THE COUGAR'S BABY - 7

C H A P T E R S E V E N - - - - - D A N I E L L A

Daniella felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as Jerome verified her concerns.

She'd taken a risk by showing them her tattoo, but she believed they'd locate it eventually. And her notion that the six fine gentlemen she found herself in the presence of weren't deranged lunatics remained solid. She doubted she'd ever get free of her zip ties if they were.

She didn't have the firm belief that all Marines or SEALs were morally upright by nature. Not at all. She knew a lot of extremely nasty soldiers who were psychopaths in camouflage and managed to avoid going to prison only because the government paid them to do heinous crimes rather than allowing them to do it as ordinary citizens.

However, she had a gut feeling about these men, and it was a huge comfort to know that her instincts hadn't been entirely destroyed by the struggle and the protracted period of being imprisoned in the filthy forest.

But Shaun was the one who ultimately persuaded her to take a gamble. She was able to have complete faith in that man because of something about him. She was drawn to Shaun even though Jerome was the one who everyone looked up to and who was the obvious leader among a bunch of powerful Alphas. He was the only reason she had been so outspoken, whether it was because of his steely gaze, his sniper-like nerves (which she had since discovered), or the fact that her body screamed with need every time she was within ten feet of him.

She needed the assurance since hoping he was good would only work for so long.

She was now imprisoned in the same chamber that Jerome had previously led her to, but the circumstances had altered. She wasn't perched on the edge of a chair, pulsating with adrenaline, ready to roll and duck or try to fight for her freedom at any moment, and Shaun wasn't keeping watch. A ragged towel was being run through Dani's hair as she attempted to dry it while Shaun balanced a laptop on his knees and sat on the second bed. Their brief shared time in the small space was almost comforting. Because Squad Six was so gentlemanly, she had been allowed first dibs on the water in the little portable shower that had been set up in the cubbyhole that they were using as a restroom. She didn't require two reminders.

Dani felt like she could think a little bit more clearly after washing the dirt off of herself. It appeared as though the fog was dissipating and she was resuming her customary razor-sharpness.

Shaun replied, sneaking a glance at her that Dani caught, "So you're saying that this Soyo man is definitely hiding something and you think there's a parallel operation someplace in the woods."

Then, she threw the towel to the side while grinning and paused for a little while with her hands in her hair. Dani felt as like she and Shaun were more involved in an awkward flirting game than anything else since they were in the middle of preparing her report for The Firm, with one other operative having to be present whenever possible.

Her skin remained a little bit too shiny and her body language much too inviting for this to be strictly business, and he kept giving her those stares that might pass for a blasted mating call. She was powerless to stop. She attempted to rationally justify it by claiming that it was because she hadn't touched another body in months, but emotionally she knew she was lying.

Dani yearned for him. She was so close to tasting how his skin would feel on her mouth. She had been engulfed in a continual pool of need ever since she had first seen him in the automobile. It was absurd and so hot that it started to cloud her judgment.

"Yes, I would suppose so. Every two weeks, the camp is cycled, but I continued seeing that Soyo leaves the camp with one or two guards every three days and doesn't come back till the next day. From what I could determine, they were always moving in the same direction, too, regardless of where the camp was.”

After spending more than an hour drafting the lengthy paragraph, Shaun nodded as he read it. Dani exhaled in relief when he finally appeared happy with it and closed the file, the screen's blueish brightness briefly flickering across his shirt. Not just because she was relieved it was finished, but also because it may give her a better understanding of the mind of the man she was currently smitten with.

You are only acting like that because you are horny. She chastised herself to stop.

She had her doubts that it would be that simple.

Shaun slammed the laptop down and got to his feet, giving Dani a wonderful view of his muscular, lithe figure as he marched across the room. He placed the Laptop on a metal shelf and then carried his bulky sniper rifle case across the room. Even when he realized she was observing him, she didn't break her stare; instead, she only added a mischievous smirk.

As he once again sat down on the bunk next to hers, the corners of his lips twitched upward and he slightly shook his head. Despite the fact that it felt like miles separated them, the gap between them was just a few feet. Shaun quickly got to work after opening the case, assembling the massive gun with such speed and ease that his movements were practically a blur.

When did you start using a sniper rifle?

"Do you talk about work?" she questioned, noticing that her throat was beginning to feel a little dry.

Without taking his eyes off his work, he remarked, "Nearly 10 years now."

"Explain why you left the military. I take it that you were also a SEAL? ”

"Why did you?" He questioned, casting an indiscernible glance her her.

It heightened her desire to learn everything.

"I asked you first," she remarked, her tone amused.

"What is this, elementary school?" He grunted, his brow furrowed.

He had a powerful jaw, and the little sweep of his Roman nose was curiously seductive. But his hands were far more enticing. Dani crossed her knees, straining her thigh muscles, while he maneuvered with exquisite precision, muscles tensing and knotting as he constructed the weapon. Watching him work was as sexy as hell. She's sure doing something more enjoyable with him would be much better.

The pause lingered between them and she finally gave in. Her pride wasn’t important enough to let the conversation lull.

“I left because I couldn’t watch friends die anymore,” she admitted.

That afforded her a nod, his lips getting thin. It wasn’t a simple reaction. She could see his shoulders hunch a little and a wave of recognition coil through his body, almost like an invisible hand squeezing around him before releasing. Whatever it was that made him respond that way, Dani could recognize repressed pain when she saw it.

I wonder what he’s hiding…

“Your turn.”

“I left because it wasn’t home anymore,” he said.

“Do you have a home now?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Her eyes went to his ring finger, confirming for the fifteenth time that hour that there wasn’t a band there, or even a shadow of one, a tan line, anything. As much as she was intrigued by him, she would have never made a move on a married guy. Something in her stilled for the time it took for him to shake his head, adamantly hoping that he was going to say no.

“I have my brothers now,” he offered, pulling the rifle to his shoulder and leaning forward to look through the scope before lowering it, satisfied with it.

“But they’re the same kind of guys that were in the service, aren’t they?” she asked, slightly confused by his answer.

Shaun’s hands stopped, those strong, powerful fingers pausing on the smooth metal, and Dani could feel the lump in her throat get a tad tighter. She wished badly that his hands were on hers, and her jaguar purred at the thought. All of it was positively ridiculous, because she was never the kind of woman to lose her cool over a man. But Shaun? Hell, he seemed like he was worth it.

“They’re not. All of these guys, they’ve lost something. A part of themselves, mostly,” he said, training his eyes on Dani and making her world focus intensely on him while he spoke. “They’re my brothers. I’ve had others, but they’re no more. So I guess my reason is the same as yours,” he finished, the sternness of his expression lingering, brooding.

“But you could lose them again,” she said, wishing she could tell herself to shut up, but impressively failing at it.

“I could,” he agreed, smirking dryly. “But a man fights harder than anything for his family.”

The lump in her throat relaxed and she could swallow it down. The fact that he was so passionate about those he loved really resonated with her, and a big part of her got very busy pondering what kind of a partner he would be. Would he be a good father? Would he devote himself to his family like he did his crew? The answer seemed to be a resounding yes, but why she started wondering about it was a mystery Dani didn’t quite want to unravel.

Those gray-blue eyes seemed to consider her for a moment too long, rolling over her in more than simple casual interest. She’d caught him looking several times, but he had kept his tone neutral, his words careful around her since their little flirting after her identity was revealed.

A mischievous thought ran through her mind, egging her on. Maybe she could make the unflappable soldier play again…

“Can I try it?” she asked, pointing at the rifle.

That caught him off guard.

“Why?” he asked, an automatic reaction.

“I’ve never held a real sniper rifle before. Assault rifles for me, mostly. Never had the sureness of hand, I guess. I’d like to know what one feels like,” she said.

“It’s heavy,” he warned, indecision evident in his voice.

“I won’t break,” she purred, catching herself when she heard the flirty tone, but not apologizing for it.

He smirked, shaking his head with mild amusement. At least it was working. He stood up, taking the rifle in his hands, and Dani scrambled to her feet as well. He gave the gun to her and he hadn’t been kidding, that thing was heavy as hell. Dani sucked in a breath through clenched teeth as she hauled it up to her shoulder, pressing the butt against the muscle firmly while her hands gripped it with expertise that couldn’t be forgotten once learned.

Shaun slipped behind her and she had to catch herself from yelping when she felt his strong hands around her and the heat rising from his chest and body licking around her back and ass. It was all she could do to keep from rubbing up against him. He adjusted her grip slightly and that same electricity whirred through her again that she’d felt when they’d touched in the car, and she almost dropped the rifle.

He secured her hands around the heavy gun, his chest against her back now. Leaning forward to press her eye to the scope, she felt his hot breath on her neck as he spoke into her ear, his voice low, growly.

“You need to lean into it, but be ready for it. The kickback’s like getting hit in the shoulder by a mule. It’s the hardest, rawest thing you’ll ever feel,” he whispered, and she was more than sure that he was talking about more than just the gun.

“I can handle it,” she said, her body vibrating with need against him.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his massive hands now sliding down from the gun, around and tracing down her arms.

Dani bit down on her lip so hard she was afraid she’d draw blood. But she couldn’t taste the telltale tang of copper in her mouth, despite the slight hum in her ears and the very familiar feeling of adrenaline starting to snake through her veins again.

She could tell herself that it was the battle, the hormones still riding high. She could even try to convince herself that it could have been anyone, and that Shaun was at the right place at the right time. She could try. But she would be wrong.

“Yes,” she said, pulling back from the scope slowly, tilting her head to the side only slightly.

His lips were right there, inviting, delicious. He grabbed the rifle from her, holding it up while she looked into his eyes, feeling a bit like a deer getting stared down by a wolf, even though she was supposed to be the hunter here.

“Good,” he said finally, with almost an eon passing between her words and his in Dani’s mind.

Then, he crushed his lips to hers and she moaned into him readily, parting her lips and letting his tongue lash into her mouth. It was like kissing fire, so brutal that it burned wherever it touched her, but so hot that she couldn’t tear herself away. Her whole universe spun around on itself, changing and tipping, and she was gladly falling right along with it.

But a part of her was beginning to wonder if she really could handle it.