Claimed by the Marine by Dez Burke Page B

heart. It had been the exact words she’d been about to say – and yet it gave her a perverse pain that he’d beaten her to it.
    “I understand,” she said very calmly, righting her clothes as best as she could.
    “No you don’t,” he said with a heavy sigh, backing up and doing up his pants as he stared down into her deliberately expressionless face. “I have to leave…on assignment. My team’s been called in and now I have less than an hour to get there. I can make it if I leave now. But when I get back…”
    Ashanti was shaking her head. “It’s okay, soldier. You don’t have to make me any promises,” she told him quietly, pushing her fingers back through her hair. “I didn’t come here for that. I guess you gave me exactly what I came for so maybe I should say thanks.”
    She smiled brightly at his narrowed expression. “Because that’s all it is, Hawk. It’s nice to know you’re always good for a pity-fuck whenever I need it.”
    Moving closer to his rigid frame, she cupped his cheeks in both hands. “No harm, no foul, soldier. Last night…and even just now – it’s exactly what I needed. But you don’t need to go thinking I’m looking for something more, because I’m not. You go on and…do what you need to do. I know how being a Marine works; and that you can’t tell me where you’re going or exactly how long you’ll be. So I won’t ask. But whenever you’re back in town, handsome…maybe, just maybe I’ll be up for another roll.”
    Smiling seductively, she plucked at his lips, closing her eyes briefly and trying hard not to whimper as heat from his mouth transmitted straight to her. He was staring straight into her eyes when she pulled back seconds later, and she added with a wry smile, “But don’t count on it.”
    She found she could move to the door without staggering in her boots, and was glad when he didn’t try to stop her. She swung the door open and then before she left she turned to say finally, “Be safe.”
    One last smile, and Ashanti felt she could leave - perhaps with her dignity intact but the rest of her…not so much.
    “Ashanti…,” she heard Hawk say with a deep, ragged sigh, but she didn’t respond, shutting the door behind her without a backward glance.
     
    Chapter Fifteen
    During his time away, it took all of Hawk’s physical and mental training to keep his mind off the things Ashanti had said before she left. Hawk had wanted to get mad but he knew he had to let her leave, aware that she was still hurting and that right then, he couldn’t do anything about it.
    But he was back now.
    The mission had meant to last only a few hours, but it had ended up stretching into a week.  Hawk and Marcus were in the same platoon and their team had parachuted into the given desert location with the intent that it would be an in-and-out operation. Turned out they were wrong.
    The rock walls dotting the region were surrounded by enemy snipers. His platoon’s task of reconnaissance and retrieval regarding another team of Marines would prove a test of endurance out there in the eastern African desert.
    Even now, safely back home, Hawk could still remember the crunch of sand fighting its way into every part of him just as the enemy attack fought hard against their platoon. But he and his fellow men fought harder.
    Strategic pursuit of their goal ensured that when it got down to it, any means necessary was used. From hand guns to hand to hand combat, every opposition was tackled till each team member could be air-lifted safely from the area. None of their platoon had been lost and in fact the whole team plus the other Marines all made it. The same couldn’t be said about the opposition though. It had taken several days but it was mission accomplished and the enemy leveled.
    Until the next time , thought Hawk with a small chuckle.
    Making his way inside his house and walking into the hallway, he ran smack into the memory of taking Ashanti hard just against that right