Page 45 of The Commander

I gasp, my body trembling as his body heat wraps around me like a raging fire.

“Absolutely not,” I whimper, but Jeannie’s words are echoing inside my head, and I feel like she’s lowered my barriers to dangerous levels.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

NOAH

––––––––

Absolutely not.

Seeing Quinn in action today on the confidence course gave me such a fucking hard-on. I don’t know what I’m thinking showing up at her room and grabbing her like this, but I need to make her mine. She needs to know without question that I’m serious about this.

Knowing that she’s in a relationship has ramped up the stakes. If I let her leave, and they get serious and I did fucking nothing, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.

Anyway, it’s a moot point.

Quinn is mine.

When I saw the blood pouring down her arm, I almost snapped. But one look from her and I knew I had to play it cool. Then I learned that fucking rope was full of broken razor blade pieces.

No one knows how it happened, but Josh and Aidan are furious.

“The boundary was breached. Think it could be related?” Cole asked after we regrouped.

“I don’t believe in coincidences, so yeah. Marshall, follow up with Travis and find out if they can see who got into the compound,” Josh ordered. “Noah and Cole, you two walk the boundary and see what you can find. Unfortunately, Batman and Ryder have left.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, grateful to exert some of my pent-up energy.

“Oh, hey.” Josh glanced behind us. “Team, meet Hayden Brooks. Former Captain. He’s joining the crew as of today.”

“Howdy.” Hayden tipped an imaginary hat, and I immediately recognized his accent.

“Texas?” I asked, grinning.

“You got it.” Hayden reached out a hand. “Dallas, Texas.”

“Noah Jenkins. Welcome to the team.” I shook his hand. “We’ve had a breach around the perimeter, so Cole and I are about to take a look. If it’s okay with Josh, you should join us, and we can show you around the compound at the same time.”

We all turned to the SEAL.

“Suits me. I’ll leave you with these two, Hayden. Welcome aboard and find me when you’re done.”

We took off.

“Where were you stationed?” Cole asked as we trekked down a path toward the back of the compound where the fence had been cut open.

“Fort Campbell, in Kentucky. It straddles the Tennessee border, and man, it’s hotter than hell’s front porch in August compared to here.”

I let out a knowing laugh as all our boots pounded on the paved path.

“You’ll acclimate soon enough.” I spotted the area that had been tampered with and indicated to Cole and Hayden to follow.

We all crouched and began inspecting the surrounding area.

“When did it happen?”

“The first night the trainees arrived,” Cole shared, glancing past the wire fencing into the distance. “There’s known cartel in the area. You think they’ll bother us?”