Pirate's Promise (Sentinels of Savannah #5) - Lisa Kessler Page 0,16
with him, obviously experienced with the weapon. He tamped it all down with the ramrod and lifted the revolver.
“You don’t look old to me.” She packed the load in her barrel down and looked over at him. “How old are you really?”
His gaze locked on hers. “Don’t you have that in your files?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I did.” She set aside the gunpowder and gripped the revolver, gauging the weight in her hand. “Forget it. It doesn’t matter.”
“I’m old enough to know better than to try firing these old dogs into the wind.”
A sly smile curved her lips. “Afraid you might miss the target?”
“No.” He lifted his gun, focusing all his attention down the barrel, to the center of the bottle on the railing. “Afraid you might miss and damage the ship.”
He pulled the trigger, absorbing the recoil as the loud shot rang in his ears. The bottle exploded, and he lowered his still-smoking gun. “Your turn.”
She looked over at him with raised brows. “Impressive.”
In a fluid movement, she lifted the heavy revolver to shoulder height, her knees bent and her aim slightly north of the bottle. Without hesitation, she squeezed the trigger. The crack of thunder didn’t even make her flinch. The bottle was obliterated.
Laughter bubbled from his throat. “You are fucking amazing with a weapon.”
“Thanks.” She pursed her lips, blowing across the smoking barrel.
A raw jolt of desire slid through his veins, leaving his voice ragged and rough as he took a step toward her. “You’re a natural.”
And in that moment, the light in her eyes vanished. She handed him the gun. “Thanks for the target practice. We’re going to make a solid team.”
He watched her walk away, his jaw slack and his brain full of questions. He replayed the conversation and frowned. Had he said something wrong? He’d complimented her.
But that wasn’t going to make her forget the mission he’d fucked up for her back in Savannah. She disappeared around the corner, and he reminded himself that he didn’t want her forgiveness anyway.
And he shouldn’t want to make her smile again, either.
Chapter Six
Aura lay on her cot in her tiny cabin, staring up at a pine knot in the ceiling.
The rush of shooting bottles with Greyson had confused her. He was good, of course—he was the master gunner of the ship. He’d also been firing cannons and guns and rifles for lifetimes before she’d even been born.
Having fun with him had been the unexpected part.
What was she doing? This was the same guy who’d ruined her reputation with her team. He could’ve cost her the job. She’d been Bale’s go-to agent for undercover missions until the coven. Since then, Agent Garcia had been sent undercover twice while she’d sat behind a desk. Bale had claimed he had a better background for the assignments, but she could see the writing on the wall.
This mission was her last chance.
Being an agent in Department 13 was all she had left, her entire identity. Without her badge, she was nothing. There was too much at stake to fuck around with a sexy pirate.
A cover-blowing, guns-blazing pirate.
But hearing him recognize her skills, too, had felt so damned good. She didn’t need his approval and wasn’t asking for it…but still. It was rare for her to meet anyone who shared her affinity for weaponry. That’s probably all it was.
She rolled over and closed her eyes, sinking into sleep’s embrace.
As her body relaxed and sank deeper into the mattress, her mind wandered back through time to the familiar alley of her nightmares. Her breathing came in shallow bursts as a scratching sound caught her attention—something crawling in the darkness.
She tracked the noise, chasing it deeper into the shadows. Her informant was nearby—maybe it was his footsteps. She glanced down at her NYPD uniform.
Deep in her mind, she begged herself to wake up.
Instead, she crept closer, whispering, “Chad? You there?”
She’d been tracking a string of unusual robberies in the area. Instead of computers and televisions and jewelry, businesses were reporting missing chemicals, and a testing facility in the area had lost a handful of lab animals.
Her partner, Jones, hypothesized someone was cooking up a new drug, maybe a new meth recipe, but it didn’t feel right to her. The missing lab animals made it seem like someone was testing something. And the missing chemicals could only be purchased with proper permits.
A hiss. She spun around with her gun raised. Nothing.