Hungry Like the Wolf(33)
Gage growled low in his throat. Well, he’d finally found something that would make his cock relent—anger. Simple, irrational, jealousy-induced anger.
***
“So, why did you need me to come with you today?” Zak asked drily as he snapped pictures in what could only be called a halfhearted manner.
Mac was too distracted by the sixteen sweaty, bare-chested men running around on the obstacle course. While they all looked scrumptious, she found herself focusing mainly on Gage. God, the man would make a Greek god feel inferior. She had no idea if all the crawling, jumping, and climbing made for good exercise, but it sure as hell was fun to watch. She especially liked the way his muscles bunched and flexed as he scrambled up the various towers and ropes. Damn, their rippling movement was downright sensual.
And if all those bulging muscles weren’t enough to make her stare like a kid in a candy store, the incredible matching ink that every one of the men had tattooed on the left side of his chest sure as heck was. She’d never been one to look twice at a man’s tattoo, but the one of the wolf with its long teeth, menacing eyes, and bristling ruff of fur that each of them had in the center of his left pec was just freaking cool. Emblazoned in arching letters over the top of each wolf was the acronym SWAT. The work was expensive looking and had obviously taken a lot of time. She had no idea what a wolf had to do with SWAT, but she one hundred percent approved of the artwork.
Anything to provide another reason to look at a sexy man’s chest was okay with her.
Zak cleared his throat, interrupting her musings. If she didn’t love him like a brother, she’d smack him right now.
“I need pictures of the SWAT team training,” she told him.
“So these pictures of sweaty, muscular men running around in nothing but a pair of shorts are going to be in your article?”
More likely on my personal laptop. She gave Zak an angelic smile. “It’s possible.”
Her effort probably would have counted for more if she’d been able to resist asking Zak to make sure to take lots of pictures of Gage flexing those beautiful muscles of his.
“I should be getting paid overtime for this,” Zak groused, but he dutifully snapped more photos.
Mac leaned back against one of the telephone poles that were part of the obstacle course. She and Zak had picked out a good vantage point for this morning’s PT session. Gage and his team had been going at it hard for almost an hour and didn’t look like they were anywhere near wrapping it up. Muscles and stamina—what more could a woman ask for?
“So now that we’re in, what’s the plan?” Zak asked.
“I don’t really have one,” Mac admitted, again staying away from any mention of a super drug. “I’m just going to play it by ear and see where it takes me.”
“What do you want me to do?” Zak asked. “Other than take pictures, I mean.”
He flipped his camera to automatic mode so he could get a series of rapid-fire shots of Gage and his two squad leaders leaping from the top of a tall tower. It had to be at least twelve or fifteen feet high—sure as hell too high for her to jump from. They hit the ground hard and rolled across the sand-filled pit under the base of the tower. Sand stuck to their sweaty backs and shoulders, and it took all of her willpower not to run out there and volunteer to brush Gage off.
“See if you can make friends with Becker and Lowry,” she said softly. The SWAT guys were now all the way down at the far end of the obstacle course, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. “They’re the newest members of the team, so they might not be involved in whatever’s going on.”
“Okay, I’ll try,” Zak said. “But they seem like a really tight group to me.”
Mac didn’t need Zak to tell her that. After watching them work together on the obstacle course, it was obvious they trusted each other completely. It was unlikely any of them would rat out one of their own to an outsider, but she and Zak needed to try.
By the time Gage and the other men finished PT, Mac was worn out, and all she’d done was watch. The SWAT guys, however, looked as if they’d just woken up from a refreshing nap.
“Well, I’m out of here,” Zak said. “I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.”
She reluctantly tore her gaze away from Gage’s sweaty body to give Zak a frown. “Where are you going?”
“I saw a donut shop a couple of miles back. I thought after a workout like that these guys might appreciate some quality junk food.”
Mac took in all the ripped muscles and flat abs, not to mention the tight buns as the SWAT officers loped casually up the slight hill toward the admin-slash-dorm building she’d toured with Gage.