AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once we get to the range, they run me through some basic safety instructions and make me put on protective gear for my eyes and ears, then finally hand me a gun.
“Keep it pointed toward the target, princess,” Dante says before he releases it to my grip. “You gotta always assume any weapon you touch is loaded, and treat it accordingly.”
“Okay,” I say, my senses abnormally sharp as the cool metal gives me a focus for all the adrenaline in my system. “This one is smaller than Maddoc’s, though.”
I want to bite my tongue as soon as the words leave my mouth, not sure if I’ll ruin things by bringing that up, even though Maddoc alluded to it himself earlier. But Dante just laughs, resting one hand on the small of my back, and Logan—flanking me on the other side—gives me a small smile too.
“It’s a Ruger LC9s,” Logan says. “Better suited to your stature, and it’s a reliable, accurate weapon.”
“Not gonna knock you on your ass with the recoil, either,” Dante adds. He hesitates for a second, then adds, “It was Payton’s.”
The slim, compact gun is already warming in my hands. I’m not sure how I feel about knowing where it came from, so I don’t dwell on it, just taking the knowledge the way I suspect it’s meant. As acceptance.
“So what do I do with it?” I ask, spreading my legs and squinting one eye as I point it toward the paper target set up for me.
“This is an original model,” Dante says, indicating the gun as he moves behind me. He wraps one arm around, pressing up against my back, and covers my right hand with his, his thumb nudging mine over a small lever. “It’s got a safety you’re gonna have to take off before you do anything.”
The little lever under my thumb clicks.
“Now I shoot?” I ask, a surge of something that feels almost sexual moving through me as I grip the stock. My finger curls around the trigger, and I do it without waiting for him to say so.
The gun jerks in my hand, the metal hot and the recoil Dante promised wouldn’t knock me on my ass still enough to get my attention.
I fucking love it… but the target looks pristine.
“Did I hit it?”
Dante laughs. “After taking off the safety, you might wanna aim first.”
“I did,” I lie, that hot rush of pleasure still simmering in my blood. I needed this, and I didn’t even know it.
And I want to do it again.
I squint my left eye, steadying the gun with both hands as Dante releases me and steps off to the side, giving me room.
“Keep both eyes open,” Logan says before I shoot again.
“What?” I ask, turning toward him. “Why?”
His hand darts out and blocks my wrist, guiding the barrel of the gun back toward the target.
“Sorry,” I say, although even the embarrassment of forgetting that bit of gun safety can’t dim the pleasure still coursing through me. This release is exactly what I needed, and Maddoc is probably right. It’s a skill I should master.
Logan’s expression lightens in a way that’s not quite a smile, but still warms me. “Squinting your non-dominant eye can help you direct your focus, but it narrows your field of vision. Train yourself to keep them both open so you can have maximum awareness of your surroundings.”
Logan moves behind me, taking the spot Dante was in before, pressing his strong, lean body against my back and sending a shiver of an entirely different kind of pleasure through me.
“Okay, so I just…” I raise the gun again and try to line up the little bump at the end, the sight, with the target.
“Yes,” Logan says, reaching around me to subtly adjust my aim. “Keep the barrel level with the horizon.”
“Trust your instincts, princess,” Dante adds, a smile in his voice. “Don’t worry too much about making it an exact science. You’re not gonna have time to line everything up if you’ve got to defend yourself out on the streets. You just need to start developing some muscle memory.”
When Logan shifts behind me, I react to a different kind of muscle memory, my pulse picking up speed.
His hands slide down my sides and settle on my hips. “Balance your weight.”
“When it feels right, fire,” Dante says.
