Protecting Dallas

DALLAS

I was seated between Austin and Maddox, cruising along comfortably at thirty-five thousand feet. Contemplating how radically different my life was now than a month ago, and how I somehow wouldn’t trade it for all the world.

Shit, if it meant getting to where I was now I would’ve burned the house down myself. Imminent danger of being killed aside, living with my three Navy SEALs had filled my life with action, excitement, and of course, near limitless amounts of dirty, filthy sex.

Only it wasn’t just sex, and I’d be lying if I said it were. There were feelings now too; emotions and attachments that came hand in hand with being so close to them. The guys were fun and funny, lovable as well as gorgeous. And they were fiercely protective of me. Sweet and kind, but also alpha enough to give back every last ounce of sarcasm and trouble I dished their way.

And God, they were so fucking hot…

Going to New Orleans had been Maddox’s idea, based on the intel they’d gathered so far. We needed to find out more about Evan Miller. And that meant diving into where he’d been stationed, and the commanders above him. Even the places he lived, which of course meant one thing:

I’d be walking in the footsteps of Connor.

There was a lot we could find out in New Orleans, and we hoped to make sense of my brother’s last days. The recording of his apparent death had knocked me on my ass for a bit, but I’d gotten back up quickly. For Connor’s sake as much as mine.

Protecting myself — and now my three incredible lovers — was something we all owed to Connor. We needed to find out who hurt him, and what they wanted. Most of all, I wanted to know why.

Clearing ourselves of this mess went hand in hand with avenging my brother’s death; two birds, one stone. And if we dug deep enough to cause a little more trouble? Kicking the hornets nest was probably necessary to finding out exactly where to burn it all down.

“Another, miss?”

I smiled sweetly as the flight attendant handed me a fresh bottle of vodka. I still had enough cranberry juice left to mix myself happy for the next hour or so. Austin was staring out the window like a zombie, and Maddox was crashed out completely. His head rested so adorably on my shoulder, I didn’t even mind the drool.

Leaving Kane had been a tough call, but there was still so much to be done back in Vegas. He had leads on who might be checking out the black SUV from Nellis, and he planned on following up with anyone associated with Miller, too. And though we were worried about leaving him a sitting duck and an easy target, he’d promised to sleep on base for however long we were gone.

Who was he really kidding, though? If I knew anything about Kane it was that he’d never back down. He wouldn’t hide with his tail tucked between his legs — especially not with so much information still to be gleaned. More likely he’d stay up every night, staring at the outside camera feeds while cleaning his pistols, a fully loaded M4A1 rifle across his lap.

The image brought a smile to my face. So did the memory of this morning’s farewell blowjob.

I sighed contentedly, settling into my seat as the third little bottle of vodka slid easily down my throat.

Yes, I was a happy girl.

Even with the shitstorm raging around us.

Thirty-Seven

DALLAS

New Orleans was even more fantastic, more breathtaking than I could’ve possibly imagined. And in my mind’s eye, it was pretty damned beautiful to begin with.

We touched down mid-afternoon and checked straight into our hotel room, which was clean and nice and sported two queen sized beds. My stomach did a sexy backflip as I wondered if I’d end up in one or the other by the end of the night.

Or quite possibly, both.

“You guys sleep there,” I laughed, pointing to the second mattress as I laid claim to the first. “He snores,” I told Maddox, before moving my finger from Austin to him. “And he hogs the blankets.”

The guys only looked at each other and shook their heads. Their plans were obviously different. I’d go along with whatever they wanted of course, but they didn’t need to know that. Not right now at least.

I grunted, plopped my bag down, then fell heavily back into the softness of the bed.

New Orleans, I sighed to myself, staring at the ceiling. Pretty fucking cool.

It was, actually. The city was on my bucket list of places to visit before I kicked off the planet, and I wasn’t even close to kicking off yet. So far, anyway.

“Get your pretty ass up,” Austin ordered, offering his hand. I took it and let him pull me to my feet. “We’ve got work to do.”

We freshened up quickly and headed back down to the lobby. Then, as a trio, we spent the rest of the day exploring the northern edge of the city. Our rental car was small and inconspicuous; despite my every attempt to get the guys to pick a convertible, we ended up with a small, four-door sedan.