Protecting Dallas

“No alarm,” he said, with obvious distaste. “Either this guy is stupid or overconfident.”

“Or both,” Austin pointed out.

A minute later we were inside, weapons out, treading carefully past all the broken glass. The house was clean and well-kept. There wasn’t a lot of furniture, or clutter, or really anything at all.

“Counters are clean,” said Maddox, sweeping through the kitchen. “No mail. No anything.”

Kane was already in the hallway, his pistol held high. We made our way down, past a bathroom, into a home office. The desk was clean — the drawers virtually empty. There wasn’t even a computer.

“Someone’s already been here,” Austin said. He reached down and held up four or five wires. One of them was connected to a monitor, laying face-down on the floor. He tapped something else. A wireless modem.

“Bedroom,” Maddox said, jerking his head.

My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my neck. In a way it was thrilling, being here with them. Seeing them work. Watching their movements and hand signals, the way they entered each room by drawing down and checking the corners.

They’re amazing.

It was something I’d thought of numerous times over the last few weeks. And especially, over the past few days.

They’re incredible men… just like Connor.

Oddly enough, I’d never dated a military guy before. I’d been around several, thanks to Connor, but I guessed they just always saw me as off-limits.

Still, these guys were different. They weren’t just suitors, they were protectors. They didn’t just like or admire me, they were devoted to me in ways that no other guy could ever be.

For that reason alone, I was in awe of them.

Yes… but do you love them?

I lusted after them, that was for sure. Their hard, lean bodies, strutting half-naked through the halls of the house we shared. The way they kissed me. Touched me. The way they handled me in the bedroom, passing me back and forth between them…

But what about love, Dallas?

I did, of course. Love them, that is. I loved each of them in the way I loved my brother, but now there was something beyond that too. Something foreign and intangible, scratching at the back of my mind. Something that set off alarm bells and whistles of warning… but something that registered other, more exciting emotions too.

“Closet’s clean,” Maddox said from his side of the bedroom.

“Bath too,” Austin said, re-entering.

Kane reached down with one big arm and lifted the mattress. It went up easily, and his instant grin made my heart soar.

“Well I’ll be dipped in shit.”

We all glanced down. Resting on the box-spring was a laptop computer, all sleek and dark.

“Lazy motherfuckers,” grunted Kane, picking it up. He handed it to Austin, then put the bed back the way it was.

Maddox shook his head. “I can’t believe they missed this.”

“They?” I asked.

“The other guys involved with Miller. Probably the same ones we chased in the alley.”

Austin was already turning the computer over in his gloved hands. He opened and closed it, then nodded crisply.

“We happy?” Kane asked.

“Fucking ecstatic,” Austin grinned.