Page 19 of Brawler
She didn’t fit. She was short where he preferred tall, sharp-edged red where he usually reached for soft blondes, built like a pocketknife instead of the curvy distractions he could set to a rhythm and forget. On paper, she wasn’t his type at all. Yet…
His gaze betrayed him, tracking the wiry strength in her legs, the curve of her jaw, the mouth that had already cut him to ribbons with nothing but words. Smart, opinionated, stubborn as hell. A woman of substance. A woman who made him feel seen, like she wasn’t looking at the uniform, but athim.
His body flared, his skin felt sensitive, even the breeze kindling the sear in his gut. All of a sudden, he couldn’t handle the thought of her not touching his skin, an ache that settled in and simply buzzed. The thought was out of left field but fueled by the memory of how she felt beneath him.
Silky and fierce at once, body thrumming with the kind of energy that had driven him half-crazy when he pinned her down after she’d kicked Tex. She’d fought like a wildcat, bucking and twisting, and somewhere in the chaos, his body had betrayed him, hard, straining, reacting like she was heat and oxygeninstead of trouble and liability. Even now, the ghost of it made his pulse slam in places he didn’t want to think about.
He couldn’t stop replaying it. How small her wrists had felt in his grip, how her breath had hit his throat, how that need had burned hotter the more he pressed her down. Every inch of her was a contradiction, soft skin over stubborn bone, delicate frame coiled with more fight than half the men he’d faced.
Her kind of wildfire wouldn’t just burn itself out but catchhimin her blaze. He could almost feel it already, the press of her against him, her legs locked around his hips, her voice breaking on his name. His dick thickened and throbbed, ached for her sweet little box. He wanted to watch those eyes glaze with pleasure, that mouth gasp, her lips seek his in a mindless need. God, he wanted her to touch him, every single part of him, until she’d claimed all of him.
All that visceral emotion rattled him. He wasn’t supposed to want a woman who argued with him, who cut him down with a smirk, who refused to fit the mold. But here she was, all compelling energy, sharp-tongued and relentless, and his system couldn’t stop tracking her. Couldn’t stopwanting.
She wasn’t going to go easily into that civilian box. His body already knew the truth. She wasn’t just a civilian. She was temptation wrapped in flame, and no matter how many times he told himself to stand down, the pull only tightened.
He yanked his mind back like it had tried to walk off a cliff. Unacceptable. No protocol. No way in hell. She was a trouble. A mission risk. A complication he couldn’t afford.
He dragged air into his lungs, forcing his body back under control. She was fire in his head, but he needed cold steel in his voice.
“Shortcake,” he said, quieter now, but the rasp still bled through. He leaned in, close enough that her breath mingled with his, not caring that the others heard. “This isn’t ademocracy. You’re ours to protect. That’s final. Collect your goddamn data if it keeps you from fighting me…ah…us every step, but don’t think for a second we’ll ever let you out of our sight.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed. For a breath, she looked like she wanted to argue again. Then her eyes flicked to Beast, sprawled at his side, tongue lolling like the dog had already chosen her.
The corner of her mouth twitched. Just enough to drive him insane, spiking a heat he shoved down hard.
“This might not be a democracy, but I’m not in the military, and you can’t order me around. But your proposal does have merit. I’d rather not be a dead PhD student. I can work with this.” She looked at Tex. “I’m absolutely not saluting you.”
Tex cracked a grin. “Deal, Emily Shade.”
Brawler turned his head, focusing on the trees instead of her. That kick of humor sent a sensation through him that made him both laugh and tighten his jaw. The impact of Emily still buzzed in his teeth.
He would rather she yelled at him. Anger he understood. Anger he could fight. But this…this quiet warmth flooding his chest was foreign terrain, and it left him unarmed. He anchored himself with Beast’s steady presence, his teammates’ resolve, jaw tight.
She was alive, and she was staying that way. Whether she liked it or not.
Tex’s eyes tracked her as she settled her pack, then cut to Brawler. The look was sharp, but his mouth tugged at the corner. “You found her, and we all know she’s trouble. I’ve got the bruised shins to prove it. So watch her like a hawk. She’s your responsibility now.”
The words landed like a weight Brawler already carried but hearing them out loud sealed it. Emily Shade wasn’t just anunpredictable complication, wasn’t just a cute nickname. She was his.
If it went sideways, if her presence jeopardized the mission, the lives of the Marines they were after, or the team under his watch, his ass would be in a sling. At best, a sharp reprimand. At worst, the end of a career he loved.
That should have been enough to shove her into the civilian box and slam it shut. But it wasn’t. Not when her red hair caught the dim light, her mouth curved with defiance, and her sheer presence curled straight into his chest.
Shewasfire, and she was his to guard. Christ, he wanted to be burned to ash.
Flash clapped him on the shoulder, grin sharp. “You’ve got your work cut out for you, big guy. That’s a teeny tiny David, but she’s got a powerful slingshot.”
The guys all chuckled, the smug, married bastards. The sound rattled through the trees, too loud for the jungle, too human against the hiss of insects and the low drone of something unseen moving in the canopy. Brawler’s jaw ticked. They didn’t understand…couldn’t. This wasn’t funny. She wasn’t just noise or ribbing material. She was a live wire sparking against his system, a risk and a pull all tangled up.
As the others moved off, Tex snagged his arm, fingers tightening with quiet authority. His voice dropped, meant only for him. “I know all about missions and women going amuck.” His eyes flicked to the backs of his teammates. Every single one of them had a complication like Emily, and it had taken a toll both during the mission and afterward. He wasn’t sure he was ready to handle anything like that, but Emily wasn’t going to recede quietly into the background. “You might want to keep it in your pants on this one…unless you can’t. Just be careful. She might look demure, but she packs a punch as I’m sure you know.”
The words landed heavy. Hedidknow. Not only the way she’d fought him—elbow to the gut, and a hard shot to his junk. That was just desperate survival. What his body remembered was her beneath him, the silk and fury tangled under his hands. A distorted hum surged in his jaw, memory mixing with the heat that hadn’t cooled since.
Tex’s gaze sharpened, steady as a rifle sight. “Keep me posted on…your shit. Nora made me crazy in the field, and I reacted irrationally.” Brawler remembered. Tex had taken on a warehouse full of Hamas…and won.
For a second, the iron in his expression slipped, and Brawler caught the flash of something rawer. Tex wasn’t seeing jungle canopy or mission parameters. He was seeing her. Nora. The only woman who could cut through his armor, who still carried his heart even when he was half a world away and up to his knees in hell. The weight of that love sat in his eyes like live rounds, dangerous if you mishandled it, but impossible to set down.
His jaw flexed once before the steel snapped back in place. “You have solid, special skills, B. Whatever decision you make regarding her, regarding this team, has always been couched in your care and your drive to preserve us and the mission. There’s no one else on this team who could handle her like you can.” His voice dropped lower, quieter, meant only for him. “Just…don’t lose that balance.”
