Page 30 of A SEAL's Protection
“Okay,” I mutter.
“Good.” His gaze is steady. “Do you have a weapon?”
“I’ve got a knife.”
“Do you know how to use it?”
“I used it on you, didn’t I?”
He doesn’t even smile, which worries me. “Could you have really used it on me?”
His question hangs in the air, and I lower my gaze. The truth is, I have no idea.
Marcus drops the pack from his shoulders and pulls out a gun. Steel glints in the sunlight.
“Do you know how to shoot?”
I shake my head no.
He crosses to me with the gun in his hand and holds it out. “I can’t be everywhere at once, Allegra. You need to learn how to handle yourself, just in case.”
His tone is deadly serious, and I’d give anything for Marcus to make a joke right now.
My gaze drops to the cold steel. “I’m not a gun person.”
“You are now.” He thrusts it into my hands.
The weight drags me down, heavy, like it’s weighing on my very soul.
“Stand up. Hold it like this, with both hands.”
I push away from my pack, and Marcus steps behind me, his hands sliding over mine, adjusting my grip. My body trembles at his touch, though I’m not sure if it’s from holding a gun or from the man pressed close behind me.
“You need to be steady. Point the barrel where you want the bullet to go. This is the safety. This is the trigger. Take your time aiming. Squeeze quickly.”
“Okay.”
“I’m going to load this up, and we’re going to practice. The woods will muffle the sound as best we can, and we’ll leave in a hurry. If anyone’s listening, we’ll be gone before they get here.”
He slides in a fresh magazine with a metallic click and hands the gun back to me. “Aim for the big pine over there. Line it up. Eyes down the barrel. Pull the trigger.”
I shoot before he finishes speaking. The gun kicks back, jolting me off balance, leaving my ears ringing.
Marcus steadies me, his hand warm on mine. “Not bad. Try again.”
His voice is calm and reassuring, but the proximity of his body and his breath at my ear is dizzying.
I raise the gun again, aim, and fire.
The bullet rustles the foliage of the pine, but there’s no direct hit.
“Your hand dropped at the last moment.” Marcus moves to stand behind me, and both his arms encircle me as he rests his hands over mine on the gun.
My body shivers at his touch, his warm skin against mine.
“Take a breath and steady yourself.”
His breath tickles my ear, and it adds a different type of tension. Suddenly it’s just me and Marcus and the gun in my hand.
