Page 26 of Her Delta Force Protector

Skylar paused as the others headed toward the garage. “You owe me,” she said. “I’m taking them to town for ice cream. Well, you also owe Everly for jumping on that idea, and making it impossible for her father and uncle to deny her.”

“Okay, thanks.” He wasn’t sure exactly what he owed her for, but at least his smirking brothers would be gone.

“I like her, Kade.”

“Me, too.” Maybe too much. Skylar squeezed his arm, then followed his brothers and Everly. He’d lost track of Duke while talking to Skylar, and he stopped and listened. There. Off to his left. That was her dog giving a yip of joy at finding her, the sound muted because they were inside the walls of the barn on the back end of their property. He headed for them. On silent feet, he slipped into the barn and paused. His gaze focused on the last stall, where Harper was quietly admonishing Duke to be quiet. This was supposed to be a game of Can Duke Find Harper, but she appeared to be turning it into a game of hide-and-seek.

He grinned. He loved games. Harper knew that, so was she wanting to play? So be it. Keeping to the shadows, he stealthily made his way to the stall. A rope was coiled up on the floor, and he picked it up. From Harper’s whispers, she was near the stall door. He eased to the back of the stall and peeked over. Her back was to him, her attention on the gate.

Perfect. The hayloft was above the stall she was hiding in, and with the stealth of a covert mission, he climbed up the ladder. Now the trick was to walk on the beam above her without her noticing. She was so focused on watching for him to come through the gate that she wasn’t giving any attention to what was going on above her. Duke was, though. He was on his back, getting a belly rub, and he barked and tried to turn over.

“Shhh,” she whispered. “You’re going to give us away.” She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him onto her lap. “We have to be quiet, okay?”

Kade secured the rope around the beam, then tied it off. He’d done this once on a mission—eased down a rope behind his target, tackling the man and taking him out without a sound or a shot fired. The difference this time, he was going down headfirst. He grinned as he wrapped the rope around his leg, then lowered himself down. This was fun.

She screamed and fell over on her side when he came down behind her and tugged on her ponytail. “Oh, God. Give me a heart attack, why don’tcha?”

Kade let go of the rope, falling next to her. She had her hands over her face, and her shoulders were shaking. “I’m sorry.” Was she crying? He was an ass. “Harper?” He peeled her hands away from her face. Not crying. Laughing.

She beat her fists on his chest. “I think I peed in my pants.”

Because she was still laughing as she punched him, he grabbed her wrists, and when he did, she managed to yank one hand away, and then tried to tickle him. They ended up in a wrestling match with Duke trying to get in on the action.

Somehow she ended up straddling him, and she threw her hands in the air. “I won!”

Ha! She thought she had him pinned? They’d just see about that. He flipped her over, and she peered up at him with surprise in her eyes. Then, as his legs pressed against her thighs, and his groin rested on her sex, their gazes caught and held.

Her eyes turned soft and liquid. “Kade,” she whispered.

“I’m right here.”

When she parted her lips, drawing his attention to them, he put his hands on her face, cupping her cheeks.

He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “I want to kiss you, but you should tell me no.”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Permission granted then,” he murmured. Her lips were warm and soft, and when she touched the tip of her tongue to his mouth, he groaned. Electricity buzzed through his body as their tongues tangled. He slid a hand down to her neck and pressed his thumb on the pulse beating erratically under her skin. The beast inside him thrilled with how she was responding to him. His own heart had invited a jackhammer to take up residence.

He moved his hand from her neck to the curve of her breast, and when he flicked his thumb over the nipple, her breath hitched. He kissed his way from her mouth to the lobe of her ear, and...a long, wet tongue slurped across his face.

“Damn it, Duke.” He rolled off Harper. He’d been so lost in her that he’d forgotten they were on the floor of a stall with a goofball dog wanting to join in. He’d forgotten that he’d declared Harper hands-off.

She giggled. “He was feeling left out.” She turned on her side to face him. “We can put him outside the stall.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“Don’t say it.” Anger flashed in her eyes. “And don’t be sorry.” She pushed up, then glared down at him. “I’m a big girl, you know. If I didn’t want you to kiss me, I wouldn’t have let you, so don’t go feeling all guilty and martyr-y.” She snapped her fingers. “Come on, Duke. Let’s go...” She threw her hands in the air. “I don’t know, eat a pickle or something.”

“I don’t thinkmartyr-yis a word.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She opened the gate, then glanced over her shoulder at him. “And just so you know, we will kiss again. And maybe do other naughty stuff. If you’re lucky.” With that said, she walked away from him.

Whatever.He hated that word. He really shouldn’t have kissed her. He wanted more. Much more. She was apparently his catnip, and that wasn’t good. He didn’t do relationships, and Harper was a relationship kind of girl.

How many times had she talked about her plans? The Peace Corps because she wanted to give something back while having an adventure before falling in love with an amazing man, getting married, and having a houseful of children. Marriage and children were a firm no for him, and he wasn’t amazing. Not amazing enough for what she deserved, anyway.

The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her, and he would. That was inevitable. He needed to explain that to her. It was the right thing to do.

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