Talon (Uncompromising #1)(35)

“No.” I shook her. “You’re done with him. You hear me? You need somethin’, you ask me.” I wasn’t going to let her get hurt. Not again. Fuck the shit I’d said earlier on the beach. As long as I was alive and not sitting in a jail cell, I’d protect her.

She stiffened. “What happened?”

I kept my secrets, always. But tonight, this woman, her scars, they were tormenting me. I wanted to open up and bleed. I wanted her shelter. I wanted her acceptance. I didn’t want to be a broken ex-Marine with a dead wife. I wanted to be something different and I wanted that different to be something worthy of her. But I was pumped on adrenaline and drowning in regret and all I could think about was the feel of her body under mine. “I want to go to bed.” My hand shook with restraint as I stroked the side of her face. “With you.”

Her head turned away from me and I panicked. Then I said something to her I’d never said to another woman.

“I just wanna hold you in my arms and sleep next to you.” I needed her innocence. More than anything.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Taking her hand, I led her to my bedroom. I wanted to see her scar. I wanted to see her ink. I wanted to sink so deep inside her I forgot my name. But I wouldn’t. Not tonight. Maybe not ever.

I gently pulled on her arm. “Turn around.”

Trusting, sweet, she did.

I dragged the zipper down her back and sucked in a ragged breath. No bra, thong underwear, her ink on full display, she was so damn gorgeous, I didn’t trust myself to do more than push her dress off her shoulders and step back.

“Get in bed,” I demanded, my voice strained.

I pulled my shirt off and removed my 9mm from my back waistband as she crawled across my sheets. Drinking in the sight of her like a starved man, I unbuckled my belt, unlaced my boots, and stripped down to my boxers. My chest tight, I got in next to her.

The second I pulled her into my arms, my lungs filled with air.

“Fuck, you feel good.” Her back to my chest, I snaked an arm under her head. “You okay?”

“Yes.”

The soft breathiness to her voice made my heart ache for a reality where she wasn’t beaten and I wasn’t tied to a criminal. “Your leg?”

“The bandage is a little tight.”

I reached down, unwound the bandage and threw it on the floor. “Your wrist?”

“It’s good.”

I wrapped my arm around her waist and buried my face in her neck. If there was a heaven in my fucked-up life, she was it.

“Talon?”

I inhaled deeply, committing her scent to memory. “I’m sorry ’bout earlier, ’bout what I said. No matter what happens, know you’re worth more’n that.” This girl was better than being my landing zone.

Her hand settled on my arm. “Are you okay?”

I didn’t want to talk or think anymore. I just wanted to lose myself in jasmine innocence. “Go to sleep, beautiful.”

She turned her head just enough to meet my mouth with a tender touch of her lips. “Goodnight, Talon.”

Jesus, I didn’t deserve this. I grabbed her face and slipped my tongue in her mouth to taste her sweetness, just once. Forcing myself to pull back, I tightened my arms and curved my body protectively around her. “Night, Siren.”

She settled into me like she belonged and minutes later her breathing evened out.

It was the fix I’d been looking for.

I fell asleep.





I KNEW SOMEONE WAS IN the house before I opened my eyes. Pitch black except for the alarm clock reading four-seventeen, I untangled myself from Siren and listened.

It was faint, but the sound was distinctive. Someone opened a cupboard. I grabbed my 9mm and moved to the kitchen without making a sound.

Not stupid enough to keep his back to me, André sat at a kitchen stool, his eyes trained on my bedroom door. He held a mug up in greeting. “Layna’s alive but Blaze’s body count went up. Dead sniper.” He took a sip. “Your coffee sucks.”

My mind on Siren, hoping she didn’t hear us, I processed what André just said but I didn’t react. “Your point?” I lowered my piece and set it on the counter.

“You need to get with the program. Cuban coffee’s the way to go.”

“I got more respect for my body than to drink leaded dirt.” I reached for a mug.

“Lead and dirt. Huh. Not an inappropriate conversation starter. But first, when did you start wearing boxers? Not that I mind. Although, pants work too.”

“You show up unannounced, you get what you get.” I inclined my head at his black polo with his company’s logo and his black cargo pants. “Besides, who the hell are you to talk clothes? You ever wear anythin’ besides the uniform? You probably fuck with that shirt on.”