Page 12 of Covert Mission

Why do I see a long, hard road ahead when I look in those hazel eyes?

Fuck me running. My dick sure is happy at her announcement.

But the rest of me? I’m ready to punch a tree.

ChapterFour

A different kind of agony churns my insides. A litany of reasons why I can’t quit, makes my brain pound the inside of my skull.

I haven’t come this far to fail. This is my job. This is too important. I will not fail my mission.

“Beast,” the guy next to me repeats. “What are you thinking we should do with these people?”

The newcomer is also jacked and stacked, and just as intense. A little taller, maybe just a little leaner, but no less mean-looking.

I wave a hand in front of them, reminding them I’m here. “Helloooo. You’re doing nothing.”

The man glances between me and Beast, whoever this guy, Beast, is.

I jump at the chance to make myself clear. “We have to go back to work once the rebels leave.”

An uncomfortable silence begins. The new guy’s eyes widen, before he looks at Beast in disbelief. “She’s joking, right?”

I don’t know where this guy is from, but his accent screams deep south. Unlike me, he hasn’t tried to wipe it away to hide his roots.

Beast crosses his arms—two big tree trunks that fold into an impressive puzzle.

IfI was impressed by men like him, that is.

With fire torching my veins, I cross my own arms. They’re more like spaghetti noodles.

“I’m not joking. We’re an aid organization. We don’t run when things get dicey. Actually, we go toward the chaos because people need us.”

“Can it,” Beast grunts with a glare. “Save your practiced speech for someone else.”

The three of us stand in an uncomfortable triangle with tension building between us.

“That’s rude.”

Beast inhales deeply through his nose.

Good. He’s trying my patience to death. He deserves it.

When he speaks again, his voice is an octave lower and full of bite. “I know what you are, and I know you need guards. This area’s crawling with thieves, cons, gangs, and rebels, just like the ones that were about twenty feet from snatching your pretty little ass.”

I stare, open-mouthed.

When I extinguish the inferno in my head. I spit my reply at him. “You really are a chauvinistic pig.”

His scowl is also impressive, almost as much as the monstrous size of his arms.

IfI caved to things like that.

An angry sound comes out of his chest. Maybe it has some disbelief in the tone. “I’ve been called worse. I am not a chauvinist. I actually have massive respect forintelligentwomen.”

His pointed glare burns hot on my skin. And he continues to smoke me with his tirade. “I’m stating the facts. You’re in over your head. Now, Storm, give her a sat phone so she can arrange for an extraction by…” He glances down at my chest.

Why did my nipples just leap to attention?

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