Page 6 of Guarded

The flight back to Quantico was uneventful. Matt managed to sleep for the last few hours. Schroder even slept through the touchdown.

Matt nudged him awake with his shoulder as they taxied to the end of the runway. “We’re here.”

Schroder sat up, peered out the window in relief. “Already?”

“Yep. You ready to see Hudson?”

“Can’t wait. Bet he’s grown since I last saw him.”

Matt grinned. His guys were the best and toughest he had ever had the pleasure of commanding, and every one of them went all softhearted when it came to their kids and significant others.

The team unloaded and carried their gear toward the parking lot. Some of the significant others were there waiting. Matt smiled as Bauer, the biggest and hardest of them all, went all mushy at the sight of his wife and year-old daughter waiting for him there.

Bauer scooped each of them up in a giant arm and started kissing their necks, little Libby’s delighted laugh ringing out in the warm spring air. Vance’s wife was there as well, along with Cruzie’s fiancée.

Matt passed by the others as he headed for his truck, anxious to get on the road. When he stepped out from between two rows of parked vehicles he stopped short.

Briar leaned against the hood of his pickup, her lean body encased in skintight jeans and a formfitting top that made his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth. Her long, dark hair was loose around her shoulders, her deep brown eyes warming as her lips curved upward in a welcoming smile.

“Surprise,” she said, straightening and starting toward him with that sexy, confident stride he would never get tired of.

Grinning like an idiot, Matt hurried to her, dropped his bag and dragged her to him for a hug and a deep, thorough kiss.

BRIAR CHUCKLED AGAINST Matt’s lips, amused and secretly tickled by the fierceness of his reaction to finding her here. But when he tightened his hold on her and slid a hand up to tangle his fingers in the back of her hair, signaling he was intent on reducing her to a puddle of need right here and now, she went all melty inside. Apparently he’d missed her more than she had realized.

Not only the way he kissed her, that dominant, authoritative hold never failed to rev her libido. He made her feel like the most desirable woman on earth. The hum of anticipation at seeing him burst into flame, setting her body alight. By the time he lifted his head and eased his grip, her entire body pulsed with need.

Hands on his broad shoulders, she peered up at him. “That was a pretty great hello, but I came to take you on a dinner date. You up for it?”

His green eyes glowed with latent heat. “I’m up for a lot of things.”

She laughed softly and pressed her hips against his, the hard ridge of his erection impossible to miss. Her husband was a damn attractive man. He was also loyal, hardworking and protective. Sometimes she still couldn’t believe he’d wanted to marry her. “I can see that. Think you’ll live if you have to wait a couple more hours to do something about it?”

“No.”

She grinned and drove them to an Asian place she’d been wanting to try that served Korean BBQ. “So things went well in Colorado, I take it?” she asked after the server set their food down.

“Pretty well. Wish we’d been there in time to save the other hostage though.”

Briar nodded and managed to wrestle a piece of meat onto her chopsticks. So slippery and frustrating, but she was determined not to cave and use a fork. “Saved the others though.”

Matt made a sound of agreement as he swallowed a sip of his beer. “What about you?”

“Got our HVT along with his inner circle and didn’t lose anyone. So yeah, good.”

He studied her a moment. “Were you directly involved?”

“Recon and overwatch.”

He swallowed a mouthful of BBQ chicken, raised a challenging eyebrow. “Nothing else.”

One side of her mouth lifted. He knew her too well. “Maybe something else.”

“You seem pretty pleased about it,” he remarked with a half-grin.

She shrugged. “Might have saved a couple lives.” By taking one. Not that she was going to lose any sleep over killing a wannabe Nazi. “You know how it is. All in a day’s work.” They both had high security clearances but they rarely talked about the specifics of an op until the active investigations surrounding it were closed.

“Uh huh.” Matt chuckled and shook his head. “I shouldn’t find that so sexy, but I do.” Reaching for his beer, he fought back a gargantuan yawn.

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