Page 116 of Specter Bred

I followed him out, but not before glancing back once.

Graves was still standing beside the bed watching us leave, and somehow, in the span of one completely insane night, Sammy and I had gone from secretly breaking every boundary our instructor had drawn to apparently belonging to him.

I still wasn’t entirely sure how the hell that had happened.

I stumbled back to our room in a daze, replaying every word and trying to convince myself it had been real. Sammy trailed behind me with a knowing smirk and an “I told you so” sitting right on the tip of his tongue.

“Don’t,” I barked before he could vocalize it.

He held up his hands in surrender, but the smirk remained firmly in place. “Wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Bullshit.”

“I was simply going to congratulate you on successfully seducing our commanding officer through months of insubordination and open hostility.” He kicked the door shut behind him. “Very unconventional strategy. Bold execution.”

I stared at him.

“Hayes.”

“Yes?”

“On your knees.”

His smirk disappeared.

I sat on the edge of my bed and crooked a finger at him. Major Nolan Graves had worked me into a fucking frenzy only to send me back to my room with a smug smile and an order to be up early. I could still feel the insistent pulse of need low in my core, and until someone did something about it, sleep wasn’t going to happen.

Sammy looked from me to the bed, understanding arriving almost comically fast. Then that damned grin came right back.

“See?” he said, dropping obediently to his knees in front of me. “Pussy motivated.”

I shoved his shoulder with my foot. “Shut up, Farm Boy.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Chapter 15: Sammy Hayes

"What happened to your lip, kid?" Captain Alvarez asked during our early morning run.

I touched it with a wince and shrugged.

"Uh... ran into a wall, sir."

Alvarez snorted.

"Guess betas really are clumsy."

I grinned through the ache.

"Or maybe I’ve got a habit of throwing myself between alphas and hoping I survive it."

Alvarez frowned.

"The hell’s that got to do with a wall?"

My grin faltered.

"Uh... nothing, sir."