He nodded.She frowned and went into the bedroom.He walked to the door, pulled out his phone, and texted Cruz, letting him know where they'd be and what they were doing.
When she returned, he guided her through the clubhouse, down the hall, and out the back door into the connected garage.The scent of oil hung in the air.
Hunter slipped into a side room, returning with a Ruger Mark IV and a box of subsonic ammo.Quiet rounds, but he knew better than to trust "quiet."
He pulled a couple of foam-in-earplugs from his pocket.He held them out to her.
Annie frowned."We're shooting a gun?"
"Yeah."He slipped the pistol under his belt."Protect your ears.They say it's a quiet gun.One that won't draw attention to what we're doing.But I want your ears protected anyway."
Her lips parted, the weight of his words sinking in.She pinched the foam and put the plugs in her ears.All he needed when he was younger was for one person to protect him, and he would still have his hearing.
He'd be that person for Annie.
Outside, under the night sky, he showed her how to hold the pistol, line up the sights, and gently squeeze the trigger rather than jerk it.Then, he showed her how to load the bullets into the magazine and arm the gun.
Once, she unloaded and loaded the weapon ten times, and he covered the pistol with his hand."Now shoot.Aim toward that mound of dirt."
They were only twenty feet away from the target.She couldn't miss.Tonight was more about getting comfortable holding a weapon.Not letting the process scare her.Most importantly, respecting the pistol.
Holding her right arm up, she closed her left eye.He stood behind her, tapping her left arm, reminding her to brace the pistol.While this gun had soft recoil, others would be more powerful.She had to h
She fired.Dirt kicked up from the mound they used as a backdrop.
Hunter corrected her grip, adjusted her stance.Again.And again.
She loaded, shot, and reloaded ten times, each round going smoother than the last.Her confidence grew, her movements more determined.
When he was satisfied, he led her back into the garage.
Hunter disappeared into the private room, the one that only patched members could enter.He came out carrying something heavier and deadlier.A pistol that could cause more damage, capable of dropping any man within twenty feet.
He didn't let her practice with it here.It was too loud.Too dangerous.
But he placed it in her hands, his eyes locking with hers."If you want protection.This is it."
She looked down at the weapon, weighing it in her hand.Hunter's chest tightened as he watched her grip the pistol while keeping her finger off the trigger.He hated that it had come to this.Hated that she needed it at all.
But if he failed to take Jason out, and her brother-in-law came close.She wouldn't be helpless again.
He held out a box of bullets for the pistol to her.She took them and then set them on the ground, gently placing the pistol at her feet as well, as if it were a grenade that might explode if she dropped it.
Lost in watching her, he was surprised when she suddenly threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.He grabbed her hips, holding her close.She tilted her head back, standing on her toes to kiss him.
He claimed her mouth.His balls throbbed with the taste of her.
She lowered the pistol, her chest rising and falling with adrenaline.When she turned to him, her eyes burned—not just with determination, but arousal.
The tension snapped.
Every wall he'd built—every reason he'd told himself to keep her at arm's length—crumbled.
They moved together, the kiss deepening.Getting involved with her was dangerous.He wasn't the man she deserved.But in that moment, with her pressed against him, none of it mattered.
He slid his thumbs under the waist of her jeans and slowly pulled the fabric over her hips, bringing her panties along with it.She squirmed in front of him but kept the kiss going.He then lifted his head, took his wallet from his pocket, and pulled out a condom.
Annie's hands slid underneath his vest, grabbing his stomach, his chest, his sides.His cock pulsed harder, and he moved his pistol to his vest pocket.By the time he got to his belt, his touch wasn't as steady.All he could think about was grabbing his dick and getting it out of the confinement of his jeans.
