Sweet Firecracker Read online

  I tucked the covers around myself and leaned back against the headboard. “Huh, I vaguely remember something like that. You came from a polygamist family?”

  “No. Our family was polyandry. It’s two or more males in a relationship with a woman. Our mom had four husbands.”

  My jaw dropped. “Four! So, wait, then why would the army think you’re orphans?”

  “Mom passed away from a heart attack, and my dad, along with Dallon’s, died in a car crash two years later. So it would seem as if we’re orphans, but really we still had two other fathers to take care of us.”

  “I’m sorry,” I responded softly, thinking of my own mom who died during a home invasion. Even though I didn’t really lose my dad that night, I’d thought I did at the time. My guardian, Mr.Hanson, told me both of my parents were killed and then took me into what I thought was a safe home. I knew him. He had the right code. I was too little to consider that the man who cared for me, gave me strength through tough love, and gave me a new set of rules to go by for my protection, would be the devil in the end.

  “Hey, you okay?” Garrett’s voice floated over from his spot in the chair.

  “She better not be dreaming up an escape plan,” his brother muttered.

  Ruffled by his assumptions, which weren’t entirely wrong, I shot back with a sarcastic retort. “What a novel idea. I’ll get right on that.”

  “Shut up, Dallon,” Garrett muttered. “We all have our own demons to carry.”

  “Speaking of demons…” I say. “What’s our game plan about Myter? Do we have a game plan? If he has this stuff in him, he’s a danger. Will the other team be able to bring him in?”

  “We’ve sent Aaron, Weston, and Seth to guard his daughter and keep a look out.”

  My hand tightened into a fist. “I just can’t let him get away with what he’s done.”

  “Sweets, we don’t think he should get away with what he did, either. We’re working on it. We’ve sent our best for the job. What we need to do right now is focus on what’s going on with us and your coworker Trisha. We can’t go searching for him when we’re not up to par ourselves. We need to figure out what this is first before we do anything. The other guys have it for right now.”

  I thought about that for a moment, and the sudden silence between us caused crickets to start their tune.

  Dallon spoke, and the crickets stopped. “I have to say, it’s been really nice to see you. To know that you’re okay. They just came and took you that night. We never even got to say goodbye. Where did you go?”

  I slipped down into the bed and lay my head on the pillow, curling on my side as I stared at Garrett, leaving Dallon out of my view. “To another home.”

  “Why were you in the system in the first place?” Garrett asked.

  “I grew up with rules and regulations. Safety was the top priority for my parents. They had safe words for me that I had to memorize. It changed often, but there was one that we only used if we were in trouble.”

  He shifted in his chair. “What was that?”

  “Uспорченный, that was our absolute safe word. When we said it, it would reach certain people and only those who knew it would know who it came from. I didn’t understand really how it worked, but for a while, it kept us safe. I grew up living in fear. But I grew up safe. I didn’t know any better. Where kids thought I was weird for checking my food first before eating or sitting in a spot where I could always see my exit was my normal. I just didn’t realize it wasn’t theirs.

  “My dad was gone a lot. My mom stayed at home with me. Just me, her, and my guardian, Mr. Hanson—the man who later betrayed my dad; those were the people I trusted. They were the ones with the code. Mr. Hanson, the man who took me, was someone I knew. He worked with my dad. I wasn’t aware at the time that he held a grudge against him. No one did. After Mr. Hanson took me and my dad got me back, I found out that on one of the missions they were on together, Mr. Hanson got captured, and my dad resorted back to the rules he lives his life by. It was his reason for leaving his friend behind.”

  Garratt studied me. “And what rule was that?”

  “Don’t be your own martyr, always get the information through. If my dad had gone back to get his friend and both of them died, the information wouldn’t have be relayed.” I tugged the blanket a little higher on my shoulder. “But that was my father’s rule. My guardian, when he got me, changed the rules. He gave me a new set. The first one I didn’t like.”

  His gaze softened. “And what rule was that?”

  I pressed my mouth shut before giving a deep sigh. “I’m tired.”

  “Fine, you don’t want to talk about it. I get it.” Dallon shrugged. “So, another question. What’s the deal with your code name Firecracker?”

  “How do you know about it?” I returned.

  “So you are her,” he mused.

  Garrett laughed.

  “Maybe.” I shifted.

  “So spill. How did you get it. Was it because of your hair?”

  I chuckled and shifted, looking over to Dallon to answer. “No. When I went to the next house from you guys, I attempted to make one of Emma’s pies, but instead, I blew up the kitchen.”

  A husky laugh filled the space. “Seriously?”

  My mouth twitched as I snuggled in. “Yeah, apparently I can’t cook worth shit.”

  ***

  The next morning, halfway through breakfast, I started to feel…off. I leaned more toward Garrett who sat on my left and found myself…sniffing him. I had no idea why, but he smelled awesome. Like smoked firewood and the sticky, gooey, sugary mess of a burnt marshmallow. I wanted to eat him up.

  I licked my lips before I stood abruptly, forcing my chair back, turned his way, and crawled into his lap before latching onto his open mouth. Delicious sparks grew within my chest and escaped through my fingertips. He was slow to respond, shocked, but I didn’t care. I held his head in my grip, kissed him, and he tasted fuckin’ good. Wasn’t going to let that go.

  “Whoa.”

  “Oh, shit.”

  I didn’t care who spoke. I had an ache in my stomach and a fire in my soul. I needed Garrett.

  “Get her off of him.”

  “What the hell was in those eggs?”

  Garrett only resisted for a second before his hands clamped around my hips, and he leaned into the kiss like my air was his to breathe.

  A buzzing noise sounded, and hands grabbed me, prying me off of him as I tried to cling to what I desired. I grew angry, furious, and kicked and swung at anyone, anything, I could.

  They couldn’t take him away from me! He was mine!

  “We got it. He’s yours. Just calm down, Lissa.”

  “Maybe, I—”

  “No, Dallon! Fuckin’ stay away. If she’s that way with him, how do you think she’ll be with you? Give her a moment.”

  “We really need to see Doc.”

  A sting met my cheek, and I threw myself back against the person holding me from behind. The haze of lust cleared. My chest lifted with rapid gasps I couldn’t control, and my body shook.

  “Shh. Shh,” someone whispered to me. “You’re okay. Just take it easy.”

  Promptly, I bent over and heaved on a pair of scuffed up black boots. Today had shit written all over it.

  When I finished vomiting, I wavered on my feet, sleepy and sluggish. It felt like being drugged, and then I was out like a light.

  ***

  Minutes or hours later, not sure which, I woke up between Garrett and Dallon. What in the hell happened? My mouth felt dry and lips chapped. I remembered bits and pieces of this morning… Was it still morning? I wasn’t sure, but my body ached like it had been run through the ringer. I recalled my dream of waking up and begging them to kiss me. Touch me. My cheeks heated with embarrassment at how needy I sounded in my lust filled, erotic dream. How much I wanted that. Even now, the urge still lingered; though, it was duller.

  I closed my eyes and groaned softly, recalling dream Meli
ssa’s actions. First the shirt, then my bra came off as I tried to entice them. In my dream, the two of them didn’t move. They’d been frozen to the spot. I pouted. I actually pouted. Me! My voice came out husky, my skin heated, and all my body wanted was them.

  Thinking about the next part, I bit my cheek, punishing myself for the further embarrassment I displayed. I threw up. That wasn’t supposed to happen in a dream, but it did. I was sick with a fever, and still lusting after them. Not a good combination.

  A finger touched my temple in a caress, and with my reflexes, I smacked it away. Then, I became aware of what I was wearing. Better yet, what I wasn’t wearing. No pants, no bra, just a flimsy pair of boxer shorts and one of their t-shirts. I groaned into the pillow, not realizing how sensitive and tender my stomach muscles were.

  “Shit, it wasn’t a damn dream,” I muttered, opening my eyes and shifting to find a concerned Dallon staring back at me.

  “You okay?”

  My mouth pressed into a flat line. “No, no I’m not.” I sat up and scooted down to the edge of the bed. “Did you guys slip me something? To make me stay?” I accused them.

  “No!” Garrett was quick to answer. “It’s this thing that’s happening between us. It’s crazy, I know, but there’s something there. The sensations we’re having, the freaky sparks, being able to sense you from afar, and the lust, it’s all because of the H-15 serum that made Dallon and me super soldiers.”

  Upset, I carefully got out of bed. “And what about how quickly I fell asleep?”

  “My ability allows me to put you to sleep,” Garrett admitted.

  Angry and confused, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

  The two of them got up. Dallon stepped forward. “Look, we need to make sure you’re going to stay out of trouble, that you’re going to stay here.”

  My brows furrowed. “What? Why? Where are you going?”

  Garrett answered, “We need to figure out what’s going on with this connection thing we have because obviously we can’t stay away from each other when we have urges.”

  I snorted. “It was a fluke. I’m f-fine. Won’t happen again.” Dallon walked toward me, not stopping. I moved backward. “No. No-no-no.”

  My back hit the wall, and he was on me, his touch electric and thrilling. He moved to the side, letting Garrett have access.

  “Think it’s just a fluke now, my sweet?” Garrett kissed my ear.

  I gritted my teeth, and the flavor of mint from a recent brush I didn’t remember doing filled my taste buds. My eyes fluttered closed, as a moan escaped. “Fuck.”

  “Precisely,” Dallon mused.

  But instead of moving away, their hands started to explore more, and the heat and crackles rose almost as dangerously as they had this morning. The feeling that I had around them were a hell of a lot better than the ones I had around Nero. And I was willing to let the two of them wash his slimy touch away. All the build up leading us to this point, their need to be connected to me, and me to them, we gave in.

  ***

  Garrett

  Clothes found the floor as we moved back to the bed. It was the most extraordinary intensity. Craving someone who could caress every part of your body with one touch. The crackle of awareness. The desire to consume her. To keep her, protect her, and never let go.

  Watching Dallon with her just spurred up the sensual tension, following her body responses when he tugged at her nipples. How they drew up to raspberry points that caused a man to crave taking a nibble then devouring her in one sitting.

  “Garrett, grasp her hands,” Dallon murmured as the two of them twisted on the bed.

  I smirked, watching desire flicker in Melissa’s eyes when they chased over to mine. “Will do.”

  I place myself beside her as Dallon shifted near the foot of the bed with his head between her thighs, provoking those wonderful moans to spill from her lips. She grasped his head, and I tugged her hands free before leaning down to seize her lips. She tasted of my mint toothpaste and a hint of her sweetness.

  I tugged her palms up and held them. Lifting from our kiss, I grabbed the bind ribbons from the side drawer of the nightstand and wrapped them around her wrists. From there, I pressed them into the bed and took her mouth once again as she spilled into a deep cry of orgasm.

  She was fuckin’ on fire.

  ***

  Dallon

  She was mine. That’s all I thought as her softness fluttered around my fingers, soaking them. I scooted back and grazed her thigh with my lips before sitting up and placing my dick at her folds. Garrett moved aside, and I noticed her swollen lips and blue eyes darkened with pleasure, red hair spilling out across the bed. My heart thumped. She was stunning.

  “There’s no going back from this, sweets.” I eased into her softness and watched her pupils dilate farther. “There’s no you. There’s no me. And you’re not running off with my brother. There’s just the two of us, with you. No more, no less. Got it?” I worked myself in and sped up my pace, grasping her hips as her thrusts met mine. Her lips pressed together, and Garrett leaned down to capture her nipple in his mouth.

  She let out a cry with whatever he did and clenched around my dick. “Damn, Garrett.”

  He chuckled, lifting his head to talk to her. “I believe my brother asked you a question.”

  “I gathered,” she growled, bucking her hips into mine. “Faster.”

  I slowed down, relaxing into it. No matter how badly I wanted to come inside her at the moment, I wanted her answer more. “Answer the question, Melissa. Only then will I let you come.”

  “What the fuck?”

  Garrett shook his head. “Wrong answer.” He leaned down once more and toyed with her.

  I let my grip on one of her hips go and placed it above her mound, sliding my thumb between her folds where she and I fit, then flicked the small nub that I’d paid attention to only moments earlier.

  She bucked, and her eyes burned.

  I smirked. “I need an answer.”

  ***

  Melissa

  They were going to kill me. I was so close. Right there on the threshold, and they both wanted a promise during this moment? Fuckin’ crazy. I’d give them the best I could at this point. I just wanted to get there. Eventually, I’d reason with the voice squawking in my mind to not say yes while my heart was already shouting the words.

  A slap stung my thigh. I focused back on Dallon and answered, “Fine, no more, no less.”

  I didn’t want anybody else anyway, but I expected that was the serum talking.

  Satisfaction gleamed in his eyes, and he tweaked my nub, shooting me over the edge and coming with me.

  Garrett switched places with him and took his time with me. Nuzzling my body, whispering sweet words into my ear, building me up to another orgasm that had me seeing a flow of shimmering lights and plunging into a boneless, pleasurable mess. They won… For now.

  Intruders

  Melissa

  They left me with Samuel and his team.

  Still achy from my joining with Dallon and Garrett, I wandered around the farmhouse and let the memories rush back to me. This was the only place that allowed me to be a kid. To have a childhood. Other times I was passed around with the intention of keeping me safe. I was, after all, my father’s daughter.

  Pausing by the stairs to head back up, I heard a distant swooshing noise. The sound of chopper blades cutting through air. The sound drew closer. The guys who had remained hidden outside and around the house all moved out of the woodworks, armed and fixed for a fight.

  I reached for the outside of my thigh where my own weapon would have been, but my fingers clenched around emptiness. Damn. I needed to get my gun back.

  Samuel and another guy shoved me into the hallway between the kitchen and their makeshift weight room and toward the only safe room in the house.

  “Come on,” Samuel urged as he clamped his hand around the closet doorframe, and it slid open to reveal the safe-room.

&nb
sp; I clenched my fingers around the frame, preventing them from forcing me inside. “Wait! Wait!”

  Shots fired and the front and side doors burst opened. The guys abandoned me and moved on the defense, but it was too late. They were shot, and I had nothing.

  I gritted my teeth when I saw the darts sticking out of their shoulders. Not dead, just knocked out. The invaders bracketed the hallway, not saying anything.

  Then a man strode up and blocked the hallway. His gray suit, pristine hair cut, and polished shoes that were never scuffed were still the same, as were his cobalt blue eyes.

  “We can either do this here or in the kitchen,” he stated bluntly in Russian.

  “Cocina,” I muttered in Spanish.

  He swept his arm down the hallway that led exactly where he wished to go. “After you.”

  I gritted my teeth, let go of the doorframe, and marched into the kitchen.

  When I reached the table, I swiveled around to confront him. I wasn’t frightened even though anybody else would be.

  He paused across from me, an older version of himself than I had last seen as he drew a phone from his pocket and held it out to me. “You’ll require this.” His brisk, sharp tone was firm, and he expected me to agree.

  I offered no argument and promptly took it. “Thanks.”

  He slid his hands into his slacks and scanned around. “You’re in real deep here, Gin.”

  My lips thinned at the nickname. “Get to the point, Dad. You come here with an army of your own and take out the whole government specials unit armed with blackout darts just to hand me one of your secure phones and notify me I’m in deep? Get to the point and get going before they wake up. I’m going to get the blame for this.”

  He cracked a smile, white teeth showing. “Ah, the attitude perks of being my child.”

  “My attitude had nothing to do with you. The blame? Yes. Now get to the point of why you’re here.”