âYou hurt me, Dylan. Because what you think you want and what you really want are two different things.â
âI want you,â he whispered, backing her up against the wall. âYou are what I think I want and what I really want.â
âBut you might change your mind.â Shelby began to look away again.
âI am not going to change my mind.â Dylan brought his hands up on either side of her head, burrowing his fingers in her damp hair. âI hurt you, because Iâm so used to pushing everyone away, and Iâm sorry. You are what I want. I wonât hurt you again.â
Dylan could see the doubt in Shelbyâs eyes, and it killed him. He was afraid she would pull away. But she leaned toward him, putting her lips gently against his.
He kissed her back gently. But then the hungerâthe heatâthat had sparked between them since the first moment theyâd met flared again. And all thought of soft and gentle was left behind.
Chapter One
Sometimes a man just wanted to be left alone.
Dylan Branson didnât think that was too much to ask. Heâd served his country for years, both on American soil and off, and had the scarsâboth physical and emotionalâto show for it. But that was behind him now. Far behind him.
Not that you would know it from the voice talking at Dylan from the phone.
Dylan held the phone out at armâs length, staring at it as if it were a snake about to bite him. Heâd rather be handling a snake. Seriously, give him a cottonmouth over what was at the other end of this phone line.
It was Dennis Burgamy, Dylanâs boss when he worked at Omega Sector, a covert interagency task force. A crime-fighting, problem-solving, get-stuff-done unit, made up of the most elite agents the country had to offer. And Dylan had been one of the best of the best.
But not anymore.
Despite its armâs-length distance, Dylan could still hear Dennis Burgamy clearly on the other line. Dylan hadnât held the phone against his ear in at least two minutes, but evidently Burgamy hadnât missed Dylanâs input into the conversation because the other man hadnât even noticed Dylan wasnât talking.
Which was pretty typical of Dylanâs former boss. The difference now was that Dylan didnât have to listen to the other man. Burgamy wasnât his boss anymore.
Finally silence came from the other end of the phone. Dylan cautiously brought it back to his ear.
âAre you there, Branson?â
âYeah, Iâm here.â Dylan sat on the porch of the house heâd mostly built himself and looked out over the pinkish light of early evening hitting the Blue Ridge Mountains surrounding him on three sides. Those mountains had been the only thing able to bring him a measure of peace over the past few years since his wifeâs death, and he tried to draw on that peace again now. To no avail. âYou do remember that I donât work for you anymore, right, Burgamy?â
Dylanâs statement was met with a dramatic sigh. There had never been any lost love between Burgamy and any of the Branson siblings. Dylanâs sister and two brothers were all active Omega agents, and all had butted heads with Burgamy at some point.
âYou are in the charter airline business now, Dylan,â Burgamy reminded him. âIâm not asking you to do anything you wouldnât do for any other paying customer.â
It was true. For the past four years Dylan had been flying customers and cargo wherever they needed to go all over the East Coast with his Cessna. But Dylan wasnât so desperate for business that he wanted to be at Burgamyâs beck and call.
âIâm all booked. Sorry.â
âLook, Dylan...â Dylan recognized the change in Burgamyâs tone. Evidently Burgamy realized threatening Dylan wouldnât get him what he wanted, so heâd decided to try a different tactic. âHow about if you do this for us, then Iâll erase all record of Sawyerâs little incident last year.â
The little incident referred to Dylanâs youngest brother, Sawyer, punching Burgamy in the jaw and knocking his boss unconscious during an operation that was going wrong. Sawyer managed to keep his job at Omega, but only barely. And although Sawyer was able to keep his job, the occurrence would still keep his brother from ever being able to move up in official ranks. Of course, until recently, Sawyer had no interest in ever moving higher than the rank of agent. Doing so would mean a desk job, which had frightened him no end. But now that Sawyer was married to sweet little Megan and expecting a baby, a desk job might be more appealing to him.