Primal Heat by Crystal Jordan

Danger is near.
    Her hands closed spasmodically around his upper arms, and she froze underneath him, working to level out her breathing. It was made more difficult by the fact that his long, hard, naked body was plastered to hers from chest to groin and he’d somehow ended up between her legs. Twin reactions sparked within her. The well-trained soldier waiting for a possible ambush, and the woman reacting to a man she craved touching her. Sweat beaded on her upper lip and gathered at her temples. Blazing passion and cold fear sent tingles rippling down her skin.
    â€œThey’ll check the fire first. Let’s get out of here.” She pulled his hand away from her mouth and lifted her head to breathe the words in his ear. He shuddered, thrusting himself into the juncture of her thighs. Need screamed through her and she dug her nails into his biceps.
    His gaze snapped up, looking at something she had to twist her head around to see. Power flashed in his eyes, a deep, terrifying hiss issuing from his mouth. Fangs bared, he jerked away and rolled to his feet in one smooth motion. She pushed herself upright less steadily, surreptitiously sliding his weapon out of her holster. A soldier in army camo stood with a submachine gun pointed at them. Her heart lurched. The kid couldn’t be more than about twenty. Another of her worst nightmares realized, having to face and maybe kill one of her own.
    â€œDrop your weapon, put your hands on your head, and get down on the ground,” the boy barked. “Now!”
    Farid flexed his clawed fingers and hissed. The soldier’s weapon went right to him, and she knew if she left it to them, someone was going to die here. She’d rather that not happen. Her heart pounded, but she ignored it, reaching for that battle calm, that place where the adrenaline only enhanced her reactions.
    She shifted her weight to drop to a crouch, sweeping one leg out to catch Farid behind the knees and knock him to the ground. Firing a quick shot with aim honed from long years of practice, she put a laser round in the soldier’s bulletproof vest. He slammed back against a tree, shook as though he’d touched a live wire, slumped over, and lost his grip on his gun. He didn’t stay down though. When he went for the weapon at his belt, she spoke. “Don’t. I don’t want to kill you, but I will if I have to.”
    â€œFuck you, traitor.” He grabbed his pistol and pulled the trigger. Bren dove left but knew she’d be too damn late to get out of the way.
    Farid moved with that stunning speed of his, threw himself to the side, propelled her forward, and hissed when the bullet sliced into his arm. Blood sprayed over the ground and across green bushes, painting them in hideous rust red. Still, Farid leaped and had the kid by the throat, off his feet, and flattened against the tree in the time it took her to blink. The small, round disc of the white noisemaker fell from the soldier’s grasp without turning on. The soldier gagged, clawing at Farid’s iron grip. Farid shoved his face into the younger man’s. The voice that emerged from his throat was more animal growl than human speech. “Speak to her that way again, and I will tear your limbs off one by one.”
    â€œPut him down , Arjun!” She barked out the words in the same tone of command she’d have used with a private fresh out of basic training, one she hoped would break through the feral beast to the logical man beneath. Her heart slammed against her ribs, her muscles shaking as her hand wavered from pointing the razer at the soldier to pointing it at the Kith. Fear coursed like ice through her veins, but she kept her voice firm. “ Now , damn it!”
    â€œDrop the weapon, Sergeant Major.” Another soldier, older and obviously more experienced, slid from behind a nearby boulder. He clicked a white noise maker and tossed it to the forest floor near Farid. The Kith