t let him finish his sentence, whatever it was. She went on tiptoe and crushed her lips over his.
The soft lingering brush of his mouth sent tingles all through her body. When she drew away to stare up into his eyes, she smiled. “You’re the best boyfriend a girl could ask for. I’ll follow your plan and go visit Hallie. Then I’ll see you on the weekend. Okay?”
He brought her close and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. “Perfect.”
They remained in each other’s embrace for a moment.
“I’ll leave from here,” she said.
“Ranger and I will be waiting for you at my momma’s barring I don’t get called away.”
She grinned and laid a palm on his chest. “Will you do something else for me?”
“Anything, baby.” His tone was filled with the love she saw reflected in his eyes.
She tapped his chest. “Take Penn with you.”
Epilogue
6 months later
Ranger romped through the back yard, chasing the ball that Lennon lazily whipped out there for him to fetch. For now, holding down the lounge chair was his only chore. That and getting his beautiful woman into his bed again soon.
Edie curled up next to him on the chair, her head resting on his shoulder. The tendrils of her blonde hair spread across his chest, and he stroked the silken strands over and over.
“Ranger’s back,” she said with a giggle.
The dog stood next to Lennon’s chair, ball in his smiling jaws and drool soaking it.
“Give,” Lennon said.
The ball dropped into his hand.
“Good boy.” He tossed it, and Ranger took off, knocking into the lounger with such force that they were shaken up.
Edie lifted her head off his chest to watch the dog wheel out through the yard and collect the ball. “Where does he find all that energy?” she asked.
“You’d have some too if you hadn’t stayed up all night.” He stroked his hand down her spine to the curve of her ass.
She wiggled closer. “Whose fault was that, now?”
“You started it,” he said.
She had. After several days away on a dark mission, he’d walked through his front door to find Edie sprawled on his sofa, completely naked. As he’d growled out a greeting, she let her thighs part ever so slightly, giving him a view of what he’d been hungering for during their days apart.
Things had gone up in flames in a hurry, and they’d barely rolled away from each other long enough to eat. Actually, if it hadn’t been for Ranger bringing them his food bowl, they might still be there in bed.
She arched, filling his palm with her round ass cheek, and looked up into his eyes. “We’d better get on the road if we’re making it to the country this evening.”
“I’m thinking tomorrow morning is soon enough. Can your meeting with Hallie wait till then?”
“Yes. Would give you time to mow the lawn too.” She turned her head to eye the grass. Since school was back in session, Jordan was busy, and happily getting school lunches again since Edie’s story in Notable News had sent other parents like Jordan’s into action. Together they’d been able to fundraise enough money to give each child a free lunch for half of the school year. Their efforts continued, and they hoped to make that the entire year by the time they were finished.
Edie’s backside vibrated, and Lennon paused in groping it.
“Want me to get that for you?” He cocked a brow.
“Yes, please.”
He drew her phone out nice and slow, teasing her, before handing it over.
She looked at the screen and pushed up a little more, surprise crossing her face.
“My father’s invited us to join them all in Colorado for the New Year.”
This was the most surprising of all the things to have happened to Edie so far, at least in Lennon’s opinion. Her father actually had broken the news to his family. It had sent Edie into a tizzy for a while, and no wonder. He couldn’t imagine how it would feel to be the daughter nobody knew about. Would they all resent her?
Turned out, their issues with how she had come into the senator’s life didn’t last for long. Her half brother and sister were slowly reaching out, and she and Lennon had shared dinner with the Arthurs twice now.
“Christmas Eve with your mother here,” he said.
“And Christmas Day with yours,” she added.
“A long weekend in the country. Linc and Nealy will be there.” Linc had told him they had news to share, and Lennon thought he could guess what it was. Nealy had been looking very green for a couple months and now suddenly appeared radiant and glowing.
“And New Years with the Arthurs in Colorado?” She looked into Lennon’s eyes.
He nodded. “I haven’t skied in years. I can’t break anything, or I won’t be with Ranger Ops for six weeks after.”
She ran her hand down his chest to the waistband of the lounge pants he’d thrown on after their sex marathon. “I think I know a way to keep you off the slopes…”
He grabbed her ass and hauled her over him, his cock already growing hard between her thighs. “Sounds like one hell of a holiday,” he said.
She leaned in to kiss him. In seconds, their tongues twined and heat blazed through him.
Suddenly, a slobbery ball dropped onto his chest.
Edie collapsed into giggles. “Ranger’s back.”
“We need to figure out a way to tire this dog out so we can get more alone time together.”
“I know. Why don’t we take him for a walk? Right after this.” She kissed him again.
The love and need in her caress extended deep into him, and he gave it right back, matching the love of his life… stroke for stroke.
THE END
Read on for a sneak peek of TARGET IN RANGE
The wind howled through the trees outside Avery’s bedroom window, but it didn’t mask the thump of boots and slamming of doors.
Somebody was in the house.
Why, oh why had she said she was too old for a babysitter? Her parents wouldn’t be home for hours from their cards night with friends, and she knew those rough, low voices coming from the front of the house were not her parents.
She had woken the second she heard the back door. Nobody used the back, and from that moment, she knew what was going on.
Robbers had come, and she was alone. Helpless.
Her heart pounded in her ears and filled her chest, slamming until it hurt and she felt it all the way up into her teeth. Her hands were icy, but there was no turning over and cuddling beneath her Hello Kitty quilts.
She had to hide.
The men weren’t bothering to be quiet—they thought the house was empty. They were coming toward her bedroom.
“Find the bedroom. Women always have jewelry.” One man’s voice jolted as with how close it was to her door.
“Might be a gun there too.”
“Yeah, gotta protect against people like you.”
The coarse words barely registered in Avery’s head. She rolled out of bed to her knees. Thank goodness she had carpet and made no sound. But she couldn’t move either—she was frozen in fear, stare locked on the door, waiting for it to burst inward and the evil men looking her in the eyes.
She peered through the strands of her brown hair. They wavered in front of her vision, because she was shaking.
One more heavy footstep, just outside her door. She scrambled up and lunged toward her closet.
No, it was always the first place robbers looked. She needed another hiding spot.
Avery was a reader, and for her tenth birthday, her daddy had construction workers come in and build her a book nook around her window with a seat underneath. Her momma had sewn her a plump cushion, and Avery spent hours curled up there reading every chance she got.
Shelves surrounded the window, all packed with her favorite mysteries and books about girls winning championships for riding horses. Recently, her teacher had loaned her the first book of a series about girls in middle school, and Avery was captivated by all the changes that would take place in her future, namely getting boobs and liking boys.
