Authors: Paige Tyler
jerked his thumb at the pro wrestler—“is Declan MacBride. He’s the EVA part of our team.”
Landon looked at the big blond man. He couldn’t imagine him growing claws and scaling a wall.
“EVA?”
“No one told you what that stands for yet? I’m not surprised.” Tate snorted. “The DCO always does a
lousy job of explaining stuff. EVA is short for extremely valuable asset.”
Asset. As if the DCO didn’t think of Ivy and Declan as people. Landon swung his gaze back to Declan.
“You can do what Ivy does?”
Declan laughed. “Not on a good day.”
Tate grinned. “Declan’s skills are different than Ivy’s. You two didn’t have the talk yet, huh?”
The talk? That sounded ominous. “Apparently not.”
“Then I won’t be the one to steal her thunder. After this morning’s training, I’m sure you’ve already
figured out she’s special, right?”
“Very.”
All four men regarded him thoughtfully, but once again, it was Tate who spoke.
“Look, you’re going to run into people like Foley who’ll tell you people like Declan and Ivy are freaks.
That’s bullshit. She and Declan and people like them aren’t any different than you, me, Brent, and Gavin.
They just have special skills that make them unique. Regardless of what Foley told you, you can trust Ivy to
have your back. And she needs to know she can trust you in return.”
“She can,” Landon said without hesitation. That was a given, regardless of what happened with her
previous partners.
“Good,” Tate said. “Because in this job, both your lives depend on it.”
***
partner might not have freaked out at the sight of her claws—or that she’d dug them into his arm—but she
wasn’t quite ready to have the talk with him yet.
“What do you think of Landon?” Kendra asked Ivy.
Ivy’s gaze strayed to her partner to find him looking at her. She quickly turned her attention back to
Kendra. “He seems okay. You could have warned me he’s military.”
“Why? So you could obsess about how awful he’d be every waking minute until you met him?” Kendra
bit into one of the two chocolate chip cookies on the tray in front of her. “So what if he’s Special Forces?
You two obviously work well as a team. And he’s definitely nice to look at.”
“That’s not the point. I thought you were going to have some say in picking my next partner.”
Kendra scowled. “You guys were great together on the course. Stop being so closed-minded.”
Ivy finished off the cookie she’d been nibbling on. “I’d better do some damage control before our next
round. I might have to depend on Landon to save my ass again.”
She grabbed her Gatorade and got to her feet, almost smacking into Declan as she turned around. She
really must be preoccupied if she hadn’t heard him come up behind her. The bear shifter wasn’t exactly
stealthy. He was, however, one of the sweetest guys she’d ever met.
Ivy smiled up at him. “Hey.”
“Hey. I just met your new partner. He seems like a good guy.” Declan turned his baby blue eyes on
Kendra. “Um…Hi, Kendra.”
Ivy hid her smile behind her Gatorade bottle as she took a sip. Poor Declan. She couldn’t believe a guy
who was this big and tough could get so tongue-tied when it came to talking to a woman. But he had a
serious crush on Kendra.
“I was…um…wondering if you…might want to…you know, grab something to eat.”
Kendra frowned in confusion. She looked down at her empty tray, then up at Declan. “Thanks, but I
already ate.”
He flushed beneath his tan. “Right. I knew that. I just…you know, thought you might want to go out to
dinner this weekend.”
“Dinner? Oh.”
Kendra glanced at Ivy, looking helpless and in desperate need of a life preserver, but Ivy wasn’t tossing
one to her. If Kendra was going to give him the brush-off—yet again—she was going to do it without Ivy’s
help. Something Kendra must have quickly figured out because she turned back to Declan.
“Thanks for the offer, Declan, but I’m kind of swamped right now with training and everything.”
Kendra gave him a small smile. “Maybe after Ivy and Landon are certified.”
As brush-offs went, it wasn’t rude, but from the way Declan’s shoulders sagged, Kendra might as well
have told him he didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever going out with her. Ivy couldn’t blame
him. What she couldn’t understand was why he kept asking Kendra out after she’d shot him down so many
times. Wasn’t doing the same thing and expecting different results the definition of insanity?
To his credit, Declan didn’t let the hurt show. He even managed a grin. “Sure. Sounds good.” He gave
Ivy a nod. “See you around.”
He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something else to Kendra, but after giving her one more puppy-dog
look, he turned and headed for the cafeteria’s big double doors. Ivy frowned as she watched him go. He
looked even more upset this time than he usually did when Kendra turned him down. She’d have to tell
Tate to keep an eye on Declan. She didn’t want the shifter getting himself or someone else hurt because he
was in a depression-induced fog.
Ivy looked at Kendra. “Why don’t you just give the poor guy a break and go out with him?”
Her friend’s brow rose. “Declan? You’re not serious?”
“Why not? He’s obviously crazy about you.”
“I know. Which is why I feel awful turning him down every time he asks me out. But he’s just not my
type.”
Of course he wasn’t. Kendra’s type was Clayne, a guy who didn’t have the time of day for her. As a
result, Kendra missed out on what could be a good thing with Declan. And Clayne was missing out on a
good thing with Kendra because he only had eyes for Ivy. And she wasn’t interested. In him or anyone else.
Sometimes she wondered if the DCO was a high-speed government covert-ops organization or a
dysfunctional soap opera.
Chapter 4
Ivy braced for a confrontation with Landon, but he was as nice to her after lunch as he’d been before.
Either Foley hadn’t said anything nasty about her, or Landon hadn’t believed him. She hoped it was the
latter. Although she was dying to know what the two men had talked about, she didn’t ask. The curiosity,
however, was enough to distract her.
Luckily, that afternoon’s training didn’t require a lot of concentration. It was physically demanding,
though, and by the end of the day they were both dirty, sweaty, and exhausted.
“Man, I reek,” Landon said when they got to their dorm.
Actually, he didn’t reek at all. He was half covered in mud and soaked in sweat, but he was far from
stinky. To her, he smelled of musk and masculinity. The combination was so delicious, she had to keep
from burying her nose in his neck so she could take a closer whiff.
Sometimes, she really hated having an enhanced sense of smell.
Cheeks coloring, she reached up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Do you want to flip a
quarter to see who gets to use the shower first?”
Unless
you
want
to
share.
Like she’d trust herself enough to be in such a confined space with all that
potent masculinity.
“Nah. You can go first.” His mouth edged up. “I might stink like a pig, but I’m still a gentleman.”
And underneath all the mud and sweat covering her, she was enough of a lady to appreciate the gesture.
“Okay. Thanks.”
Grateful to put some space between her and his sexy scent, she grabbed her robe and toiletry bag from
her suitcase, then ducked into the bathroom. Unfortunately, the door didn’t do a thing to shut out the
pheromones he was emitting. She should have jumped in the shower and turned on the water full blast, but
instead she stood there with her mouth partially open, breathing in his scent and getting more aroused by
the second.
Ivy closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, moaning as warmth pooled between her thighs. She’d never had
such a strong reaction to a man before. Not even the ones she’d slept with.
She pushed away from the door. Stripping off her uniform, she climbed into the shower and turned it
on full force. It was cold, but she didn’t care. Hoping the coconut-scented body wash would help mask
Landon’s scent, she squeezed some into her palm and lathered up. As she ran her hands over her breasts
and down her stomach, she imagined it was her new partner washing the sweat and dirt away. The fire
between her legs engulfed her whole body and she slid her hand down to touch herself.
A few circular motions on her clit with her fingers and she’d orgasm. But she couldn’t. Not here. Not
with Landon just outside.
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth to stifle a moan and reluctantly pulled her hand away. Why
the heck hadn’t she thought to pack her vibrator? On second thought, maybe it was better she hadn’t.
Masturbating while thinking of her partner was not a good idea.
Regardless of how scrumptious he smelled, she was not going to fantasize about having sex with
Landon. And she was most definitely not going to give in to her animal side and actually have sex with him.
No matter how intoxicating he smelled or how hot he looked in his uniform.
***
short robe with her long, wet hair hanging down her back and her slender legs bare was enough to make
him go hard in his pants. Now he understood why the army didn’t allow women on the A-teams. To say
they’d be a distraction was an understatement.
Disappearing into the bathroom before Ivy could see the tent he was pitching, he took off his boots and
uniform, and jumped in the tub. He showered quickly, turning the water all the way to cold in the hope it
would get rid of his raging hard-on. Thankfully, it worked. Though he wasn’t sure how long the effect
would last if Ivy was still wearing that robe when he went back into the living room.
Fortunately, she wasn’t. Unfortunately, she was wearing something just as sexy—shorts and a tank top.
The kind that showed lots of skin and hugged every one of her curves. His cock immediately stiffened in
his jeans.
Ivy turned as he walked into the kitchen. Landon’s gaze locked on her perfect breasts. He swore under
his breath and forced himself to focus on her face instead. Or more precisely, her beautiful, brown eyes. A
guy could get seriously lost in those eyes.
“I was just going to make a sandwich,” she said. “You want one?”
His stomach growled at the mention of food. He hadn’t even realized he was hungry. How could he?
He’d been too busy thinking about what his partner looked like naked under her robe. “Sure. Thanks.”
“Peanut butter and jelly okay?”
“That’s fine.”
Actually, it was better than fine. He hadn’t had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since his forward
operating base got a big shipment of care packages in from the States. That had been months ago. Most
people didn’t think much of peanut butter and jelly, but it was something you sure missed when you
couldn’t get it.
He leaned against the counter, watching as she spread peanut butter on a slice of bread. “Can I ask you
something?”
She dug more peanut butter out of the jar for the second sandwich. “That depends on what it is.”
Fair enough. “Well, I guess we won’t know unless I ask, so at the risk of offending you, I’m just going
to come out and say it. Are you some kind of government experiment, like on
X-Files
or something?”
Ivy stopped spreading peanut butter on the third sandwich to look at him, surprised. Then she burst out
laughing. “No. I’m definitely not a government experiment.”
He waited for her to continue, but she only finished up with the peanut butter and started on the jelly.
“If you’re not a government experiment, what are you then? Other than an extremely valuable asset to
the DCO, I mean?”
She shook her head, the hint of a smile curving her lips. “The DCO loves their labels, don’t they?
You’re a norm. I’m a paranorm. You’re valuable. I’m extremely valuable.”
Paranorm. That sounded like something from the SyFy channel. “What do you prefer to be called?”
She gave him a smile. She had a gorgeous smile. “Ivy works for me.”
He grinned back. “Ivy it is then.”
She set the plate with the sandwiches on the small breakfast bar. “There’s bottled water in the fridge.
Can you grab a couple?”
“Wouldn’t you rather have milk? It goes better with peanut butter.”
She made a face. “I don’t like milk.”
Who didn’t like milk? He grabbed water for her and milk for himself, then sat down on the stool beside
her. “You didn’t answer my question. About what you are.”
She chewed on her bottom lip as if debating whether to answer or not. “I’m a feline shifter.”
A feline shifter. As in cat. Okay. He’d been right about her eyes then. Shouldn’t she like milk then?
“Were you attacked by a werecat?”