*
Minutes later, Taser exhaled the breath he’d been holding as he watched the chopper disappear over the trees. He sat down on the porch, stretched out his legs, and took a long pull from his beer. Never had he met two people more hard-headed, stubborn, and every damn bit as good as they claimed to be. They were perfect for each other. God have mercy on both their souls, he thought, smiling.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
With exceptional skill and precision, Nicki made her way through the building, silent and unseen. One by one she neutralized the men that were unfortunate enough to have drawn the graveyard shift at the rural meth lab while listening to the banter of her husband and brothers-in-law in her earpiece as they secured the grounds. Muffled grunts, soft pops, and occasional rustlings assured her that they were meeting with equal success.
Judging by the tone of Sean’s grumblings, he was still a bit annoyed with her for rejecting his suggestion of remaining outside with Kieran while he and Shane disabled the lab and staff. His curses still scorched her ears from before, when he watched her remove a small utility vent and shimmy inside. While Sean vented into their comm sets, Kieran made his way around to the opposite end of the house to disable the electricity, cable, and phone lines, as well as the small satellite transmitter/receiver. If someone discovered Nicki in the house, they would not be getting the word out past their perimeter.
Nicki bit back a smile. She was giving him the silent treatment in response to his little outburst, and he was pissed. Sean Callaghan riled was truly a sight to behold. His eyes glowed with unsurpassed intensity, his muscles bunched and rippled with repressed anger, and he became, in Nicki’s eyes, the sexiest man alive. Yeah, he was pissed, but it was worth it, because the sex they’d be having later as a result of it would be epic.
She gave Kieran the all clear to enter through the back and start setting the detonators. Once they secured the building, they were going to take it down, destroying every last piece of equipment with it. By the time they were done, there would be nothing left.
Her communication with Kieran earned her another earful from her husband. A familiar tingle started below her navel. Epic. Sex. She put those thoughts on hold as she slipped into the last room, where half a dozen men were busy cutting, weighing, and packaging the product.
“Last six,” she said, her voice little more than a thought, but easily picked up and relayed via Ian’s custom design.
“Wait for me,” Sean barked in her ear. “We’re coming in.”
By the time Sean entered the room several seconds later, four of the men were face down and unconscious, and Nicki was facing off against the last two in a dramatic triangle, guns drawn in both hands.
Sean came in behind one of the men. One swift, silent blow and the dealer went down like a brick, never even knowing what hit him. “Damn it, woman!” Sean said, looking as dark as a thundercloud as he removed the gun from the prone man’s hand and pointed it at the last standing occupant. “You were supposed to wait for me.”
“Why?” she asked, knowing the question would only agitate him further. He growled a low warning that had their target paling considerably.
“What part of love, honor, and obey did you not understand?”
“I’m sorry, baby,” she said, though there was no apology in her voice, just amusement.
He looked around at the mess on the floor and shook his head. “You really are the perfect woman, you know that?”
Ignoring the prone figures littering the area, she closed the space between them until only a few inches separated them. Her hand came to rest on his chest even as her lips brushed against the underside of his chin. Her gun, like his, was still pointed at the man in the corner.
“Should I go back over there, and you know, let you take care of this?”
Despite his irritation, the corners of his mouth quirked and his body shuddered. “Yes.”
His voice was so oddly petulant that Nicki was reminded of a small boy who’d been deprived of all the fun.
“Would it make you feel better if you shot something?” she said placatingly as she lowered her gun and slipped it into the waistband of her pants. She moved to his side and stroked his back, almost as if she was petting him. The man in his sights uttered a little gasp and promptly wet himself.
“Yes,” he said, his eyes brightening. “Nothing fatal,” he added, “just a little something to take the edge off and maybe impress you a little.”