Page 122 of Commander in Briefs

Taking a deep breath, I will myself to settle down. We’re both wound pretty tight. You know, about to commit a crime and all…

“I’m sorry. Yes, you can read it. Be sure you smear it all over and make it believable.”

He opens the package, allowing the crimson cornstarch to bleed through his fingers. He smooths it over the bite and runs it down his leg into his sock, which will probably have to be trashed after this.

“Looks good.” Standing, I stretch my back, raising my arms overhead, pulling my neck side to side.Focus, Ans. Channel your inner criminal. You can do this, Mason is counting on you to do this.

Well, not really. Mason has no idea what I am up to. Neither does Cade. I couldn’t tell Cade because he would be a party pooper and try to talk me out of it. But he wouldn’t have talked me out of shit. He would have just made it harder for me to do it with all his weighted guilt and doing the right thing propaganda.

Theo stands, cocking his head to admire his bloody handiwork. “Alright. Let’s do this!”

I grab his shoulders and crush my lips to his. I kiss the fucking shit out of this man who would do anything for me. Even go to jail. He pulls away, breathless and obviously taken by surprise.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Commander.” His voice is rough, his face flushed. Someone is turned on.

I let my eyes drift lower to confirm.

Yep. He’s hard.

I smile. I’m pretty proud of myself right now. “I always finish what I start, Von Bremen. Now, run that fine ass down the sidewalk.”

He shakes his head in amusement, adjusts himself, and takes off down the sidewalk.

To lie.

For me.

I am so fucking in love with this man right now.

“Not too hard, though!” He’s healed up nicely since his surgery and against my will, has been back in the gym. Running down the sidewalk a couple of times shouldn’t be an issue but I’d rather air on the side of caution.

Tamping down the last of the warm fuzzies from watching that ass bounce down the street, I head to the bitch’s house.

The small split-level, cookie-cutter house sits a stone’s throw away from its neighboring replica. It will make it difficult to get to the backyard without being seen. But I’m a ninja. I can so do this stealing thing.

I make my way through the corner lot that sits parallel to the road. It will be a longer hike through the back woods, but using that route will seclude me from the sidewalk. Moving branches and sticks away from my face, I duck and weave, running alongside the fence border.

Dogs bark and rush the fence, warning me away. They’re pretty scary, but I don’t falter. I trip over a fucking gigantic boulder. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but it was a decent sized rock. And I tripped over it. I’m in a hurry, okay? It’s not like I’m naturally clumsy.

Launching the pesky boulder into the woods, my phone chirps. Crickets. Clever, yeah? Theo and I have this spy shit down pat.

Theo texts me:Red one to Pink two. Over.

What the fuck, Theo? These aren’t walkie-talkies. But I play along to not hurt his ego and wish we had earpieces.Alpha one to Dumbass two. Over.

You are not the alpha. I am the alpha.

Oh my word. This boy.I’m always the alpha. Get over it. Are you in position?

Theo comes back with: We’ll table the alpha debate. I’m in position.

I hope “in position” means he is jiggling that beach ball ass up and down the sidewalk like he should be. I don’t take the time to ask him, though. His alpha bullshit has already slowed me down.

Pushing through the brush and trudging forward, I locate the house. The chain-link fence is rusting, obviously old and neglected. The poor dog lays in a small ray of sunlight right off the back porch where she is chained.

Her fur is matted and I can tell even from here that she’s in extreme need of a bath. I take a minute and assess my surroundings. Crouching low to avoid any curious onlookers, I notice a low spot in the fence that I can jump, making my job faster. The gate is off to the side and latched. To get the dog through, I will have to get closer than I planned to unlatch it.

Damn.

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