Page 18 of The Devil's Conflict

Then there’sher.

At first, I didn’t even notice she was there, thoughthat wasn’t hard considering the rest of her group was all male. She was surrounded by a group of tall men, and the only reason that I noticed her was because one of the asshats that wasrunning their mouths shoved into her and told her to get out of his way. And I watched with an amusement that I couldn’t let show as she very expertly, and carefully, managed to keep pace with him, and trip his ass straight to the ground.

The asshole fell to the ground with a thud, which set a domino effect of others around them doing the same and falling into a dogpile of sorts. There are groans, curses, pants of exhaustion, and then there are the voices of the wannabe leaders slowing and telling them to get up and keep going. I turned my head to see the woman still running, not even looking back, as if oblivious to the wreckage that she willfully caused.

Even then I knew she was something else, and that she was far more dangerous than bad guys out there because of my body’s reaction to her. Her hair was pulled back into the regulation bun, not one strand out of place, even with the sun and sweat dripping off her. And my cock hardened in my pants at the sight of the way her fatigues cupped that perfect ass and lean hips. But then I saw her face and it was like a punch to the gut. Fuck, she was gorgeous, even then, I could tell how young she was. But my body didn’t get the memo because it didn’t care. I quickly looked away from her, standing at attention when the commanding officers called a halt to the run and ordered everyone to line up.

I stood across from the line, arms behind my back and secretly hoping that the whole thing was over so I could get out of the heat for a bit. That extra mile run that I did that morning was catching up with me. Unfortunately for me, that also means that I’m directly across from the woman who is dwarfed by the two men she was running with. Her eyes look directly into mine for the briefest moment, and I force myself to keep my blank, disinterested expression before our gazes move away and front face as the Sergeantmoves along the line.

“You call that a run?” he screams, and from the bulging veins in his neck, he’s displeased. “Can’t even keep your own feet underneath you.” He sneers as he looks at the guy who fell to the ground. He’s covered in dirt, his face scraped and a pissed off look that doesn’t bode well. I can already predict what’s about to come. I almost wonder how she’s going handle it, but I suppose this will be a true test. Few women can handle Sergeant Myers’s blunt nature, especially when he really gets on a roll. “What do you have to say for yourself, you useless worm?” Myers demands from the pissed off man. “Maybe you shouldn’t fucking be here if you can’t even fucking walk. Or are you that stupid that you don’t know how to move your two feet one in front of each other? Or were you too busy running your mouth?” With each insult and question, he steps closer to the solider, until their bodies are brushing.

“No, sir!” the man screams loudly, his voice shaking with anger. No one likes to be dressed down by their superiors, but this guy certainly doesn’t appreciate it. I see his fingers flex by his side as he fights the urge to curl his hands in to fists. And knowing Myers, he’s already clocked it and is ready to stop it and handle this guy at the least provocation. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him really get creative, and I’m almost hoping that the stupid son of a bitch will give Myers a reason to give us all a show.

“Then what is your excuse?” Myers barks.

And this stupid asshole, instead of just taking the dressing down and the insults, does the one thing that will have them putting a target on his back for the rest of his time with this group. Not only with his fellow soldiers, but by Myers. He turns his head and glares down the line at the woman across from me. “She fucking tripped me!” he spits, jabbing his finger her way. “So it wasn’t my fault. She shouldn’t fucking be here anyway. She’s nothing but tits and ass and can’t handle beinghere with us. You want this group to get better, get rid of her. She’s the one consistently holding us back.”

The tension in the group is thick, and I allow my gaze to move to the woman across from the men around her. The two men on either side of her are what I would call leaders, and both of them stiffen just enough, and their eyes go hard and angry. The woman, though, her face is almost serene, even as Myers turns and looks at her, and then stalks his way down the line.

“Is this true, soldier?” Myers barks down at her, hands on his hips. “Did you trip your own team member?”

“Yes, sir,” she replies loudly, clearly, her gaze firm and direct, even as I sense the unease that she’s trying to hide in those blue eyes. It’s then I realize that she’s putting on a brave face, but she’s worried. No doubt this is the first time she’s really been put on the spot.

“Explain!” he screams at her, his anger making the sound loud and fierce.

And this woman? There’s a small light of defiance that replaces the unease as she yells back, “Because he made me lose my shade, Sir.”

Myers doesn’t respond right away, and I’m just as confused as the rest. What the hell does she mean shade? There’s not a tree in sight and the scorching sun is only getting hotter by the second. “Are you trying to be smart with me, soldier?” Myers screams at her.

“No, Sir!” she screams back.

“Then you better fucking explain yourself before I have you scrubbing the toilets with your own toothbrush,” Myers orders. And considering that’s a punishment I’ve seen him use before, I know he means it.

And what does this crazy woman say? Because that’s what she has to be to let the words come out of her mouth. She yells,“He bumped into me and my running partner, Sir, and because I’m so much smaller, it meant I was exposed to the sun. I was trying to stay between the tall guys so I had some shade and stayed cool, Sir. And since he got in my way, I tripped him and called timber behind me as he went down. Sir!”

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Myers speechless. When her words really hit me, it takes all my control not to laugh. And considering the smirks of the men around her, and the man to my right, they’re right there with me. And later, when we’re alone, Myers lets me know that he found it that way too, but was too pissed to really get it in the moment. It earned her some respect, but at the same time, he made her run in the hot sun, by herself, for another five miles.

Still, that was the moment I changed my mind. She came back an hour later sunburnt, exhausted, and close to passing out, but she did it and never made one noise of complaint. And I knew then she was going to go farther than a lot of her fellow soldiers. As long as her smartass mouth didn’t get in the way.

I huff out a breath as I pull myself from my thoughts. And I was right, she did indeed go far, though there were a lot of bumps along the way that I remember before I finally lost track of her. But I dreamed of her. I wondered about her. Until finally, I discharged and I doubted that I would ever see her again.

But karma is a bitch and clearly has other plans, because here she is again, and I don’t have a choice but to figure out what to do with her. Or about her.

What you want to do to her is the exact reason you need to avoid her.

I push that thought right out of my head. That’s a guaranteed way to sour my mood even more. I hate myself for wanting someone that I have no business wanting. She’s too young for me, and she doesn’t need a man that’s as hard and battle-scarred as me. And from the state of her apartment, and the fact she liveswith her brother, there is no man in her life. Though I doubt it will stay that way for long.

I almost hope she finds someone else so I can finally force myself to forget about her. Other than seeing her with her brother, which should be rare, I’ll have no reason to be around her or to hear her voice. And I have far more important things that I need to focus on other than a woman. Namely finding this fucking journal and that son of a bitch Vlad. That has to be first and foremost, so I need to put Thea Sutton firmly out of my mind.

“Looks who’s here,” Milk calls excitedly as he comes back into the room. I turn my head to see Shadow walk in, but then my gaze cuts to the very same woman I just told myself to stop thinking about following him in.Fuck.

Any attempt at being in a better mood plummets. I glare at Shadow, who just smirks at me and says, “We’re heading to an estimate, then I’ll come back and help you out with moving things around. I gave Cryos the specs he needs for whatever he’s doing with the cameras and shit out there so that will be up and running by the end of day according to him.”

“About time,” I grunt as I turn back to the boxes and pick up what has to be the millionth empty box. “Why the fuck don’t people throw this shit out?” I demand, tossing the box out into the hallway and listening to it bounce hard off the wall. Thea sidesteps, narrowing her eyes at me. I didn’t throw it at her, but if she wants to think that, why not? Maybe it’ll piss her off enough to walk out.

Why the fuck did I tell her to take the job? I should have kept my mouth shut and this wouldn’t even be an issue.

“Clearly it’s to piss you off,” I hear her say simply. “Especially when it’s so easy.”

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