Hungry Like the Wolf(39)

Then he realized that Mackenzie’s breath was coming faster. For a moment he wondered if she was going to start panting.

It was the tips of his fangs pressing into his tongue that jerked him out of his trance and forced him to get control of himself and the situation. Yeah, Mackenzie was amazing, but he had to remember what was at stake here. His pack was depending on him to deal with this woman.

He backed off an inch or two, enough to break the contact between her butt and his groin. That also broke the almost hypnotic hold she seemed to have on him. He ignored what could have been a moan of disappointment and leaned his mouth close to her ear again, ready to get back to the task they were supposed to be here for. It was tough, but controlling emotions was part of being a werewolf.

“Get a firm grip on the weapon, then take a breath and let it out halfway.” He waited until he felt her breath hitch. “Now, slowly caress the trigger. Don’t squeeze it. You should be completely surprised when it goes off.”

The gun still jumped in her hand, but she had a better grip this time, so it didn’t move nearly as much as before.

Mackenzie laughed. “I hit the target dead center.”

He couldn’t help but smile with her. “Yes, you did. Now do it again.”

She breathed deep, took her time, and put every shot through the nine ring. When she’d emptied the magazine, she set the pistol down on the counter and spun around in his arms, hugging him with a breathless laugh.

“I did it!”

Even though he knew he shouldn’t, Gage found himself automatically wrapping his arms around her. Her breasts were soft against his chest, her hips enticing. And her lips… The way they were parted, it was like they were begging to be kissed. God, he could almost taste them. Something told him one kiss wouldn’t be enough. But he was willing to take the risk. He might have done it too, but luckily she pulled away.

“I want to do it again,” she said excitedly.

“Okay,” he laughed. “Unless you want to…”

“Unless I want to…?”

The way she was looking at him almost made him forget again that she was here looking for a story that could destroy his life and the lives of his pack members. And just like that Gage felt the stirrings of a foolish emotion he shouldn’t be feeling right now—definitely not this fast, and definitely not for this woman.

He reached around her, picking up the 9mm he’d brought. “Or we could try something a little bigger?”

Her lips curved. “You think I can handle something bigger?”

He turned her around so that her ass was pressed snugly against him, then placed the 9mm in her hands and aimed it at the target. “Something tells me you can handle just about anything.”

***

Mac had no idea target shooting could be so much fun, but she was hooked. She was already thinking about what kind of handgun she wanted to buy for herself. She adored the .22 she fired first, but the 9mm had been so fun. And Gage had told her that most of the well-known manufacturers even had model lines specifically for women, with accessories like pink handgrips. She was definitely getting one of those.

She wanted to tell Zak about her shooting lessons, but everyone around the handful of tables the restaurant staff had pushed together for the SWAT team in the large back room of the steak house had a story to tell. And Zak was talking louder than any of them. It turned out that in order to escape the horrible villains holding him hostage, Zak had to take a more active role than expected of an average hostage.

Mac couldn’t stop laughing as Zak described how he’d been cut loose by some of the guys on Mike’s squad, then crawled out of the dark building on his hands and knees, only to find himself on the roof. Then he’d been taught enough about rappelling to lower himself down to the ground.

Unfortunately, just when it seemed that he’d get away safely, Xander’s squad had reappeared and started shooting at him with paintball guns. Zak—who was covered from head to toe in orange paint—had picked up a weapon when one of Mike’s team had gone down and helped the team fight their way to freedom.

“I have to admit I didn’t think you had it in you,” Mike said to Zak. “But you did good.”

Everyone around the table applauded, including Mac. She wasn’t sure how much training the guys had accomplished that morning considering that paintball was involved, but it sounded like they had fun.

“Did you know they were going to do that to Zak?” she whispered to Gage.

“I figured they’d do something to have a little fun with him, but I didn’t think they’d break out the paintball guns,” he said. “They only do that when they think a person can handle it. Your photographer must have a little action hero in him.”