Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 36646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
“What’s so fuckin’ difficult about it?”
Her scowl was hard enough to trigger my well-trained instincts. I wanted to snap a salute and bark out, Yes, sir!
“Be ready. Take him down if he looks like he’s gonna shoot me or anyone else.” She tilted her head, giving me a puzzled stare. “You ain’t got battle fatigue, do you? You don’t act like you’ve had all you can take.”
“No. I’m good.” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Just don’t like puttin’ a woman out front to use as bait. I should be the one takin’ the risks.”
“Well, I mean, if you want to risk your life when he’ll probably be able to shake me off the second I go for him, fine by me. But I trust you in that regard more than you should trust me. The odds of you gettin’ killed are way higher than me.”
I stared at her until another boom went off followed almost immediately by another window shattering. “You’re gonna give me all kinds of fuckin’ trouble, ain’t you?”
She grinned. “Trouble’s my middle name. Get in position. I’ll wait until you’re behind him.” She pointed at the barrier next to the stairs and I saw where she meant.
“Yeah, that’s where I thought I’d wait. I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”
We stared at each other hard for a moment before she spoke. “What’s your name, soldier?”
“Sergeant Michael Wilbanks. At least, that was my rank when I was discharged.”
“Honorable?” She raised an eyebrow.
I rolled my eyes and pointed at my Army issue fatigues. “Of course. Still wearin’ the uniform, ain’t I? Re-upped after my initial tour. Not this time, though. Had enough of the killin’.”
She nodded. “Dr. Josephine Peyton, Captain, US Army. Or I was. You can call me Jo. I got a four-six-one discharge for ‘inadequate personality’ ‘cause I told a general touring our field hospital to suck my dick when he said the men in my ward were sacrificed for the greater good, then couldn’t tell me what the fucking greater good was.”
I couldn’t contain my bark of laughter. “Promise me when this is over, you’ll let me take you out on a date.”
Josephine smirked. “Well, I guess that depends on whether you’re able to take this guy down or not. I won’t go out with a pussy.”
“That sounds like a challenge.”
She shrugged. “If it gets this guy to stop shootin’ the place up, take it however you like.”
Another boom broke the moment. People screamed all around us, but the only person I saw was Jo and her pale blue eyes. Before I could think too much about it, I leaned in and wrapped my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her in for a hard kiss.
At first she stiffened, then seemed to melt into my touch. We crouched there behind a fucking counter. When she gave a soft gasp, I thrust my tongue inside her mouth. I tasted the sweetest woman I’d ever had the pleasure of meeting. She smelled like wild honeysuckle and citrus and I knew I’d never live through another spring without remembering this scent. My cock shot hard and I growled when she whimpered under my touch. Josephine didn’t seem like the kind of woman to whimper much, so I hoped I was doing something right. I wasn’t sure I’d ever wanted a woman more than I did at that moment. I knew nothing about her other than she had a smart mouth and a keen mind. She’d said she was a doctor, but I knew she was much more. She was a warrior through and through. And I wanted her for my own.
The kiss lasted only a few seconds before I broke it off. She looked adorably dazed, a soft look of pleasure on her face. When she opened her eyes, it took her a brief moment to focus and she almost smiled… Then she scowled again. Seemed to be her default setting. “Do that again without permission and I will fuckin’ bury you.”
I tried my best not to smirk at her. Not sure I succeeded. Then, with one hard look into her eyes, a promise as well as a warning to be safe, I ran for my cover at the top of the stairs.
Once I was in place, I made eye contact with Jo. She gave me a crisp nod, then moved closer to where the shooter had taken his stance at the top of the stairs. It was eerie how he calmly fired his gun. Round after round. He didn’t shout or scream or demand anything, but the report of his shotgun echoed in the vast terminal, speaking volumes for him.
“Hey, soldier!” Jo called to the guy from her cover at the bottom of the stairs. “Hold your fire.”
“Ain’t takin’ orders from no one no more!” the guy screamed in Jo’s general direction. He didn’t appear to be looking for her so much as he was looking for the next target. A pillar in the middle of the room caught his eye and he fired. Dust and shrapnel exploded around the area, sending the few people hiding behind it screaming and scurrying off to find better cover.