"You okay?" Colton jumped to his feet.

"I need my crackers." Meryn gagged over the words. Colton dove into her backpack and practically threw the bag of crackers at her. Breathing through her nose, she slowly nibbled a cracker.

"You're really not a people person are you?"

"Nope. You guys don't bother me, but tonight is going to be all these important people and now you tell me that Aiden is this super celebrity and I'll have to stand next to him all night and smile and nod and shit..." She took another deep breath.

"Listen, you concentrate on getting through the first half hour of introductions. Leave the rest to me."

She pinned him with her eyes. "You promise?"

"I swear. Just keep it together for thirty minutes." Meryn grabbed one last cracker and put the bag away.

"I can do thirty minutes."

"Good, you're getting some color back in your cheeks. For a second you went milk white."

Meryn stood. "So what now?"

Colton looked around and pointed to a smaller building off to one side.

"Wanna see the armory?"

Meryn brightened. "Guns?" She asked.

Colton hesitated. "Yes. Why do you look so excited all of a sudden?"

"I want a gun. After getting attacked twice. I want a gun."

Colton rubbed his chin. "That's actually not a bad idea. Can you shoot?"

"Yup. Just never got around to purchasing one. What do you have?"

"What don't we have?" Colton led the way to the small, white building and reached for his keys. He unlocked the door and they stepped inside. Above them the lights came on automatically. Meryn looked around. Weapons of all kinds and from every century were stacked from floor to ceiling.

"Are those nunchucks?"

"Don't touch."

"But..."

"No."

"Fine, then do you have the Smith and Wesson's Bodyguard?" Colton looked impressed.

"You do know something about guns. Let me check. I think we have the smaller guns in this chest." Meryn followed him back to a tall steel cabinet. He unlocked the doors and started pulling out drawers. He handed her a small box. She opened it and inside was the gun of her dreams. It even had a box of ammo and a shoulder holster.

"Thank you! I've been dying to get one, but they are expensive."

"I don't think Aiden will mind shelling out money for your self-defense." She tucked the box in her backpack and zipped it closed.

"Give me a second to lock up the cabinet and then we can find Aiden."

"Sure." Meryn walked around peeking in boxes, smiling she pulled out a small hand grenade. Colton walked up.

"What do you have?"

Laughing, she held up the grenade and pulled the pin. His face dropped. Moving faster than she had ever seen anyone move in her life he ripped the grenade from her hand ran to the entrance and threw the grenade in the woods.

"Grenade!" He yelled at the top of his lungs before knocking her down in a diving tackle. Seconds later a deafening explosion rocked the small building they were in. When the smoke started to clear Colton slowly got to his feet and looked down at her with an anxious expression. He helped her to her feet and began checking her over.

"Colton! Meryn!" There was no mistaking the fear in Aiden's voice. Meryn stepped out of the building and looked over to the new clearing that the small grenade had created. Coughing, she waved a hand in front of her face to try to clear the smoke.

"My bad! My bad!" She coughed again trying to clear her airways.

Aiden and the other twenty eight unit warriors formed a circle around the doorway. Meryn fought the urge to go back inside and hide. Out of nowhere hands grabbed her from behind, they turned her around. She looked up. Colton's expression was furious. His eyes were wild and his entire body was trembling. With his hands on her upper arms, he shook her like a rag doll.

"What ... In ... The ... Hell ... Is ... Wrong ... With ... You?!" He shouted in her face. She opened her mouth but couldn't form any words. She'd never had anyone be this angry with her before.

"I'm so s ... sorry! I thought it was like in the cartoons and you could put the pin back." She burst into tears. Colton pulled her into a tight hug.

"You crazy little idiot!" She wailed into his shirt.

"Give her to me." Aiden's voice was barely human. Colton pulled her away from his chest and kissed her forehead.

"Stop almost dying. I'm finally getting used to you." He gently pushed her into Aiden's arms.

"No more. I can't take this anymore!" Aiden scooped her up and ran. Before she could stop wiping her eyes, he had her in the house, upstairs and in his room. He kicked the door shut and didn't stop walking until his legs hit the bed. He dropped her before stepping back. Wordlessly, he began to strip off his clothes.

"No more waiting Meryn. I need to make you mine, body and soul." He pulled his black tee over his head. She licked her lips. He was just as beautiful as she remembered. There was no turning back, she wanted this man more than she wanted her next breath. She rose to her knees on the bed and lifted the hem of her shirt over her body. She let it drop on the floor next to his. Grinning wickedly she unsnapped her bra and dropped it on top of her shirt. She brought her hands up and cupped her breasts. His eyes never left her body as his hands moved to his belt. She heard the metal of the buckle and then the soft whisper of his zipper. When his pants dropped she could see his erection straining against the material of his boxer briefs. She squeezed her legs together, she could already feel the wetness on her panties. He reached out and pulled her close by the top of her jeans. He unbuttoned them slowly and slid them over her hips. When she went to lay back to slide them off completely he stopped her. He ran a finger down the front of her panties, slowly he ran his finger between her folds, the only thing separating them was the saturated material of her underwear. When he pushed a little harder and scraped her clit she gasped. His hand on her chest pushed her backward before he jerked her jeans off her legs. He removed his boxers and her mouth went dry. He palmed his heavy cock.