AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sierra opened her eyes, touching the band, repositioning it slightly. To her surprise, it wasn’t too tight or too loose. Kilmer was pretty good at judging the size of her head and that band. Swallowing, she croaked, “Okay. It feels fine. Thanks.”
He brought down his hand.
Instantly, Sierra jerked away from it as it approached her cheek.
“What the hell,” he snapped. He glared at her. “You’re acting like I’m going to hit you. I would never hit a woman.”
The fierceness of his low snarl hit her hard. She felt suddenly ashamed and tried to relax. “I just came out of an op in Somalia. Things went to hell,” she choked out, holding his angry glare. Sierra saw that she’d hurt his fragile male ego with her swift reaction. The moment she’d told him that, he’d scowled and dropped his hand away.
In a low growl, he said, “You should have said something.”
“Like you were all ears?” Sierra charged hotly beneath her breath so the others couldn’t hear her. “You haven’t exactly been the Welcome Wagon here, Sergeant.” She saw Kilmer grimace and then look away for a moment, his Adam’s apple bobbing several times. There were a lot of emotions swirling around inside him and she’d been too shaken by the unexpected appearance of his hand going for her cheek, to try and untangle and interpret them. Some were regret. Others, anger. And something else… something… something that Sierra couldn’t translate. He twisted his head in her direction, his gray eyes narrowed and stormy looking. His long hands were tense on his thick, curved thighs and she swore he was about to kiss her senseless.
Kiss her?
What the hell was going on here? Taken aback by what she saw in his eyes, in his expression, thawing as it had for a split second, she knew he wanted to kiss her! WTF? It wasn’t as if she also hadn’t been secretly wondering what it would be like to press her lips up against that strong, beautiful mouth of his. She wasn’t exactly blameless in this moment, either. Sierra felt shaken doubly so. She’d thought all this was only one way. Did Kilmer want her? Man to woman? Impossible! He hated the very earth she walked on. He didn’t want her here with him. He didn’t trust her. And she was sure he didn’t think she could shoot and hit the broad side of a barn. She must be suffering from jet lag. And Sierra was sure that the cause of her confusion was because she hadn’t gotten the rest and down time she needed between missions. That her mind was wobbling all over the damn map with this prickly soldier. She was imagining things that weren’t there. Truly, she was sleep deprived. Maybe all of that was crashing down on her right now, distorting her perspective, making her jumpy and distrustful of this man’s intentions. It had to be her fault. He was looking at her right now like she was an alien that had just landed from another galaxy far, far away.
“You need to see if the mic is long enough to reach your mouth,” he grunted, waving a finger in her direction, making sure to get it nowhere near her face this time.
Fingers trembling, Sierra was more than a little aware of how to handle a headband mic. Why the hell didn’t he just hand the whole apparatus to her? Why did he WANT to put it on her? Touch her? It made no sense. The mic was too short, so she quickly lengthened it and locked it in place. He handed her the small radio in a case. She quickly plugged the jack from the headset into it and then looked back at him for approval. Damn, the look in his eyes… Her heartbeat increased. The man could strip her with those pale, narrowed eyes of his. The heat in his stare didn’t threaten Sierra. Rather, it made her feel suddenly warm and achy.
“Looks fine,” he grunted. He turned away and zipped his ruck closed by his muddy boots.
Her throat was dry. “Do you want me to wear it around camp here?”
“No. Just when we’re out hunting. Stow it in a plastic bag to keep it dry and together in one place.”
“I figured that much out.” She saw him scowl and turn, giving her a raking look.
“Tell me about your op in Somalia. What happened? You’re jumpy as hell.”
She pulled off the head band and stood up, stuffing the mic rig all down in the thigh pocket of her Cammy trousers. Sierra didn’t want to be this close to Mace. He unsettled the hell out of her, made her defensive and wary of him. Not that he’d given her a reason for any of those reactions. Licking her lower lip, she wanted more distance between them. It was better that way. At least, for her. Sitting at the end of another log, she said, “I was embedded in a SEAL team. We had orders to take out an HVT in Mogidishu.”
“And you were their sniper?”
“Actually,” she said, her voice becoming less strident, “there were two of us. Me and another SEAL. If one of us missed, the other wouldn’t.” She hitched one shoulder and managed a strained, quick, one-cornered smile. “You know their saying? One is none and two is one? I was number two.” She saw his face relax as he considered her story.
“The SEALs have their own sniper school now. Different from the Marine Corps school, though.” Mace Kilmer said.
Sierra replied, “Yes, their school is more SEAL specific to the types of ops they pull.”
“Then why didn’t they have a second SEAL instead of you?” he asked.
She saw his blunt stare and felt heat bolting down through her breasts, warming her as a woman. There was no anger in his eyes now. Just– curiosity and a teaspoon of interest. Interest in her story? Or interest in her? Shakily, Sierra sensed that Kilmer’s focus was directly on her. Maybe as a bug under his patriarchal male microscope? Certainly not a man interested in her as a woman, sexually speaking. “I don’t know. I don’t ask questions like that. I go where I’m assigned.” she said.
Mace rubbed his stubbled jaw, thinking for a bit. “You must be pretty damned good for those SEALs to have wanted you along in that hellhole. And you must have had a sniper history that made them want you on that op.”
Her brow dropped. “You been in Somalia?”
“Yeah. Nothing pretty to write home about, believe me.”
“Oh,” she laughed a little nervously, “that’s one thing you and I can agree on.”
He studied her, the silence lengthening between them. Finally, he said, “So what happened to you over there? Something did. You’re too fresh from it, and too reactive.”
CHAPTER 4
Mace had toget a hold of himself. When Chastain came out of her hut wearing only a muscle shirt and cammies, he felt like his world suddenly changed. He had no explanation for it. She walked tall and proud with her shoulders back, the sleek feminine muscling of hers showing clearly, in every inch of exposed skin, that she was all athlete. He saw the hog’s tooth on a leather thong around her neck. Every Marine who graduated from sniper school was given one. It just made her look all that wilder. A woman of nature. In tune with everything around her. Sierra was damned buff, no fat on her. He couldn’t keep from staring at her breasts beneath that shirt, the lush curves of them straining against the material. Her hair was long and loose, a thick, black cloak flowing over her shoulders and down her upper body, the tips slightly curled inward just above her breasts. The way she walked, with her casual cat-like grace, told him plenty about why she’d been able to keep up the demanding five-mile trot. She’d handled the run like a pro.
