Chapter 5

“You think she’ll show up?” Becker asked for the third time.

Gage looked up from his email to give the young surveillance expert a frown. “I told you—she might, she might not. Either way, PT starts in”—he looked at his watch—“ten minutes. Don’t you think you should get everyone out there and ready to start?”

Becker had been assigned the task of setting up and running this morning’s PT session, but while the man nodded at Gage’s obvious nudge, he didn’t move. “Yeah, probably. But I was just wondering if maybe she might join us?”

“Why would you think that? She’s not here to work out with us. She’s here to write an article about us.”

Becker nodded again, still lounging against the doorjamb. “Yeah, that makes sense. Still…it’d be nice if she wore yoga pants.”

“What the hell are yoga pants?”

“What women wear when they do yoga. You know—those tight pants that flare at the bottom a little.” Becker grinned. “I bet she’d look hot in them.”

Okay, that was more than Gage wanted to hear. He growled. “Officer Becker, get outside. Now.”

Becker might have been fantasizing about Mackenzie’s curvy ass in a pair of yoga pants, but he was still aware enough to know when he was close to mortal danger. He gave his boss a startled look, then took off running for the back door.

Gage shook his head. Sometimes he wondered if the amount of time Becker spent playing with electricity had damaged him beyond repair. Then again, the guy had a point. Gage wasn’t exactly sure what yoga pants even looked like, but he figured Mackenzie would look good in anything tight.

He felt his cock immediately harden…again.

Shit. He hadn’t slept worth a damn last night because of the hard-on Mackenzie had given him during dinner. It had taken an hour in a freezing cold shower this morning to finally get the damn thing to go down. He’d been lucky to even get to work on time. And now, with a single semi-sexual thought about the dark-haired beauty, he was hard all over again. Thank God he was wearing a loose pair of shorts. It would have been damn embarrassing doing PT with the team otherwise.

He looked down at his watch. He still had a few minutes before he had to go out. Maybe he could think about something else for a while and get his erection to relax.

He tried to focus on what he needed to do that day, but that proved to be a stupid idea because he was going to be spending it with Mackenzie Stone. The purpose behind it might be serious—making sure she didn’t figure out he and his men were werewolves—but all his cock cared about was that he’d get to hang out with that sexy body of hers.

He practically heard a thud as his hard shaft pressed against the underside of the desk draw.

Damn, the woman was going to be the death of him.

It had hit him like a sledgehammer when he’d gotten in his car with Mackenzie last night. She’d smelled really nice at the compound earlier in the day, and her scent had been even more delicious when she’d opened the door of her apartment. But that all paled in comparison to what it was like to be in a small, enclosed space with her. The perfume she’d worn combined perfectly with her natural scent to create a fragrance so alluring he’d almost driven off the road he was so distracted.

And that had just been the beginning. The entire dinner with her had been one long, slow tease. The way they’d been squeezed into that tight booth, the way her knee had brushed up against his leg most of the night, the way she’d leaned in close and nibbled her dinner in that slow, sensual way she had, the way she’d answered all his questions in that sexy voice of hers. He’d been so turned on he hadn’t realized he’d started caressing her leg until the thundering of her heartbeat couldn’t be ignored. She’d had that distant, glassy-eyed look of a woman in some serious pleasure.

Then the smell of her arousal hit him, and he’d almost come unglued.

Thank God Emile had shown up at the table just then, or he wasn’t sure what he would have done.

He’d never displayed more discipline in his life as he had when he walked away from her invitation to come inside. But he’d needed to get some space between them, get his head screwed back on right, and get his freaking lust under control. This was the safety of his pack, and he was losing it like a horny teenager.

He’d done it, but it had been damn hard.

Even now, sitting at his desk willing his hard-on to go down in the few minutes he had before PT, Gage still had no idea what the hell was going on with his out-of-control sex drive. There’d been a couple times last night while he’d laid in bed staring up at the ceiling that he wondered if maybe Xander had been right. Was Mackenzie Stone some kind of cosmically assigned perfect woman for him, genetically designed to push him over the edge with nothing more than her scent?

In the frustrating darkness, it had seemed more than possible.

Of course, an hour-long freezing shower, a lot of coffee, and the bright light of daybreak had made those thoughts seem ludicrous. Until Becker had forced the image of Mackenzie wearing skintight yoga pants into his head. Now, as he pleaded with his erection to go away, he wasn’t so sure.

“Hey,” Mike’s voice sounded distant even though he was standing in the doorway. “We’re about to get started. Stone is here, too. And she has a guy with her.”

Gage growled low in his throat. Well, he’d finally found something that would make his cock relent—anger. Simple, irrational, jealousy-induced anger.

***

“So, why did you need me to come with you today?” Zak asked drily as he snapped pictures in what could only be called a halfhearted manner.

Mac was too distracted by the sixteen sweaty, bare-chested men running around on the obstacle course. While they all looked scrumptious, she found herself focusing mainly on Gage. God, the man would make a Greek god feel inferior. She had no idea if all the crawling, jumping, and climbing made for good exercise, but it sure as hell was fun to watch. She especially liked the way his muscles bunched and flexed as he scrambled up the various towers and ropes. Damn, their rippling movement was downright sensual.

And if all those bulging muscles weren’t enough to make her stare like a kid in a candy store, the incredible matching ink that every one of the men had tattooed on the left side of his chest sure as heck was. She’d never been one to look twice at a man’s tattoo, but the one of the wolf with its long teeth, menacing eyes, and bristling ruff of fur that each of them had in the center of his left pec was just freaking cool. Emblazoned in arching letters over the top of each wolf was the acronym SWAT. The work was expensive looking and had obviously taken a lot of time. She had no idea what a wolf had to do with SWAT, but she one hundred percent approved of the artwork.

Anything to provide another reason to look at a sexy man’s chest was okay with her.

Zak cleared his throat, interrupting her musings. If she didn’t love him like a brother, she’d smack him right now.

“I need pictures of the SWAT team training,” she told him.

“So these pictures of sweaty, muscular men running around in nothing but a pair of shorts are going to be in your article?”

More likely on my personal laptop. She gave Zak an angelic smile. “It’s possible.”

Her effort probably would have counted for more if she’d been able to resist asking Zak to make sure to take lots of pictures of Gage flexing those beautiful muscles of his.

“I should be getting paid overtime for this,” Zak groused, but he dutifully snapped more photos.

Mac leaned back against one of the telephone poles that were part of the obstacle course. She and Zak had picked out a good vantage point for this morning’s PT session. Gage and his team had been going at it hard for almost an hour and didn’t look like they were anywhere near wrapping it up. Muscles and stamina—what more could a woman ask for?

“So now that we’re in, what’s the plan?” Zak asked.

“I don’t really have one,” Mac admitted, again staying away from any mention of a super drug. “I’m just going to play it by ear and see where it takes me.”

“What do you want me to do?” Zak asked. “Other than take pictures, I mean.”

He flipped his camera to automatic mode so he could get a series of rapid-fire shots of Gage and his two squad leaders leaping from the top of a tall tower. It had to be at least twelve or fifteen feet high—sure as hell too high for her to jump from. They hit the ground hard and rolled across the sand-filled pit under the base of the tower. Sand stuck to their sweaty backs and shoulders, and it took all of her willpower not to run out there and volunteer to brush Gage off.

“See if you can make friends with Becker and Lowry,” she said softly. The SWAT guys were now all the way down at the far end of the obstacle course, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. “They’re the newest members of the team, so they might not be involved in whatever’s going on.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Zak said. “But they seem like a really tight group to me.”

Mac didn’t need Zak to tell her that. After watching them work together on the obstacle course, it was obvious they trusted each other completely. It was unlikely any of them would rat out one of their own to an outsider, but she and Zak needed to try.

By the time Gage and the other men finished PT, Mac was worn out, and all she’d done was watch. The SWAT guys, however, looked as if they’d just woken up from a refreshing nap.

“Well, I’m out of here,” Zak said. “I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.”

She reluctantly tore her gaze away from Gage’s sweaty body to give Zak a frown. “Where are you going?”

“I saw a donut shop a couple of miles back. I thought after a workout like that these guys might appreciate some quality junk food.”

Mac took in all the ripped muscles and flat abs, not to mention the tight buns as the SWAT officers loped casually up the slight hill toward the admin-slash-dorm building she’d toured with Gage.

“I hate to tell you this, but I’m pretty sure these guys don’t eat donuts.”

Zak laughed. “Right. You keep believing that. Just a word of advice—don’t get between these guys and the boxes when I throw them down on the table or you might get run over.”

She shook her head as Zak headed toward the front gate. He was going to be embarrassed when he bought a half-dozen boxes of donuts thinking it’d get him in good with the guys, only to have no one touch them.

Mac started for the admin building, wondering what she should do while Gage cleaned up, when he suddenly appeared at her side. She jumped.

“Crap, you scared me!”

“Sorry about that.” He grinned. “I wanted to let you know it’ll only take me about twenty minutes or so to get cleaned up. Feel free to roam around the compound if you want. Or you can watch TV over in the training building.”

Mac was about to tell Gage to take his time and that she’d go watch the morning news when she got a whiff of his sweat-soaked body. The scent immediately transported her back to the lusty state she’d been in last night when he’d left her alone and unsatisfied at her front door. She’d never found men particularly sexy after a workout, but Gage was a completely different story. He smelled so scrumptious she thought she might drool.

“Thanks,” she finally managed to spit out. “I’ll probably walk around some, then head over and look at the news.”

“Okay. I’ll be quick,” he said, then turned and jogged toward the admin building.

Mac didn’t realize she was following him until she was halfway to the admin building. She stopped short, swearing under her breath. What the hell was she going to do in there, watch him shower and ask if he needed help getting all that sand off his back?

She shook her head. She needed to get a grip on herself, and fast.

She turned to head toward the training building, but stopped again. She’d wanted to get a look at the filing cabinets she’d seen yesterday. What better time to do it than while the entire SWAT team was showering?

She stepped into the building all prepared to give Gage some story about needing to use a computer, but he was already upstairs with the other men. Of course, this would be a waste of time if the file cabinets were locked. But they weren’t. She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Sure, she’d be able to rifle through them, but if there was something incriminating in them, would they leave them open? Only one way to find out.

The first drawer she looked in held personnel records. She skimmed through a few, including Gage’s, but there was nothing in there she didn’t already know. It wasn’t as if they were going to maintain a list of drugs they might be taking. She closed that drawer and opened the next.

This one held more personnel records, but these were specifically related to training and weapons qualification information. Other than the fact that all the files were thick as heck—SWAT guys trained a lot—they were otherwise pretty dull.

She moved to the next cabinet and opened the top drawer. It was full of what looked like incident records for each call the team had responded to, complete with officer statements, photographs, diagrams, and procedure review documents.

Now this had potential.

She picked a folder at random and started flipping through it when she heard the sounds of laughter coming from upstairs. That was when it hit her—there were sixteen attractive, muscular, naked, and probably soap-covered men in the showers not more than a few feet above her head. The thought was almost enough to make her say the hell with these old files and sneak upstairs for a peek.

But she had a job to do—and secrets to uncover.

Mac checked the door, listening for footsteps coming down the stairs. She didn’t have a lot of time to snoop around.

She tried to focus on reading between the lines of the reports, looking for any details they might have glossed over, or even left out completely. But it was hard not getting caught up in what she read.

The first report chronicled a hostage situation involving a rape victim and her brutal attacker. The next was a father who’d killed two of his own children before Gage and his men had gotten there just in time to save the mother and a newborn baby.

Murderers barricaded in their homes, thugs who’d robbed convenience stores, everyday people who’d snapped and started shooting everyone they came across, depressed people who wanted a way out and thought pointing a gun at a bunch of people might get them what they were looking for.

Mac was stunned by how many of the incidents ended with the suspects getting arrested instead of shot by SWAT. She’d always assumed SWAT only got involved when someone needed shooting.

She jumped ahead to the date Marvin Cole had been arrested. It took her a few minutes to thumb through the files, but she finally found the incident report she was looking for. She read it through quickly, not sure what she was searching for.

The report read pretty much like the story Marvin had told her, except for the part about the kidnap victim being a twelve-year-old kid and that the kidnapper—Marvin—had beaten the hell out of the kid’s babysitter to get the kid away from her.

Gage’s report said they’d tracked Marvin to an old hotel, where Senior Corporal Zane Kendrick, one of the SWAT team’s negotiators, had tried to talk Marvin into giving himself up. Marvin had apparently threatened the kid’s life, which had sent Gage and another senior corporal on the team, Trey Duncan, into the hotel room. It was impossible to tell because Gage’s words lacked any emotion, but Mac wondered if he’d been concerned about going up against a three-hundred-and-fifty-pound criminal with only two officers.

The report provided the precise time the two-man team had kicked in the door, then only a simple three-sentence description of the ensuing arrest of the suspect and rescue of the hostage.

Senior Corporal Duncan kicked in the door and covered me as I moved across the room to secure the suspect. The suspect resisted, which required me to pin him against the wall of the room for a short period of time while Corporal Duncan got the hostage to safety. My pinning technique resulted in scratches to the suspect’s chest, which were treated by the EMTs on scene.

She was just flipping to the back of the report, which included pictures of Marvin and the familiar scratches on his chest, when she heard the thump of heavy boots on the stairs.

Crap.

Mac shoved the folder back in the filing cabinet and closed the drawer as softly as she could. Then she darted out the door and into the main office. Could she make it to the front door before whomever it was entered the room?

She decided against it and instead threw her butt into one of the office chairs and grabbed the first thing to read that she could find on the adjacent desk—a magazine about handguns. She’d just crossed her legs and opened the magazine to a page advertising Real Bleeding Zombies! Available for Target Practice Now! when Gage walked into the room.

“I thought you’d be watching TV.”

She looked up slowly, acting as if she was mesmerized by the magazine. “Oh yeah, I was going to, but then I saw this magazine and I got interested in it. I didn’t realize I’d been sitting here that long until you came down.”

“Really?” Gage casually made his way toward the filing room. “I never would have pegged you as someone to read a gun magazine.”

Mac almost gasped out loud as he walked in the room and looked around. Oh, God. Had she left the drawer open on one of the filing cabinets?

“Hey,” she practically shouted. “Did you know they make zombie targets that bleed?”

Gage looked around the filing room, then reached over and switched off the light. “Yeah, I’ve seen them. Unfortunately, they’re not suitable for real training.”

“Really?” She hadn’t expected him to do more than laugh at how silly bleeding zombies were, not respond seriously to her question. But now he’d gone and made her curious. “Why not?”

He came around and plunked himself down in the chair beside her. “For one thing, they’re too damn expensive. For another, it encourages bad shooting habits. Everyone wants to shoot the zombie in the head instead of the center of the chest.”

She couldn’t help but laugh as she envisioned the SWAT team being pelted with bad press because they were caught preparing for the coming zombie apocalypse. “I guess I see your point. It could turn into a PR nightmare.”

Gage chuckled. “Not nearly as bad as the trouble we got into when Xander brought in the fiberglass clown he found. He thought it’d be a great idea to use it as the bad guy in a live-fire hostage training scenario. The company that owns the burger franchise that uses the clown as a mascot didn’t agree.”

Mac laughed. “I wonder why?”

“I know, right?”

She tossed the magazine on the desk, glad she’d been able to successfully distract Gage from looking too closely at the file room. She was sure she didn’t leave any of the drawers open, but she needed to be more careful. She’d have a hard time finding anything on these guys if she ended up getting caught and tossed out of the compound.

Not that she was going to learn anything worthwhile by reading through the files. The only thing she’d gained by going in there was to verify that Gage had been the one who’d pinned Marvin up against the wall and put those scratches on him. He’d come right out and confessed to it in his report. Then had the EMTs take pictures of the scratches for the police records.

Not exactly the act of a cop whacked out on drugs. And Marvin’s assertion that only someone on drugs could pick him up and pin him against a wall? That seemed more than a little dubious now that she’d met Gage and seen all those rippling muscles. She got the feeling Gage might weight-lift criminals like Marvin for fun.

She almost screamed in frustration. Right now she felt more than a little stupid. She’d practically begged Ted to let her go after these guys, and other than the mysterious issue of the dusty NVG cases and at least one team member who was too stupid to get his injuries checked out by a hospital, she had nothing. Even the injury angle was looking like a bust. She’d done some serious eyeballing of every member of Gage’s team during PT—considering that none of them had been wearing much more than socks, sneakers, and shorts, there’d been a lot to eyeball—and she couldn’t find a wound on any of them, Martinez included. Apparently, Gage had been right about that scratch thing.

For the first time that she could remember, Mac doubted her instincts. She’d sworn there was something going on here, but now she wasn’t as sure.

She was still musing about how she could have been so wrong when she realized with a start that Gage wasn’t talking anymore. She looked up to see him regarding her with mild amusement. How long had she zoned out? Oh crap, she was completely losing it on this case.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” she asked.

“Mike and Xander have some squad-level training they’ll be doing. We can go watch that.” He gestured to the magazine on the table beside her. “Or since you seem to have taken a sudden interest in handguns, I can take you out for that shooting lesson we talked about yesterday.”

Mac’s heart beat faster. She knew she shouldn’t do it. Her best chance to learn something—if there was even something to learn—was to stay with the largest number of team members. You never knew who’d slip up and say something, so the more people you were around, the higher the probability.

But that was logic talking. And right then for some reason, logic wasn’t making decisions for her. Her rapidly increasing heart rate was. Besides, she’d just been thinking this story was looking more and more like a bust anyway.

“Just the two of us, you mean?”

He gave her a sinful smile, as if he knew that was exactly what she was hoping he meant. “Well, yeah. Unless you’d prefer to have a few other people come along with us?”

She didn’t.

***

It turned out that Zak had been right about the donuts. The SWAT guys did indeed eat donuts—voraciously.

She’d been shocked when her friend had walked into the training classroom with six boxes of assorted death-by-sugar bribes. It was one thing trying to get on someone’s good side, but it was another to do it so blatantly or with that many donuts. That was crazy.

But it was kind of scary the way the men ripped into the boxes. They’d cleaned out three boxes before she’d even picked through them, looking for something with sprinkles on it.

Zak looked at her smugly. She ignored him.

After the donuts were gone, Xander and Mike gave the training briefing. She and Gage sat in the back of the classroom so he could explain what was going on.

“This is a standard hostage training scenario for us,” Gage said softly into her ear. His breath felt deliciously warm against her neck. “Xander’s team will play the part of the bad guys, while your photographer will play the part of the hostage.”

Mac almost laughed. Zak wasn’t going to like that. Then again, he might. He seemed psyched about the idea. Probably all those video games he played.

“I thought maybe Ms. Stone could be the hostage,” Becker said, half turning in his seat to give her an expectant look. “You know—give her a better perspective on how we operate.”

The rest of the men nodded in agreement.

“Ms. Stone won’t be taking part in the training exercise,” Xander said firmly. “But she will be sticking her head in occasionally to watch, so you might want to pay attention to the briefing. That way, you won’t make idiots of yourselves when she happens to look your way.”

A few of the men laughed, but Becker looked positively glum. It was enough to make Mac feel bad. She leaned over to whisper in Gage’s ear. “I guess we could put off our shooting lesson for a little while, if it would help. I can play a very convincing hostage.”

The muscle in Gage’s jaw flexed. “Zak will work fine as the hostage. Besides, Becker just wants to see you tied to a chair, squirming to get loose. I think he has a thing for you.”

Mac laughed, until she caught Becker studying her. And he wasn’t the only one. She wouldn’t go so far as to say their looks were predatory, but she could have sworn the temperature in the training room jumped up three or four degrees. She didn’t mind being the center of attention in a room full of hot guys, but this was a little more than she might be ready for.

She looked at Gage. “Maybe it’s time for that shooting lesson?”

“Good idea.” He swept the room with his gaze. “Ms. Stone and I will be down at the lower shooting range. You probably should stay well clear of that part of the compound. I wouldn’t want an errant shot going wide and putting a hole through any of you.”

As they left the training building and headed for the armory, Mac gave Gage a sidelong look. “Your guys really need to spend some more time around the opposite sex. You ever thought about getting a few women on the team? Maybe mellow them out a little bit?”

She’d meant it as a joke, but Gage must have thought she was serious. “I’ve considered it, but it’s damn hard finding women who can fit the specific requirements I’ve put in place for the team. I’m always looking, though.”

When they got to the armory, Mac leaned back against the counter and watched as Gage took several pistols and boxes of ammo from one of the safes and packed them in a soft-sided bag about the size of a carry-on.

“Are you really that worried I’m a bad shot?” she asked, enjoying the view as he bent over to pull out some hearing protection. Damn, what she wouldn’t give to see him do that naked.

He turned to give her a curious look. “No. Why?”

“Well, you warned everyone to stay away from the shooting range. I figured you were worried I’d miss the target and accidently hit someone.”

She tried to sound casual about it, but honestly, she was a little concerned about the possibility of screwing up.

Gage picked up the bag, then held open the door for her. “I never said you’d be the one shooting them.”

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as they walked along the sandy path to the shooting range he’d pointed out the day before. “So, you were just making sure we had some privacy?”

He grinned. “I thought you might be more relaxed if it was just the two of us.”

She smiled back at him, keenly aware of the familiar heat swirling in her tummy again. Target shooting as a form of foreplay—who knew?

***

Gage stood behind Mackenzie, steadying her arms as she aimed the small .22 automatic he’d started her on. She was actually better at this than she’d given herself credit for, especially when she realized that not every handgun was so powerful it’d put her on her ass to fire it. The .22 was the perfect gun for her because it wasn’t too loud, didn’t have much recoil, and was easy to aim. And now that she’d figured it out, she was starting to enjoy herself.

He knew he sure as hell was. Mostly because Mackenzie had a bad habit of leaning forward when she pulled the trigger. It helped her line up the sights, but made for an unstable shooting base. On the bright side, her unorthodox stance did cause her butt to stick out nicely. And as close as he was standing, that ass of hers was doing some interesting things to his focus as well. At first he tried to keep his rapidly hardening cock from grazing her bottom, but that quickly became impossible—he was simply standing too close to her.

He would have felt bad about getting hard during a shooting lesson if it wasn’t for the fact that Mackenzie was just as turned on as he was, maybe more so. He knew because he could smell her arousal. That uniquely feminine scent was so heady and overwhelming that it was almost hard to see straight, much less instruct her in the finer points of handgun use.

Worse, his mind kept slipping to the idea of how much better she’d smell if she was naked. It’d probably bring him to his knees.

He swallowed a groan and tried not to think about it. Yeah, like that was going to work. His hard-on was threatening to rip through the front of his uniform pants to get closer to her. He wasn’t doing a good job of thinking about anything but how tempting Mackenzie smelled.

After coming downstairs and finding Mackenzie’s scent all over the filing room, he’d realized that last’s night’s dinner had done nothing to dissuade her from pursuing her story. He’d known right then that he’d be spending the next several days working his ass off to keep her distracted. Of course, he’d assumed he’d spend the time distracting her the old-fashioned way, not the sexual way. But hey, this way was much better anyhow.

“I don’t think I’m doing this right,” Mackenzie complained. “I’ve only hit the target a few times.”

She fired the last bullet in the clip, missing again.

He reluctantly moved away from her to reload the magazine. He would reload the four others she’d already fired while he was at it. She loved the little .22 and had gone through the first fifty rounds in nothing flat.

“You’re doing better than you think. It’s just that the bullet holes are so small, you can’t see the holes in the target.”

“You can?”

She squinted at the target. God, her face was so cute when she scrunched it up like that.

“Yeah,” he said. “But it’s just because I’ve been doing this for a while. Trust me, you’re putting almost all your shots on the paper.”

She picked up one of the magazines and loaded it, her hands moving more confidently than they had the first time. “Yeah, but I was aiming for the center of the target. What am I doing wrong?”

He watched as she slid the magazine back in the pistol and released the receiver. Damn, she was getting good at that. “Let’s see how you shoot this magazine. Then I’ll give you some ideas on how you can improve.”

Gage took up the guide position behind her that he’d been in before. Mackenzie didn’t complain. Hell, if anything, she pushed her jean-clad ass back a little more than necessary, just so they’d be in close contact. Man, this woman was dangerous. She could turn him to mush with no effort at all. The scary part was that he could actually feel that tingling in his gums that told him his fangs were trying to slip out. Her mind-numbing scent practically had him on the edge of losing control.

Damn, he hadn’t experienced control issues like this since he’d first turned years ago. And if her rapidly beating heart was any indication, this attraction wasn’t all one-sided—she was feeling the same way. He’d thought so last night, but he hadn’t been sure of anything until they’d gotten on the range.

He had to admit, he’d been jealous as hell when Mike told him Mackenzie had brought some guy with her that morning. For some stupid reason, that had pissed him off. He’d been out of his seat and headed for the gate before he even knew what he was doing. The moment he’d laid eyes on Zak, though, his anger had disappeared. In a way only a werewolf could know, Zak had friend written all over him.

That was also when Gage knew Mackenzie Stone had gotten to him.

“Okay,” he said loud enough for her to hear over the sound of the pistol. “Stop for a minute. I know what you’re doing wrong.” He reached around and put his hands under hers, supporting the lightweight weapon. “First of all, you’re not breathing like I told you to. Take a deep breath and let it half out. Pause. Then shoot.”

Mackenzie practiced breathing deep like that a few times, which made for an enjoyable view of her expanding T-shirt. He barely stifled the groan this time. God save him.

“This next part is critical.” He moved his mouth closer to her muff-covered ears so he wouldn’t have to shout. “You’re jerking too hard.”

She turned her head to give him a teasing smile. “Jerking too hard? Is that even possible?”

Okay, maybe picking a word that had such a sexual connotation hadn’t been the best idea. “Oh yeah, it’s possible. And you’re doing it.”

“Huh. So, can you show me the proper way I should be jerking it?”

Gage groaned. Thank God none of the guys were close enough to hear this little exchange. He’d never live it down.

He repositioned her fingers around the grip, then moved her left hand into a better position to support the weapon. “Remember to squeeze it firmly, but not hard. You want your grip to be tight enough that it won’t pop out when it bucks, but not so tight that your fingers get tired.”

“Wouldn’t want my fingers to get tired,” she agreed. “Okay, now what? Just shoot?”

“No, not yet. You’ve got the breathing and the grip down. Now I have to make sure you know how to stroke the trigger.”

That flirty smile of hers was back. “You’re making this up, right?”

“Absolutely not. These are time-honored shooting tips that everyone in SWAT learns.”

“Uh-uh.” She looked down the barrel of the .22 again. “So, are you going to share these tips or do I just have to guess?”

“You can’t rush these things.” He pressed himself more tightly against her and put his mouth close to her ear. He was about to tell her to tighten her grip on the pistol when he felt her bottom moving slightly side to side, like she was shifting her weight from foot to foot. It might have been a completely subconscious effort to get more comfortable, but it sure as hell seemed like she was purposely rubbing her ass against his hard-on.

He immediately went from really frigging hard to painfully stiff in the span of a few heartbeats, which only seemed to encourage Mackenzie more. Damn, it was all he could do to not drop his hands down to her hips and pull her ass tightly against him.

Then he realized that Mackenzie’s breath was coming faster. For a moment he wondered if she was going to start panting.

It was the tips of his fangs pressing into his tongue that jerked him out of his trance and forced him to get control of himself and the situation. Yeah, Mackenzie was amazing, but he had to remember what was at stake here. His pack was depending on him to deal with this woman.

He backed off an inch or two, enough to break the contact between her butt and his groin. That also broke the almost hypnotic hold she seemed to have on him. He ignored what could have been a moan of disappointment and leaned his mouth close to her ear again, ready to get back to the task they were supposed to be here for. It was tough, but controlling emotions was part of being a werewolf.

“Get a firm grip on the weapon, then take a breath and let it out halfway.” He waited until he felt her breath hitch. “Now, slowly caress the trigger. Don’t squeeze it. You should be completely surprised when it goes off.”

The gun still jumped in her hand, but she had a better grip this time, so it didn’t move nearly as much as before.

Mackenzie laughed. “I hit the target dead center.”

He couldn’t help but smile with her. “Yes, you did. Now do it again.”

She breathed deep, took her time, and put every shot through the nine ring. When she’d emptied the magazine, she set the pistol down on the counter and spun around in his arms, hugging him with a breathless laugh.

“I did it!”

Even though he knew he shouldn’t, Gage found himself automatically wrapping his arms around her. Her breasts were soft against his chest, her hips enticing. And her lips… The way they were parted, it was like they were begging to be kissed. God, he could almost taste them. Something told him one kiss wouldn’t be enough. But he was willing to take the risk. He might have done it too, but luckily she pulled away.

“I want to do it again,” she said excitedly.

“Okay,” he laughed. “Unless you want to…”

“Unless I want to…?”

The way she was looking at him almost made him forget again that she was here looking for a story that could destroy his life and the lives of his pack members. And just like that Gage felt the stirrings of a foolish emotion he shouldn’t be feeling right now—definitely not this fast, and definitely not for this woman.

He reached around her, picking up the 9mm he’d brought. “Or we could try something a little bigger?”

Her lips curved. “You think I can handle something bigger?”

He turned her around so that her ass was pressed snugly against him, then placed the 9mm in her hands and aimed it at the target. “Something tells me you can handle just about anything.”

***

Mac had no idea target shooting could be so much fun, but she was hooked. She was already thinking about what kind of handgun she wanted to buy for herself. She adored the .22 she fired first, but the 9mm had been so fun. And Gage had told her that most of the well-known manufacturers even had model lines specifically for women, with accessories like pink handgrips. She was definitely getting one of those.

She wanted to tell Zak about her shooting lessons, but everyone around the handful of tables the restaurant staff had pushed together for the SWAT team in the large back room of the steak house had a story to tell. And Zak was talking louder than any of them. It turned out that in order to escape the horrible villains holding him hostage, Zak had to take a more active role than expected of an average hostage.

Mac couldn’t stop laughing as Zak described how he’d been cut loose by some of the guys on Mike’s squad, then crawled out of the dark building on his hands and knees, only to find himself on the roof. Then he’d been taught enough about rappelling to lower himself down to the ground.

Unfortunately, just when it seemed that he’d get away safely, Xander’s squad had reappeared and started shooting at him with paintball guns. Zak—who was covered from head to toe in orange paint—had picked up a weapon when one of Mike’s team had gone down and helped the team fight their way to freedom.

“I have to admit I didn’t think you had it in you,” Mike said to Zak. “But you did good.”

Everyone around the table applauded, including Mac. She wasn’t sure how much training the guys had accomplished that morning considering that paintball was involved, but it sounded like they had fun.

“Did you know they were going to do that to Zak?” she whispered to Gage.

“I figured they’d do something to have a little fun with him, but I didn’t think they’d break out the paintball guns,” he said. “They only do that when they think a person can handle it. Your photographer must have a little action hero in him.”

She laughed. “I wouldn’t have figured that in a hundred years, but I guess so.”

Two waitresses came to take their orders, which reduced the noise around the table to a mild roar. When Gage leaned in to tell her about something on the menu, he still had to put his mouth close to her ear. The feel of his warm breath on her skin made her shiver, and she closed her eyes until it passed. When she opened them, Mac saw that Zak was smiling at her from the other side of the table. She stuck out her tongue at him.

“What was that about?” Gage asked.

She turned and leaned in close again, enjoying the feeling of heat coming off his skin. If it were anyone else, she’d think he had a fever, but instinct told her Gage ran hot. “Nothing. You know, I was just thinking that I really owe you one for that shooting lesson.”

“You don’t owe me anything.” He grinned. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

Oh, she had enjoyed herself. If she thought he’d gotten her hot and bothered last night, that was nothing in comparison to what it was like to have Gage’s big arms around her and his hard-on pressing into her ass as she practiced shooting targets. Thank God she had to keep both hands wrapped around the pistol or she might have been tempted to touch herself. Or him.

It was official, Gage Dixon could arouse her just by being near her.

Something else was official, too. She was seriously close to tanking this story idea. She was so crazy about Gage that she was ready to ignore anything he’d ever done wrong short of a felony. And from the way Zak was laughing and joking with the SWAT officers at the table, he’d agree with her. Maybe she’d do a story on the day-in-the-life of the men who made up the SWAT unit and leave it at that.

The men tore into their meals with the same gusto they’d attacked the donuts that morning. Mac didn’t know whether to laugh or shake her head. They ate like a pack of wild animals.

She was still cutting her baked chicken and steamed vegetables when the whole table suddenly fell silent. She looked up, watching as each of the men set their forks and knives down, as if they were done eating. Which didn’t make sense, not with that much food left on their plates. What was going on?

She gave Zak a questioning look, but he seemed as confused as she did.

Mac turned to ask Gage, but the words died on her lips as eight men strode into the room. She wasn’t sure how it was possible, but something told her they were the reason the SWAT guys suddenly went on high alert. Despite their expensive suits and clean-cut looks, the men were trouble. She’d seen enough men like them in her line of work to be sure of that.

They spread out along the wall behind her, surrounding the table while at the same time blocking the doorway. Mac’s heart kicked into high gear as she caught a glimpse of the pistol underneath the coat of the man closest to her.

“I’m looking for Gage Dixon,” the man with the gun said.

Gage was on his feet before Mac even saw him move. A single step put him inches away from the man, making their difference in height immediately apparent. The guy in the suit backed up almost involuntarily.

“It’s your lucky day then,” Gage said in a much calmer voice than she could have managed. “You’ve found him.”

“I need you to come with me,” the man said.

“I’m in the middle of lunch.”

The man’s lip curled. “That’s too damn bad. The man I work for wants to talk to you.” When Gage didn’t say anything, the man opened his jacket to show him the large handgun in an underarm holster. “Now.”

Crap.

Mac knew she’d seen the man somewhere, but couldn’t remember where until now. His name was Roscoe Patterson and he was Walter Hardy’s enforcer. She had to warn Gage.

She started to get to her feet, but Xander pulled her back down and shook his head. What the hell? How could he and the rest of the SWAT team just sit there while Hardy’s thugs dragged Gage out of the restaurant?

She whirled around in her seat just in time to see Patterson put his hand on Gage’s shoulder and shove him toward the door.

But Gage didn’t go anywhere, he didn’t move at all. “I said I’m in the middle of lunch. If you give me a name and an address, I’ll stop by and see your boss when I get a chance.”

Patterson’s eyes narrowed. “Are you stupid? I have a gun.”

“Yeah, I noticed that,” Gage said. “Funny thing about guns, they don’t work if they’re shoved up your ass.”

Mac was glad she hadn’t eaten anything yet because her stomach was one big knot. She didn’t know Patterson very well, but he looked like the kind of guy who wouldn’t be afraid to pull his gun and shoot Gage right there in front of fifteen other cops.

But Gage didn’t give him the chance. He grabbed Patterson by the front of his suit jacket and shoved him against the wall. The rest of Hardy’s thugs scrambled for their guns only to freeze when every cop at the table drew their weapons and aimed in their direction.

Mac did a double take. How had the SWAT guys moved so fast?

She couldn’t see Gage’s face because his back was to her now, but the look he gave Patterson must have scared the hell out of him because the man went white.

“That’s the problem with guns these days,” Gage said softly. “Everybody’s got one.”

Holding Patterson still with one hand, he reached under the man’s jacket with the other and came out with a flashy automatic. It looked a little like the 9mm she’d fired that morning, only bigger.

“You should probably leave now.” Gage released Patterson. “If you feel like getting this back, you can come by the compound for it. I’m sure you know where it is.”

Patterson swallowed hard. His eyes darted around the room, a frown creasing his brow as if he couldn’t understand how the tables had turned so quickly on him and his men. He gave them a nod and jerked his head toward the door. They hesitated, but then slowly filed out.

Patterson made a show of straightening his jacket, then headed for the door. Once there, though, he stopped to fix Gage with a glare.

“Yeah, I know,” Gage said before the other man could speak. “I’ll regret this. I’ll be sorry. This isn’t over. Whatever. Get out.”

He didn’t wait to see if Patterson followed orders, but instead walked back to the table and sat down beside Mac. She watched over her shoulder as Hardy’s enforcer stormed out of the room. When she turned around, it was to find Gage reaching for the bottle of steak sauce.

He gave Xander an accusing look as he took off the cap. “Did you drink this or something? It was full just a second ago.”

“Wasn’t me.” Xander grabbed the bottle in front of Delaney and reached across her to hand it to Gage. “It was empty before I got it.”

And just like that, everyone started arguing, one side talking about who’d hogged all the steak sauce while the other debated why anyone would ruin a perfectly good steak with the stuff to begin with.

Mac stared at them. How could they sit there and debate the merits of steak sauce as if nothing had happened? Didn’t they realize that any one of them could have been shot a minute ago?

“Aren’t you going to do something?” she asked Gage.

He stopped cutting his steak to look at her. “What do you think I should do—arrest them?”

“Well… Yeah.” She would have thought that was obvious. “They had guns and they threatened you.”

He went back to cutting his steak. “This is Texas. Everyone has guns. But they never actually pulled their weapons or even said they were going to hurt me. They simply said their boss wanted to talk to me. That’s all. Nothing there to warrant an arrest.”

Nothing there? “Those men work for Hardy.”

His hand stilled on the knife, the muscle in his jaw flexing. At least he wasn’t taking this as lightly as it seemed. “It doesn’t change anything.”

How the heck could he be so calm about this? There was a rich, powerful, violent man out there who blamed SWAT for the death of his son—and Gage was the face of SWAT.

“They’ll come after you again,” she said quietly. “You know that, right?”

“Then I’ll be ready for them.”

He sounded so casual about the whole thing it made her want to scream. Mac pushed her plate away. She’d lost her appetite.

Gage might have dealt with Patterson, but that wouldn’t be the end of it. Hardy was coming for him, and now he’d be even more determined than before.

And for some reason, that scared her more than if the man had been after her.