HeatedMatch by Lynne Silver Page B

to match.
    Besides, it wasn’t fair to pursue anything with her. She
lived in the real world and should be headed back there soon enough, and he had
no intention of falling in line with Shep’s plans to breed the next generation
of Program Soldiers. Yeah, he totally needed to ditch her with Chase. Let her
brother babysit her. But if he could hold her hand one last time, that would be
cool.
    Hell, who was he kidding? Only Loren flat on her back again
naked, panting, would satisfy him. Or maybe facedown naked. Then he could
recheck that her ass was as perfect as it appeared. Shit, he had to stop or she
was going to notice his inattention and the growing bulge in his shorts. They’d
barely cooled down from the quickie session in the grass, and he was already
ready to go another round.
    He ignored his body’s desires and tried to answer her
questions as fast as she fired them. “Your brother’s name is Chase, he’s a few
years older than me, and he’s one of my squad.”
    Loren walked alongside him with her hair swinging down her
back every step. He felt a smile threatening to burst out of him and pushed it
back down. Her presence should not be a cause for celebration. Her presence
here was dangerous for his peace of mind, but his body was throwing off
fireworks.
    “Adam?”
    He glanced at her, sucking in eyefuls of her rich, honey
hair and athletic body. “What?” It came out harsher than intended, courtesy of
his little fantasy porn world starring he and Loren.
    “Uh, nothing. Well actually, I was wondering. What’s your
ability?”
    “My ability?”
    “Your strength,” she clarified. “ The Post article
mentioned that each soldier here has a specialty like sharpshooting or
hand-to-hand combat. What’s yours?”
    “Oh. I’m a tactician. I can outmaneuver nearly anyone. I’m
involved in the planning of nearly all our operations.”
    “The news articles didn’t go into that much detail. What
kind of operations do you conduct here? Are they all protection assignments
like I saw at Christenson’s party?”
    “Nice try, Woodward. You’re not getting it from me. Most of
that information is highly classified.”
    She laughed at his mention of her Washington Post colleague and held up her hands. “It was worth a try. And now I’m really
curious for personal reasons, after all, between my brother and father it’s in
the family now.”
    His heart flip-flopped at the sound of her laughter. He
vowed to be the stand-up comedian of soldiers if he could hear her genuine
laugh again. But it didn’t escape his notice that she hadn’t denied her
journalist role. Would she write an inside view of the Program or would she
feel loyalty to keep its secrets?
    Chase would have to watch her closely to make sure she
didn’t write an expose. ’Cause he was out of here. More time with Loren and
he’d be doing something really stupid like pressing her up against the nearest
tree and taking her again. They’d agreed to keep their hands to themselves, and
he’d live up to the bargain. He had to.
    They walked in silence down the path to the residential
section of the compound. He could see some lights on in the small apartment
building where he and most of the other single soldiers lived. Most of the guys
were probably in the cafeteria grabbing some breakfast at this time of the day.
    Lights blazed at the tiny cottages where families resided,
and he could hear the shrieks of laughter of young children running. He pushed
the glass double doors, holding one open for her. She brushed by him, her long
hair tickling his upper arm as she passed. His fists clenched to stop himself
from grabbing a handful of her silky curls and stroking.
    “Where is my brother? I can’t believe my dad never told me I
had a brother. Why did he separate us? Didn’t they get along?”
    “Those are questions better answered by Chase, but I can
tell you he’s your half brother. You have different mothers.”
    “Shep mentioned that.”
    He chanced a