Page 24 of Reckless Pawn

All of his kills as a sniper had meant nothing to him. He had a duty to fight the enemy and he did it without question. But that night—that night he'd once again become a killer and he knew it would continue to happen again and again.

"What's wrong?"

He looked up to find her watching him intently.

"Why aren't you yelling at me?" he asked. "You must hate me by now." And she should.

"Where have you been?" She ignored his question and stretched, her shirt lifting above the waistline of her skirt and revealing a sliver of her smooth stomach.

He closed his eyes against the temptation of her beautiful body. "I'm sure you've learned by now I can't share club business.

"Yeah, I am so sick of hearing about the club rules. Don't do this, don't do that," she mocked. "For a bunch of badasses who claim to love freedom, I've never seen a stricter set of fucking rules you people live by."

Her words were strong but her voice wasn't. It was as if the drugs in her system had removed her heat and left her uncaring and resigned. He would have preferred her yelling and screaming at him. It would certainly make it easier to walk away. This deeply etched sadness cut him deep.

"A man's not much of a man if he doesn't have some sort of a code."

Her eyelids drooped. "You sound like my father."

Anger swift and deadly unfurled inside him. "I am nothing like your father."

"You sound like him," she sort of drawled, her words slurring slightly.

"Don't piss me off. I didn't come here tonight to start a fight with you."

"Why are you here then? Are you back?"

He cringed at the hopefulness in her voice. "No." He had a feeling he'd keep saying that the longer he stayed with her, but that it would be for his benefit since he doubted she'd even remember his visit in the morning. The limited information he knew about the drug she'd been given mostly recounted how it caused short-term memory loss.

"I came to see JD. He and I have some business to discuss."

"More secret business," she sighed.

"Yes, Izzy. Secret. Do you think you can take those clothes off and get into a nightgown by yourself or do you need help?"

"I could get naked instead."

He froze again. That was the absolute last thing he expected out of her mouth. Of course the idea of seeing her naked again held more than a little appeal. In fact, he couldn't think of anything in this world he'd rather have at the moment.

"That's the drugs talking, baby. Let me find you something to sleep in and you can get changed." He started to turn and she touched his hand.

"Will you at least kiss me? Just once. It's been so long."

He started to say no, tell her after everything she'd been through the last thing she needed from him was a kiss. But in the end he knew nothing could stop him from taking at least that.

Besides, she'd remember none of this in the morning.

"Just a kiss, princess." He laid down next to her and rolled her toward him. "We both know this shouldn't happen, it's too dangerous." He let some of the emotions he tried to bottle slip loose as he pulled her against him. "However, when it comes to you I find I can't help myself."

He slid his hands into her hair, savoring the silken feel surrounding him. He breathed deep, taking in the sweet scent of her perfume combined with a little cigar smoke and alcohol. She smelled like home to him. "God dammit, woman." The need to touch her slipped into the forefront, overtaking his self-control. But that need came accompanied by the vicious regret that he'd been unable to prevent what had happened to her.

His job in the Marine Corps was to save as many innocent lives as he could by eliminating threats. It was everything he knew and operated on for a decade, yet at the first opportunity to use his training for a good that mattered personally to him, he'd been unable to shield Izzy from the horror of her father.

That knowledge was slowly eating him alive.

She entwined her arms around his neck and pressed her breasts against his chest. "Why did you leave me here? I don't deserve this."

He winced. She was right. Thank God tomorrow she wouldn't remember that he was about to leave her again. "It's for your safety. The club may not be perfect but they'll make sure your father doesn't get to you."

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