Page 42 of Legacy's Call

She frowned. “Yes, what?”

“Yes, I mean I could try to get you a job withGuardian. You wouldn’t have to work in these conditions.”

She lowered her hands to her lap, settling the food before she spoke. “Four years ago, I would’ve told you I don’t care what the conditions are. I’ll make a difference; this is where I want to be.”

“But now?” That deep voice of his reverberated around her.

“Now?” She took a deep breath and stared at the back wall of his tent. “Now, I’m tired. I’ve fought, I’ve kicked, I’ve screamed, but no one listens. I’m ready to go back to the States. I have a degree in project management and lots of experience”—she spun her spoon in a circle before her—“but I don’t think much of this translates into the corporate world.”

“You’d be surprised,” Ronan said as he opened his food. “I’m not joking, Fleur. If you want a job, I can make that happen. You’d have to do the work, but I could open the door for you.”

She huffed out a breath. “You’re serious? Are you that much of a bigwig with this company?”

He shook his head. “No, but I know the people who run the company. I’m very close to them.” He threw her a glance. “My sisters and my uncle.”

She sat back a bit and blinked. “Then why in the world are you working in this place?”

He smiled and took a bite of a cracker on which he’d piled a mound of spreadable cheese. “Because I like it,” he said when he could talk.

“You like it?” Well, that wasn’t what she expected. “You don’t want a fancy job with a big desk? Suits and ties?”

He laughed. “No, suits and ties are not my idea of a good time, but eventually, I’ll work with them. That’s been the plan for a long time. But for now, I’ll stay with my team. We rotate back to the States enough that I don’t miss it.”

“How often is that?”

“We’re usually on duty for three months. That’s when we deploy. Then we’re back in the States for a month off, a month of training, and standby for a month. We chill and are back on the cycle if there are no missions. Three months on, three months off.”

“So, you work eight months out of the year if you count training.”

“And if there aren’t any emergencies, yes.”

“That sounds like heaven.” She wouldloveto have a month off. “Oh, could you imagine sleeping in a soft bed with an air conditioner, a ceiling fan, black-out curtains …” She sighed. “I think I could stay in bed an entire month.”

She glanced down at him and froze. The hungry look in his eyes had nothing to do with food. “I’d spend that month in bed with you.”

Oh, Lord. That voice vibrated all the way down to her lady bits and pooled there. She opened her mouth to say something but promptly forgot what it was. Damn … the visual that was planted in her thoughts sent a whole-body shiver through her. She whispered, “I’d let you.”

Ronan held her eyes with his gaze before moving his dinner and lifting to his knees before her. “That kiss,” he said as he cupped his hand around the back of her neck. “That fucking kiss still kicks my ass,” he growled, and her body tightened in memory of that kiss.

It was still kicking her ass, too. She sighed and said, “It can’t be real, can it?”

He slowly moved his head from side to side. “Not possible. It has to be an aberration.”

“Has to be. We should do it again, just to be sure,” she whispered against his lips.

He closed the distance, and … oh … sweet heaven above … another full-body shiver ran through her. He took control of the kiss and angled his mouth, delving into her mouth. Forceful yet gentle, controlling yet asking, sensual and panty-torching hot, the kiss was more than the first. So unexpected and completely perfect. He pulled her against him, and she spread her legs, getting as close to his kneeling body as she could. He wrapped his arm in her braid and pulled her closer. She could feel his desire, and the heat he’d ignited inside her needed to be quenched. He pulled away and kissed down to her jaw, and tugging gently on her braid, he moved to her neck. “Fuck, you’re like a drug. I lost my mind at the first taste.” He licked her throat, and she shivered again. “So fucking responsive. I want you. God help me, I fucking need to have you.”

“Yes.” It was the only word she could think or say. Yes to anything and everything this man wanted from her.

She felt him jerk up and opened her eyes. His eyes were closed tight as if he were in pain. He held up a finger and then tapped his ear. “Go ahead.” He looked down at her. The hunger was still there. She leaned forward, and his hand held her against him. “Same ETA for delivery? Copy. Anything else?” He unwound his arm from her braid as he listened to whoever he was talking to, and that told her hewasn’t going to resume the most wonderful make-out session she’d ever had.

He still held her against him as he ended the call and his hand rubbed her back. “We’re fucking dangerous.”

She nodded. “The chemistry …”

“Fucking dangerous,” he repeated as he held her.

He tugged at her braid, and she looked up at him. His eyes were so dark as he stared at her. She whispered, “I’m not afraid of this danger.”

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