Badass: Deadly Target (Complete): Military Romantic Suspense by Leslie Johnson, Elle Dawson Page A

she said those words to me.
    Am I in shock? I shiver harder, and my legs fight to hold me steady.
    “What’s happening?” I ask out loud to no one in particular. My words echo in the empty space, the ceiling so high above me.
    “What was that?” Jax asks, peering out filmy windows, making sure we haven’t been followed, I assume.
    “What’s happening to me? Why is it happening? I woke up this morning, and it was just a normal day, you know? I got out of bed and had breakfast and fed Libby and watered my plants. Bradley Cooper was on Good Morning America, and he was talking about a new movie he was going to be in, and I texted one of my girlfriends to tell her we should go see it. I stopped at Starbucks for coffee on the way to the office and planned to go to the gym after work. My book club meets tonight.”
    I try to stop my rambling as his cool blue eyes assess me. “Who’s Libby?”
    “My cat.” Oh. My. God. “My cat! Who’s going to feed my cat? She’ll starve or die of dehydration. Oh no, she’ll poop on my bed because she hates to use the litter box if it’s dirty. I have to scoop it twice a day or otherwise—”
    He shakes me. My teeth chatter together, and my ribs scream at the jolt. I punch him in the gut and am satisfied when he exhales a little whoosh, even as my hand goes numb. It feels like I hit a brick wall.
    He rubs his stomach. “Simmer down.”
    Oh. That pisses me off. “Simmer down? Did you just tell me to simmer down?”
    He exhales loudly. “Holy fuck, woman. Are you crazy? We’re on the run from unknown forces, and you’re going nuts about a cat and a few word choices?”
    I stomp my foot. “She’s fourteen years old. I’ve had her since I was twelve. My mom…”
    Gave her to me for my twelfth birthday.
    The words spin around my brain, then die. Just like her. Just like I’m going to. Just like Libby will if I can’t get back to her.
    All because of this stupid box.
    Fury ignites in me. Spinning around, I pick up that metal case and toss it against the wall. It makes a wonderfully loud clanging nose against the cinder blocks and an even more satisfying one when it clatters to the concrete. I pull my leg back to kick it but am pulled away before I can.
    I’m hugged from behind, pressed up against his hard body, one arm just under my breasts, the other over my arms and chest. His breath is warm in my hair as he shushes me, telling me, “It will all be alright.”
    I lift my foot to slam my heel into his instep but end up turning around instead. Pressing my face into his chest, I inhale deeply, the scent of his sweat mingling with the citrus and sandalwood from before. I gasp as his arms close around me tighter, jolting my ribs, but don’t ask him to stop. It’s safe here. So very safe. I’ve never felt as safe as right here, right now.
    “I’m sorry this is happening to you,” he murmurs, and I can feel the movement of his lips against my scalp. I shiver, and he pulls me even tighter, running a hand up and down my spine.
    “I still can’t believe it. I keep expecting to wake up any minute now. But I know I won’t because this is real and I know my life will never be the same.”
    “Life turns on a dime,” he says quietly. “Believe me, I’ve been there. As a Ranger, you get used to random shit happening and turning everything upside down. All of a sudden you have to learn an entirely new set of rules while you’re throwing out everything you lived by just minutes earlier. I get it.”
    I tell myself not to let him get into my head, but I don’t know what else to do. I have no one but him. It’s not as if I can call one of my friends and have them pick me up here. Besides, I can’t put them in that sort of danger. They wouldn’t know what to do, anyway. It’s just me. And this man.
    “We need to find a better place to hide than this,” he says, his hands now moving up and down my arms, warming them. “We’re sitting ducks right here. Let’s find a better