Page 33 of Burning for Him

Two days later...

Doug’s eyes narrowed at the text message on his phone as he turned off the treadmill and wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel. He’d been running for over half an hour and still had ten minutes left on his routine run, but apparently, it would have to be cut short today.

Ian

Conference room. Now!

Something big must’ve happened. But Doug was the only person the text was sent to. It wasn’t posted in one of the multiple group chats he was in. That was strange, and he wondered what was up. A flash of worry shot through him. Had Ian found out about Doug and Jenn? God, he hoped not. She wanted to tell everyone on Sunday at Peyton’s birthday party, and even though he wasn’t thrilled with keeping their relationship a secret any longer, he agreed to wait until then.

Maybe something had happened with one of the bodyguards under Doug’s command.Shit. He hoped everyone was okay. Well, whatever was going on, he’d find out soon enough.

He ran the towel over his bare chest, abs, and under his arms before picking up the T-shirt he’d tossed aside earlier. The gym’s air conditioning was on the fritz, not dropping the temperature below seventy-eight, and the HVAC company hadn’t gotten there yet, so it was too warm to run in anything more than a pair of shorts. He pulled the shirt on, strode outside, and entered the warehouse next door, where the AC was cranked up, sending goose bumps skittering across his still-damp skin.

Surprisingly, Colleen wasn’t at her desk, and the offices were quiet except for some low murmurs coming from behind the conference room door. Even the phones weren’t ringing. It was all very odd for ten a.m. on a Tuesday.

As he approached the conference room, the door opened, and Nick stepped out, a massive grin lighting up his face when he spotted Doug. He left the door only slightly ajar and clapped Doug on the shoulder as they passed each other in the hall. “Hey, man. It was nice knowing ya. I’ll be sure to send flowers to your funeral.”

His heart rate sped up as Doug stopped short and stared at the younger man. “Shit. Ian found out?—”

“About you and Jenn?” Nick walked backward toward the reception area. “Yup.Allher uncles know. I’m supposed to get the shovels and a tarp. Sorry.” Laughing, he shrugged, turned around, and jogged toward the front door.

Sighing, Doug hung his head for a moment. He knew Nick was kidding about the shovels and tarp—at least he hoped so—but it was time to face the music.

“Henderson, get your fucking ass in here!” Ian bellowed from the conference room.

Taking a deep breath, he exhaled forcefully, pushed open the door, and entered.Crap.Ian, Devon, Brody, Jake, Marco, and Boomer all stood on the opposite side of the table, with their arms crossed and fury in their eyes. To top it off, standing at attention beside Boomer were BDS&M—two Belgian Malinois and two German shepherds Ian had dubbed Bravo, Delta, Sierra, and Mike because he was a sarcastic son of a bitch. Boomer’s wife, Kat, had trained the protection dogs, so he often worked with them. With a simple German command, Doug would become their target, their sharp teeth tearing into his flesh. It was a good thing he also knew their commands so that he could stop them in their tracks—hopefully. They would just think it was a new game, and he preferred to keep his limbs intact, thank you very much.

Shit.He was so screwed. At least they hadn’t called in Carter, who worked for a covert US agency and probably knew over a hundred ways to torture a man, or more of Jenn’s surrogate uncles from her father’s SEAL team for reinforcements. Over thirty hardened military men from across the country had called her their Baby-girl since the day she was born. And every single one of them would kill or die for her.

As Doug shut the door behind him, Ian leaned forward and set his hands on the table, pushing down so hard that his fingers turned white. His expression was fierce and murderous. Well, Doug had led a relatively good life, but it looked like that was over now.

“Give me one good reason,” Ian demanded, “onedamngood reason why I shouldn’t take my K-bar and rip you to fucking shreds before feeding your sorry ass to the dogs.”

Trying not to show fear that they might take turns beating the crap out of him before dumping his body somewhere, Doug leaned against the wall beside the door as sweat beaded at his temples. At least he had an escape route, although he suspectedhe’d never reach the parking lot before someone or the dogs tackled him.

“It’s not a fling.”

“Let me just kill him,” Devon said, taking a few steps toward the end of the table to circumvent it.

His older brother growled. “Not yet.”

Ian had been the commanding officer of the other five men on SEAL Team Four, so it was natural that they always deferred to him or heeded his advice, both in the security business and in the BDSM club, and sometimes in their personal lives.

Doug fought the urge to roll his eyes. That wouldn’t go over well in a roomful of Doms, even though he wasn’t submissive or in the lifestyle. “Look. I know you all would kill and die for Jenn. I would too. This...this thing between us is something I’ve fought for a long time. Our feelings for each other didn’t just happen overnight. Am I in love with her?” He paused before nodding. “Yeah, I am. She’s the most incredible woman I’ve ever met. I want to wrap her up and keep her in a safe room where no harm would ever come to her. She wouldn’t allow it—you all know that. Whether you like it or not, she’s no longer a little girl. She’s a beautiful, intelligent, amazing woman who, for some stupid reason, wants me. I’m humbled that she does.”

“You’re eight fucking years older than her!”

“Yeah, Boss-man, I am. And Devon is ten years older than Kristen. Jake is nine years older than Nick. Trust me when I say the age gap was one of my arguments while fighting my attraction to her, but she threw those numbers in my face and said she didn’t care about our ages. Another reason I tried to avoid her was that I thought she had some hero-worship thing for me or something. But after spending time with her and talking, I realized that wasn’t the case.”

He ran a hand down his face and stepped forward. “Guys, look. I can’t predict the future and say that every day will besmiles and roses between Jenn and me. Just like you can’t with your spouses. But what I can say is I will protect her and treat her with the respect she deserves. I love her. And the only way I’ll walk away from her is if she tells me to. No one else gets a say in that—not even you.”

“How long have you two been together?” Jake asked.

“Only a few weeks. Since Colombia. But the attraction’s been there for a while now. I was just fighting it until Jenn won me over.”

His gaze flittered from one man to the next. The only two who still looked like they wanted to bury him under an ant hill were the Sawyer brothers. The others weren’t happy, but they no longer appeared homicidal.

Ian stalked around the table and got in Doug’s face, glaring at him. “Did you take her virginity?”

---