Project Terminal: End Game by Olivia Starke Page B

undead. Abhorrent creatures with no other purpose than to kill, and there had been no hope to stop it. Originally created to help wounded super soldiers, it’d been twisted into a mutant virus by Max’s sister, Doc. A weapon of mass destruction, turning the enemy into monsters so they’d destroy themselves. The notion a human could do such a horrific thing to another turned Amelia’s stomach.
    Morris’s heavy footfalls caught up to her. “Good to see time hasn’t worn away that temper of yours. I love a woman with fire in her soul, that’s what always turned me on about you.”
    “You jumped me, what would you have me do?” She kept her gaze straight ahead but her skin prickled. His arm brushed hers and she didn’t care for the swirl of awareness that shot through her nerve endings. Despite the way his existence irritated her, she’d never been able to quell a sick attraction toward the jackass.
    “I’m just curious.” His voice dropped an octave. “What did you do the first time a boy kissed you on the playground in grade school?”
    She took a deep breath, happy to see the cabin ahead. “I did my best to bust his jaw.”
    His laughter echoed through the trees.
    Keep it together, keep it together.
    Where the hell was Reed?
    * * * *
    Amelia had chopped her auburn hair short, the first thing he’d noticed while watching her through the trees. What the hell did they call it? A pixie? Gabe preferred it flowing down her back, like it had the last time he’d seen her. Not that anything could detract from her mile long legs and nice ass. He had to lengthen his stride to match hers. He put her at about six foot one, a good five inches shorter than him. A tall woman fit his tastes perfectly.
    Her light pink cheeks told him he still affected her. Maybe not in the way he wanted, but teasing her was fun all the same. He’d tried for the past several years to get her in the sack, and damned if she didn’t fight it tooth and nail. She liked men; he’d caught her looking his way in the showers, her eyes zeroing in on his dick. While involved in Project Terminal men and women had shared communal barracks and showers. Unusual for the military, or anywhere, but the project had enforced a strict policy of professionalism and respect. If a soldier couldn’t get over a naked soldier of the opposite sex, they had no place in Project Terminal.
    He grinned. The first few times in the locker room had been amusing. The men trying to hide their hard-ons while the women hadn’t seemed much impressed. They’d definitely had the upper hand and a few couldn’t hide their smirks, including Amelia. A slap to any male’s ego, but it hadn’t taken long to get used to the idea and the spontaneous erections subsided.
    The curiosity got the best of him. “Why did you cut your hair?”
    “Practical reasons.”
    “That’s one of your problems, St. James, you’re too practical. I’d love to work that out of you.”
    Her flush darkened. “Work it out of me? Is that a cowboy reference? I’m not a horse. You can’t work anything out of me.”
    He chuckled. “I was never a cowboy. I’m from San Antonio, an actual city.”
    She didn’t bother to answer and stomped to the door of the cabin. He reached out and tried the doorknob, finding it locked. “You didn’t pick the lock?”
    She frowned. “I’ve got respect, Morris.”
    “Or are you afraid you’ll run across Reed’s dirty magazine collection lying on the coffee table?”
    “You’re a pig.”
    “You’re right.” He shot her a wink which she did her best to ignore. “With Max in tow, he’d have given me a heads-up to dispose of anything like that. I’m sure she’d disapprove of her man having his eyes elsewhere.”
    Amelia snorted. Reed and Max had been hot and heavy before Reed had bailed on the project. Amelia had refused to join in the rounds of gossip that followed the relationship. He respected her for it—he hadn’t gotten involved in it either.
    An engine