Wow.
Finally, his body relaxed. His mouth wandered along her jawline, kissing beneath her ear. “You okay?”
“Not sure,” she mumbled, her body so relaxed it was hard to catch a thought. “Might’ve passed out.”
He chuckled and withdrew from her body, kissing her neck next to her bruise when she protested. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared for a few moments and then returned to the bed to wrap his big body around hers. “I’m glad we reached an agreement.”
“Ditto,” she said, yawning. “But no more bossiness.” Did she even mean that? Probably not. But a woman had to take a stand.
“I agree,” he murmured. “Bossy doesn’t suit you.”
She blinked, snuggling into his warmth. “I meant you.”
Glass shattered. Something clanked along the wooden floor in the living room. Bosco stiffened, covering her. “Grenade,” he bellowed.
Chapter12
Bosco knew the sound of a grenade, and that was it in the other room. He covered Marlie, his body flat over hers as the entire apartment exploded. The walls blasted in, and wooden slats from the floor flew up and then clattered back down, several scattering across his bed. Sheetrock and paint blew around, and his bookcase from the corner crashed down, his trophies shattering on the floor.
Fabio barked weakly from the other room. Was he hurt?
Boscoe’s ears rang, and his vision wavered. A piece of the ceiling fell and broke across his shoulders, jolting him out of the darkness. Glass from the main light rained down, cutting his bare ass and clinking onto the floor.
He jumped from the bed, his shoulders burning, and headed right for the person coming through the window. He tossed the man back into the wall and watched him go down.
Two other masked figures barreled through the bedroom door, and Bosco pushed through the murky air to take down the first guy. One swipe, two punches, he let training take over and stopped thinking.
The other guy wasn’t trained. However, he was masked and well-muscled, and he got in a couple of good shots with a knife.
Blood spurted across Bosco’s chest, and pain cut through him. He shut down and stopped feeling. Growling, he reached for the guy’s mask as Marlie screamed behind him.
Partially turning, he took a blade to the ribs. Agony shot through him, and he punched out, following with a kick that snapped the assailant’s head back. The guy fell to the damaged floor, his hand flopping onto the wood and his legs kicking out, scattering snow from his boots.
A heavy object slammed down onto Bosco’s skull, and he dropped to his knees, his vision going dark gray. Grunting, he shook his head, and blood slid into his eyes. He clutched the discarded knife off the floor, and pivoted to stab up and fast, cutting through a down jacket and into the second attacker’s flesh. The guy’s eyes widened behind the mask, he grabbed his stomach, and he dropped to his knees with a loud thunk.
The guy already on the floor kicked Bosco in the rib cage, and Bosco twisted on his knee, plunging the same knife into the bastard’s gut. The assailant rolled at the last second, keeping the blade from causing internal damage. Even so, he screamed high and loud.
Marlie yelled from the doorway.
Bosco shoved to his feet just as the screaming guy did the same, finally shutting up. The guy Bosco had disabled by the window, his face covered by a gas mask, carried a furiously struggling Marlie across the room. She kicked wildly, her bare feet sliding off the torn wood. She looked terrified and way too fragile, buck-naked in the man’s arms, fighting for all she was worth.
“Marlie!” Bosco yelled, just as the second guy punched him in the mouth. His jaw cracked, and his head snapped to the side, but he managed to stay on his feet. His mouth ached, but his teeth all remained in place. His ears ringing, his vision blurring, he went for the kill shot and punched the asshole in the throat.
Something popped.
The attacker fell again, this time his head hitting the wooden floor with the sound of a melon cracking. Bosco stumbled over the torn floor toward the doorway, which wavered dangerously in his sights.
The sound of Marlie screaming got farther away.
A dog barked and growled, fury and pain in the sound. “Get her, Fabio,” Bosco croaked, his throat raw from the heated debris falling through the air. Blood flowed from him, over his naked body, and his feet burned as he tried to hurry toward the living room.
A shot echoed, and the dog yipped.
Marlie screamed louder, the sound high and frantic.
Bosco stumbled out of the bedroom to see Marlie fighting a man much bigger than her. The guy cut off her air, and she went limp, unconscious.
Then the man lifted his hand, pointing a black gun. Bosco tried to duck out of the way.
