Page 45 of Protected By The Green Berets

“Keller.” Her voice was soft, husky, and all too enticing for my liking.

I glanced back up at her and saw her thick blonde lashes flutter closed as she leaned into me. She was going to kiss me. Jesus. My dick was back to full mast, and my heart was trying to rip its way out of my chest. Her lips were full and pouty and I realized it was from making out with Rush.

That realization was like a bucket of ice water to my system. My hand wrapped around her throat, halting her progress. She made a small sound of alarm and her eyes snapped open. She didn’t make any move to escape my grip. I held her firmly, enjoying the feel of her throat working beneath my fingers as she swallowed nervously.

“Seems to me like you’ve had enough kissing for now,” I told her.

Hurt flickered in her eyes and inwardly I cursed myself even as the words continued pouring out of my mouth. “Get some sleep, Z. If you want to come with us tonight, you need to be alert. Otherwise, I’ll leave your ass here.”

I let go of her and stepped around her. I refused to look backward as I went upstairs and shut myself in my room. My entire being was warring with itself. My mind knew she was a part of this team and I needed to let her come search that house tonight. Something else inside of me was raging to keep her here, safe and protected, even if I had to tie her to a chair to make her stay.

My body was dying to claim her, make her mine. My mind wouldn’t allow me to swallow my pride enough to be fourth on her list. I was a fucking mess and a giant asshole. I climbed into my bed and tried to block her from my thoughts.

CHAPTER20

Zinnia

My mouth was hanging open in disbelief, but Keller was already gone. I heard a door close upstairs. Hurt and shame wormed their way through my veins. He was repulsed by me. I’d been about to kiss him and he’d—very effectively—stopped me.

I was embarrassed to admit that him grabbing me by the throat had both scared me and turned me on. It shouldn’t be possible that in a split second my body had been ready to go another round, when Rush had just given me more than one shattering orgasm. The way he tightened his fingers around my throat, I thought I was about to feel that intensity, that passion, through a kiss. What I was feeling now was the opposite of that. It was rejection.

My heart ached as I climbed the stairs, trying to hold back my tears. I’d given it a shot and Keller had let me know in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t interested. His words had hit strong and true and I was feeling defeated. I climbed into bed, the tears escaping when Rush pulled me back into his arms and curled his body around mine.

He was already sleeping, and I didn’t want to talk about what’d happened anyway, so I wiped my tears away and worked on falling asleep myself.

* * *

“Any questions?”

My gaze remained fixed on the table in front of me. We were seated around it, going over the plan for tonight. I was too embarrassed and angry to look at Keller during his little meeting. I’d worked myself up into a bit of a fit as I’d showered. Who was he to shame me for my choices? Especially since I knew—thanks to Rush and Alden—that he’d slept with women with his friends before. I had nothing to be ashamed about. However, I wasn’t about to let loose on him—like I wanted to—because I didn’t want to do anything that would cause him to leave me behind. I still had a mission to complete, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Zinnia?”

I refused to meet his gaze. “No questions. Sounds straightforward enough,” I replied, keeping my eyes on the wood. I could see Rush and Torque exchanging glances from where they sat off to my right. I didn’t dare look to the left. My temper was on a short leash as it was. Just looking at Keller’s face was liable to set me off.

Silence descended on the room for a few awkward seconds before Keller continued on. “Alright. You have an hour to get ready then we’re going in. Hopefully, we’ll find something that will help us determine Roj’s location.”

“Or his motives,” I added. “I’m curious as to why he’s doing all of this.”

The others nodded in agreement. Though, I knew we’d settle for any scrap of information. We had a plan in place to head to the southernmost compound, since it was closest, but if we found out Roj was in the second stronghold? We’d high tail it over there for the opportunity to capture him.

The guys stood up and left the room, eager to get their gear ready. A hand wrapped around my arm and I glanced up into Alden’s worried face.

“Everything alright?”

“Of course,” I said, a little too brightly if his hardening expression was anything to judge by.

“Of course,” he muttered and shot a dark look over my shoulder toward the upstairs portion of the house. “Come with me.”

He didn’t so much wait for me to agree as just drag me from the room. We ended up in the one downstairs room that was housing all his goodies. I smiled as I realized he’d been in here organizing.

“I know you have your own gun,” he started, as he let go of me and examined his weapons cache.

I patted my Glock that was tucked inside a holster on the inside of my pants. “That’s right. Gertrude and I have been together a long time.”

He gave me a look filled with shock and disgust. “You named your gun?”

“I did,” I told him with a toothy smile.

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