Lock and Load Read online

Wait for it.

  Beau barely moved as he tracked the tribal leader with his rifle, aiming dead center of his forehead. The moment would present itself. He just had to be patient. After drawing in a deep breath, he let it out very slowly, his finger ready on the trigger, Trey continuing to feed him information.

  There!

  The target separated himself just a little from the other men while one of them lifted a tent flap for him to enter. For a moment he turned slightly in Beau’s direction.

  Now!

  He squeezed the trigger, just the right pressure. And the .50 caliber bullet streaked through the night air to pierce the forehead of his target. The only sound from the suppressed instrument had been a slight puff. He knew Trey was tracking the round by the slight vapor trail it left, already recalculating in his head in case by some wild-assed chance Beau had missed. But as always, Beau was right on target. They watched the man jerk then crumple to the ground.

  Even as the men in the encampment shouted, bending over their fallen leader, scanning the surrounding countryside, aiming their rifles and firing burst after burst toward shadows, Delta Team Charlie was already up and on its way. It took Beau eight seconds to break down his rifle and stuff it into his backpack. Slade, already speaking into his radio, led the way as they moved like ghosts to the exfiltration site.

  They waited, crouched in the sparse scrub surrounding the landing zone, Glocks in their hands just in case, until they heard the distinctive whump! of the rotors. Then the big Apache helo pulled up over a tall outcropping and hovered over the landing zone, low enough for them to get on board. Even from the distance of the camp, the shouting voices of men carried on the now still night air. Beau knew before long they would be combing the rocky landscape looking for the intruders. And the sound of the helo was impossible to disguise. They needed to get the fuck out of there now.

  Hands reached out from the bird to help pull the team members into the cabin and they were lifting off even as the last two men were still scrambling to get inside. A fast exit was always best in situations like this. No telling how soon the men from the outpost would be up there looking for them.

  Beau leaned back against the cabin wall, legs outstretched, and closed his eyes. One more for his kill book. One more bad guy eliminated. One day closer to a week of leave and finding the sizzling hot Megan again—the sub of his dreams.

  He looked over at Slade who grinned through the black grease on his face. He nodded and gave Beau a thumbs up, then did the same to Trey. Using his sat radio, he reported in on the success of a mission then he, too, let himself relax. The noise of the rotors and the open doors prevented any real conversation so they all just bumped fists and settled back until they landed back at the base. As they headed toward their barracks, Slade answered a call on his cell phone. When he finished, he looked over his shoulder at his men.

  “We’ve got transport day after tomorrow, a military flight to Fort Sam. You guys all ready to rock and roll? And Teo will pick us up and take us to the ranch, just like the last time.”

  Fort Sam was Fort Sam Houston, one of five military installations in and around San Antonio. Not as comfortable as flying commercial but a hell of a lot cheaper. There was a chorus of yeses and hoorahs as they walked across the tarmac.

  Slade’s ranch was just south of San Antonio, a small spread by Texas standards but well run and obviously profitable. The team had found it a great place to unwind, especially with the ‘extra’ perks Slade provided.

  “Same agenda as before?” Beau asked.

  Slade grinned. “Now that’s a damn fool question. Of course you want the same thing as before. Passes to The Edge, right?”

  “Except for you,” Trey put in. “Mr Getting Married. You’ll be busy planning the big day before we have to go back.”

  “Yeah,” Marc Blanchard echoed. “No more fun and games for you this time.”

  Slade laughed. “Sorry to disillusion you suckers, but I get all my fun and games at home from now on. And Kari’s got everything set for two days after we land in Texas. That way she and I can have some time together before we’re wheels up again. Bring your uniforms.”

  Trey frowned. “You guys going the whole big, fancy route for the wedding?”

  Slade shook his head. “No. Kari wants to keep it small. Neither of us has parents still living, unfortunately, so it’s just going to be our closest friends. Maybe some of the people she works with. That’s it.” He looked at each member of the team individually. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want this to be very special for her. She’s gone all out on her dress and I want to make this a day she’ll remember forever. She’s an exceptional lady.”

  “You can count on us,” Marc assured him.

  “But you’ll make sure to get us squared away first, right?” Beau couldn’t help himself. The words just fell out of his mouth. Slade’s wedding was top priority, of course, but he just had to get into the club to look for Megan. And as soon as possible. He’d camp outside the doors to the club if Slade didn’t get them set up.

  “Don’t you worry, any of you,” he assured them. “While I’m honeymooning with my bride, you guys will have weeklong passes to The Edge.” He winked. “Use them wisely.”

  Beau barely listened to the raunchy joking from his teammates as they entered their quarters. He heard ‘passes’ and ‘for a week’ and his dick automatically stood up and cheered.

  * * * *

  “Hey, Megan, did you schedule that interview yet?”

  Charlie Fortune’s voice boomed from his glass-enclosed cubicle in one corner of the press room. Megan covered her ears with her hands and stalked to her boss’s doorway.

  “Jeez, Charlie. Haven’t you learned how to use the intercom after all these years?”

  Fortune, a thirty-five year veteran of sports reporting, just laughed. “What for as long as I’ve got lungs.” He leaned forward, arms on his desk. “So about that interview. Don’t make me regret giving it to you.”

  “All set up for this afternoon,” she assured him. “Don’t you worry. I’m meeting him with his agent at the team offices. I scheduled a photographer so we can get a picture of him doing the ceremonial signing of the contract.”

  The San Antonio NBA team had drafted one of the hottest point guards to come out of college basketball in a long time and that’s all anyone was talking about. There were other more senior reporters on the staff who griped because Megan had gotten the assignment. But Megan knew Charlie liked her approaches on interviews, which was why he usually gave them to her.

  Which was probably why, when she’d discovered her desire to be submissive in the bedroom, she’d been relieved to know there were times in her life she could let down her guard and not be stomped on because of it.

  Since the day Charlie hired her, she’d been fighting to earn and cement her position on his staff. The other reporters, some of them asshole would-be jocks, weren’t above making crude and rude comments every time she got a tasty project. She’d thought by now there’d be some enlightenment in the media world regarding female sports reporters. But this newspaper seemed to have its permanent share of Neanderthals. It seemed she fought every day for respect and recognition. Sometimes wearing her strength like a shield got tiring.

  “I need the story by noon tomorrow,” Charlie reminded her, shaking her out of her reverie.

  “No problem.” She turned to head back to her desk, waving at him over her shoulder.

  She had cut her teeth on four smaller newspapers before getting to the big time and even then she’d practically had to start at the bottom again. Whoever said there was equality in reporting today didn’t pay attention to what was going on in the world of sports reporting.

  Dropping into her chair, she looked at the reporters working at their desks. There were seven on the staff besides her, covering everything from professional sports to high schools and colleges. Charlie had sent her on the local college tour when he’d first hired her, throwing everything on that be
at at her to see what she was made of. Megan had gritted her teeth and slogged through it, earning his respect and the respect of the editor-in-chief. Now she had the prized assignment of covering the city’s NBA team, and she knew every guy on the staff had his dick in a knot because of it.

  Tough shit.

  She’d set out to show them and she had. And she wasn’t about to falter now.

  Leaning back in her chair, she took a moment to rub her temples and take a deep breath, pulling her thoughts together. Today she’d get a killer interview after finagling for a week to set it up, wading through everyone’s politics. And tonight she’d treat herself to a visit to The Edge. For one or two blessed hours she’d be able to cede control over to someone else and not have to worry that she was diminishing her professional reputation by doing it. And still keep some part of herself locked deep inside.

  She’d learned the hard way that trust was often an illusion, except at The Edge. There she could be Megan the submissive and not have to worry about what happened afterwards. She was a partner, not a conquest, within well-defined boundaries.

  She smiled to herself as she wondered what these jocks around her would think if they knew she was a sexual submissive. She could just imagine the crude remarks, not to mention the obvious loss of respect. She doubted any one of them had even a clue what the D/s lifestyle was all about. She had never seen any of them at the club or heard mention of them in the D/s community. Not even at the munches, those social gatherings where people in the lifestyle could gather together in a relaxed environment to chat and maybe even meet new people. In a way she was really glad, because it meant she didn’t have to worry about running into them at The Edge or any of the other places she might frequent.

  Well, tonight she’d be the one having a great time. She knew a lot of the Doms at the club. Could even pinpoint the one or two she hoped would be available. For a brief moment, an image of Beau flashed through her mind, the very alpha, very sexy Dom she’d spent a couple of hot nights with at The Edge. Too bad her blue-eyed soldier wasn’t going to be there. He would be no danger to her fragile hold on her dual nature. He’d be here, then gone, and she could live on the memories.

  Beau. That was his name. Just Beau. No last name, because The Edge wasn’t about giving names unless you wanted to. Many of the players even used club names to conceal their daytime identities.

  But in the intimacy of a private room, after a night of intense pain play, they’d exchanged first names rather than their dungeon names. A keepsake, if you will, of an incredible evening. She hardly ever did that, but this time something had compelled her to lift the veil that tiny little bit. They had met at the club twice more while he was in town. She knew his team leader had hooked up with someone he’d met a long time ago, and the others were busy finding their own subs. But for her and Beau, after that first night they’d never looked at any other partners.

  She’d wanted to spend every night with him, but she was reluctant to tell him that, to give him that kind of power over her. In the bedroom or playroom, fine. But she was still determined to be her own person, to hang on to her hard-won confidence and independence. She could submit but not subjugate. Which was probably why there was so much unfinished between them.

  Could he really be the one? Did his own chosen career path create the ideal situation for them?

  She’d heard from Simon they’d been in town again, the four macho soldiers, and damn it! She’d been on the road with the basketball team. Their leader hadn’t come to The Edge. Gossip said he was busy with the woman he’d reconnected with, making her his sub for life. His wife. But others had been only too happy to tell her Beau had been there and who he’d spent time with. Jealousy still burned inside her.

  Damn, those nights had made her want so much more with him. How many nights since then had she lain in her bed, tying one arm to her bedpost and using the other hand to pleasure herself. To pinch her nipples and clit, hard, the way Beau had.

  She was certain he’d felt as linked as she did, yet she had sensed a shield between them. What was that all about? And was it just her or did he have similar reservations about connections?

  She wondered if she’d ever see him again? If the gods delivered him to her, she’d get him out of the club and take him home with her.

  Wait! Take him home? She never took anyone home with her.

  That was her territory. Her personal space. She’d never had the desire to blend the two sides of her personality like that. She couldn’t see giving anyone that level of trust outside the dungeon. Still, she had a feeling it might be different with blue-eyed Beau.

  By now it was all over The Edge that Slade Donovan, the team leader, and his sub had set a date for their wedding. Surely all of them would be there for that, right? Would Beau try to find her? Search her out at The Edge? She just wasn’t willing to accept they’d never see each other again. Not with the heat that had erupted between them. Tonight maybe she’d pester the dungeon master and see if she could pry loose any information. If they were coming back, he’d know about it for sure.

  Swallowing a sigh, she gathered her iPad and her handheld recorder, slid the strap of her purse over her shoulder and headed out on her assignment.

  Chapter Two

  It was Friday morning by the time they landed in San Antonio. Just like the other times when they arrived in the city closest to Slade’s ranch, Teo Rivera, son of Slade’s foreman, picked them up in the ranch’s shiny black helicopter. Only this time they landed at Fort Sam Houston, rather than the civilian airport. Slade had worked his magic to get permission for the helo to land there on an army facility, probably because of the success of their recent mission. The team piled into the bird with their duffels and Teo ferried them the short trip to the ranch.

  Beau, a California guy all the way, hadn’t been too enamored of the Texas landscape when he’d seen it originally. Pastures stretched out beyond the ranch house, flat plateaus of different shades of green, dotted here and there by clumps of trees. At first glance it reminded him too much of what they’d left behind in Afghanistan. But before less than twenty-four hours had passed during that initial visit, he had discovered rolling hills beyond the first expanse of grazing land and a creek meandering through the property. White tail deer roamed at will amid a variety of wildlife and birds. He soon began to appreciate the beauty of the area, the vibrant people, the colorful environment.

  It hadn’t taken long during that first visit for Slade to make them so comfortable that Beau now thought of the place as a second home. And wasn’t that a laugh and a half, since his first one wasn’t all that great any more. His parents were divorced and his sister was involved in the fast-moving life of her high-powered executive husband as well as her own career. The military had become Beau’s family, Delta Team Charlie his brothers. That was all he needed.

  That and a sexy woman with streaky blonde hair who pushed all his buttons.

  Last time they’d been in town he’d practically haunted The Edge, looking for her while trying to play it cool. Simon, the dungeon master, had chuckled at his agitation, especially when other subs wearing pink bracelets tried to entice him. Twice he’d given in, just because he’d been so fucking horny, but they weren’t Megan. The pleasure wasn’t the same. The blazing red on their flogged asses didn’t satisfy him as fully. Restraining them and punishing them didn’t lead to the kind of explosive sex he’d had with Megan.

  Well, fuck all. If she wasn’t there this time, he’d have to get Simon to call her. He’d beg if he had to, but damn! He had to see her. Just how he was going to accomplish that, he wasn’t sure. He still couldn’t figure out why and how she had become so important to him after just the three sessions together. Longing for something of a permanent nature had taken him by surprise. It wasn’t something he’d ever wanted or thought about. Maybe because in his family emotions had been considered a weakness so he’d learned to keep his behind an invisible barricade. And none of the women he’d ever spent tim
e with had come close to breaching that wall nor had he wanted them to.

  But Megan was different. Maybe it was that stubborn streak of independence, an inner core of strength that he’d sensed beneath her submissive personality. For Beau, that was what he needed in a woman, one who could submit to him completely in the bedroom but be strong and confident on her own, enough to survive the separations when Team Charlie was deployed. Not to mention the incredible electricity that sizzled between them.

  He wasn’t getting any younger and, like Slade, was starting to think about life beyond the military. Some days he thought he was ready to settle down, others he wasn’t too sure. He wanted what Slade had but taking that next step was a big thing to him. Megan was the first woman he’d ever met who made him think a long term relationship might even be possible. He wanted to connect with her again to see if he had imagined that or if it was real.

  Impatience ate at him. He wondered if Slade was planning to wait until after the wedding before giving them the passes.

  Asshole! Let the guy at least have his wedding before you take care of your cock.

  Only it was more than just his unrepentant penis giving him fits. Megan had touched something deep inside him that he’d thought was long buried. Maybe dead. He wasn’t even sure it would be a good thing to find out if there was actually something there. But he had to know. He just couldn’t get the damn woman out of his mind.

  Marc and Trey had to be eager to get to the club, too, right? They had managed to hook up with some really delectable subs on their previous visits. Beau didn’t know if any of those connections were more than a casual thing, but who knew? The Edge seemed to be as much about connecting people as about a safe place to play. Something in the air, he figured.

  “Steaks on the grill at six,” Slade told them as they hauled their gear into the ranch house. “Kari’s coming out to have dinner with us so watch your mouths, okay?”

  “Aw, Slade?” Trey grinned at him. “You mean we can’t tell her all those stories about other women?”