Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents 2)

Veronica was pretty sure she’d had this dream once, only she hadn’t been recovering from a near kidnapping in the dream.

“I won’t let you get hurt,” he promised. His voice was rough and dark, the way that she thought it would sound when he was in bed with a woman, whispering in the night.

Her gaze fell to his mouth.

She wanted him to kiss her.

She arched toward him. Maybe she even rose onto her tiptoes.

He wasn’t closing the distance between them.

I want to kiss him. Maybe it was the adrenaline and the fear still pumping through her. Whatever it was, in that one instant, Veronica felt a little bit wild.

Wild enough to curl her hands around his shoulders. To pull him down against her and to press her lips against his. His lips were firm and a little cool. And they were opening beneath hers. She’d initiated the kiss, but Jasper quickly took over. His lips hardened on hers, and his tongue swept inside her mouth, sliding right past her lips. He didn’t rush the kiss. Didn’t try to take too much from her, too fast. He explored. He tasted. He made her knees feel a little bit weak, and he made her smell smoke.

Smell...smoke?

Jasper pulled his head away from hers. “What the hell?”

He whirled away and yanked open the office door. Over his shoulder, Veronica caught a glimpse of Wyatt rushing toward them.

“Get out of here!” Wyatt yelled. He had keys in his hand. “The storage room in the back is burning!”

Then Veronica heard the crackles of flames.

An explosion shook the building, reverberating with a stunning echo even as a blast of heat seemed to lance over her skin.

Before she could do more than suck in a shocked breath, Jasper was hauling her out of the office and away from the flames—flames that weren’t just in the back room any longer. The flames were spreading around the station, burning with deadly ferocity.

Burning.

Everything around them was burning as greedy flames leaped across the station, destroying everything in their path.

Chapter Three

“Keep her safe,” Jasper barked as he pushed Veronica toward Gunner. The sniper had just come back through the station’s front door, rushing toward the flames, and his timing was pretty damn perfect. Jasper wanted a guard on Veronica while he went back in to help the sheriff, and Gunner was one of the best guards that Jasper had ever met.

Gunner nodded, but his gaze drifted back to the flames. Jasper knew that Gunner wanted to be the one running back inside. The guy was always drawn to the fire.

One of his good points.

And his weaknesses.

“Jasper!” Veronica called his name as he ran back inside. He didn’t stop. Wyatt would need another pair of hands to get those prisoners out of that burning building.

The fire wasn’t one that would be controlled easily. He’d heard that explosion, a too-familiar sound. The initial flames in the storage room had been a diversion. The detonation he’d heard had been deliberate. A trap.

A premeditated inferno.

Once he made it back to the holding area, Jasper saw that Wyatt had his gun on the prisoners. He’d already cuffed them and was trying to lead them outside. He couldn’t do the job alone. Jasper grabbed the first guy, then ducked low to try to get some fresh air into his lungs. “Get your butt out of here!” he ordered the guy.

Wyatt whirled on him. “The deputy...Jimmy...he came back... I’ve got to find him...”

Jasper nodded grimly. “I’ve got these two.” The would-be kidnappers were shaking with their fear. They just wanted to get away from the fire. They weren’t planning an attack on him.

The sheriff coughed. He started to hand Jasper his gun, then hesitated.

“There’s a federal agent...” Jasper covered his mouth. The flames were getting worse. The sprinklers had shot on overhead, but they weren’t doing much of a job at stopping the flames. “The agent’s right outside.” And one is right in front of you. “You can count on us.”