Author: Jaci Burton

Lily guessed Mac was in no hurry to make introductions. “So tell me about this house.”

“Grange was given this mansion and the assignment to start up Wild Riders after he came up with the idea to steal back vital government property that couldn’t be retrieved under…more conventional and legitimate means.”

“Ah. So this whole thing was General Lee’s idea.”

Mac grinned. “Yup.”

She pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and took a seat. “How did he come up with it?”

“Frustration, mainly. He was involved with JAG, and if you think the conventional judicial system is screwed up, the military justice system is even worse.”

Lily frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Everything’s by the book, babe. Especially governmental procedures. When we’re being screwed by foreign countries or even crime on our own soil, and we know damn well who did it and who has the goods, if the system isn’t working in our favor there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”

She nodded. “I’ve seen that happen all too often.”

“And with theft, Grange had a genius idea. We might not be able to see the bad guys brought to justice, but we could sure as hell take back what was stolen from us. And there wouldn’t be a damn thing they could do about it.”

She grinned. “Because they stole it in the first place, so it’s not like they could report a theft.”

“Exactly.”

“You’re right. It is genius.”

“And the perfect career for a thief.”

She laughed. “You get to do what you love most and you don’t get in trouble for it.”

“Not as long as we don’t get caught.” He polished off his soda and took her hand. “Let’s go meet the other pros.”

She was looking forward to it. If they were anything like Mac, this should be interesting.

He led her back to the elevators. “You’ve seen the main living area on this floor.” He pushed the buttons. The rode to the next level and exited. “It’s going to get a little crazy.

Prepare yourself, and really, you’ve gotta ignore anything they say.”

“You make it sound like we’re entering a zoo.”

Mac snorted.

In a matter of seconds she understood why. She was swarmed as soon as they stepped out the door. Five men poured out of the open rooms upstairs and descended on her. It was like an invasion of big, beefy testosterone.

And she thought Mac was sexy. She recognized Spence, who she’d met earlier. He was the biggest of the bunch—then again, none of these guys were small.

“Since when does Grange allow us to bring women here?” one of them asked.

“Yeah. I didn’t get the memo,” another said, tilting his head to the side and giving Lily the once over.

They drew closer, giving her a head to toe inspection.

“Would you guys back up?” Mac rolled his eyes.

“Jesus. It’s not like you’ve never seen a woman before.”

“We’ve never seen your woman,” one of them said.

“What’s up with that?”

“Yeah. Introduce us.”

Lily crossed her arms, not feeling the least bit threatened. She knew what this was about. They were testing her, seeing if she was skittish or afraid, if she’d run or hide behind Mac. And Mac was giving her enough space to take care of herself. She appreciated that he was watching out for her, but not immediately coming to her aid.

She was no sissy. She’d weathered a lot worse her first year on the police force. Though lots of women became cops, in many precincts it was still a good ole’ boy network.

Especially in Dallas, where she’d started.

“You can look all you want, guys,” she said, making eye contact as they walked around her. “But if you touch, you’ll be sorry.”

“She’s got a bark,” one said behind her.

“But does she bite?” This from a guy in front of her.

“I might,” she said, quirking her lips.

“I’ve got something you can bite, baby.”

Someone whispered in her ear. She didn’t know which one, and honestly, it didn’t matter.

“I’m sorry, but I save everything oral for Mac.”

That set them off and they all started laughing.

“Yeah, she’ll do, Mac.”

He slung his arm around her. “Guys, this is Lily, and if you didn’t know it by now, let me make it real clear. She’s mine.”

Oh, she liked the sound of that.

“Lily, these are the guys. Biggest bunch of smartasses you’ll ever meet, but also my best friends. My brothers.”

She sobered as she heard the sincerity in his tone, and shook hands with each of them—AJ, who was just as tall but not quite as broad as Spencer. His hair was darker, with eyes that looked like the sky before a summer storm. Paxton, lean, spiked dirty blond hair and chiseled features that belonged on the cover of a magazine. Rick, quiet, with bedroom eyes that were dark to match his tan, unruly, thick black hair and the kind of body a woman could run her hands over for hours and simply get lost in. And finally, Diaz, with dark good looks, perfect white teeth and lips made to do sinful things to a woman’s body. His smile was devastating.

All of this male beauty surrounding her, and she could think of only the man whose arm hung over her shoulder, whose finger toyed with her hair, whose body pressed close to hers.

Still, that didn’t mean she couldn’t tease him.

“So, is there a community sleeping area?” she asked.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Mac said, grabbing her hand. “I’ll show you where you and me will sleep.”

He dragged her down the hall in a hurry. She waved to the guys over her shoulder while they all laughed and walked away, heading into their own rooms. Mac’s room was at the end of the hall. He opened the door and let Lily walk in, then closed it behind him.

Nice sized room, double bed. Nothing fancy, but it was well kept. As far as décor, there wasn’t any. Bed, dresser, a desk and a closet. That was about it.

“There are bathrooms in each room, he said, pointing to the partially open door at the corner of his room. Plenty of bedrooms too. “The guys stay on this side of the corridor, girls on the other side.”

“Girls?” she asked, arching a brow.

“Jessie, mainly, since she hangs out here sometimes.

Trust me, nobody brings girlfriends or dates or any women here. Grange would blow a gasket.”

“You brought me.”

“You’re special,” he said, his gaze dark with intent.

“Ah.” She turned away to hide her smile at his comment, gazing out the double windows. The fence line indicated Grange had a sizeable amount of property. Shrubs and a ton of tall, thick trees littered the land, which provided good cover for the house. She saw AJ heading outside and toward the garage. Shortly thereafter she heard the sound of a rumble, and saw a bike heading down the long drive. Lily watched until it disappeared into the trees.

She turned away from the window and toward Mac.

“Interesting bunch of guys.”

“You could say that.”

She leaned against the window sill. “They’re all incredibly good looking. Is that a requirement to be in your organization? Because a girl could get used to hanging around all that sexy testosterone.” She fanned herself. “My, my, my.”

He advanced on her, peeling off his jacket and tossing it onto the chair. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Think about what?” she asked, batting her lashes.

“You and any of those guys. Or for that matter, any other guy.” He stopped in front of her.

Oh, this was fun. She stretched out her legs between his. “Are you getting possessive on me?”

Mac leaned over and placed his palms on either side of her, framing her within the windowsill. “I’m not getting possessive, baby. I just think of you as mine. And I don’t share.”

“Oh.”

“Do you have a problem with that?”

He was so close his nose almost touched hers. She caught the faint scent of cinnamon on his breath from the gum he’d chewed earlier. She licked her lips, loving this side of him. “I don’t have a problem with that.”

“I don’t like you ogling the other guys.”

She snorted. “I wasn’t ogling, but I have to admit they were damn fine specimens of the male species.”

He narrowed his gaze. “Am I going to have to teach you a lesson?”

She loved this playful side of him, the one that could get down and dirty and role play with her where it really counted—in the bedroom. It was a side to Mac, and frankly, to herself, that she never knew existed. She loved bringing it out of both of them. “I hardly think I need to be taught a lesson, Mac. If I want to look, I’ll look.”

“I don’t think so.”

He surprised her then by grasping her wrists and jerking her to her feet, then hauling her with him over to the bed.

When he threw her over his lap, she let out a cry of surprise.

“Mac! What are you doing?”

“You’ve been a very bad girl, Lily.”

A little thrill shivered up her spine at the way he talked to her, the promise of an exciting adventure. “Mac, the other guys—‘“

“Can hear us. Do you like knowing that they’ll be able to hear me touching you?”

His hand came down hard on her buttocks, the loud smack echoing throughout his room.

“Ow! That hurt, goddamit!”

“Did it? Gee, Lily, I’m so sorry.”

There wasn’t an ounce of remorse in his words. She fumed, struggling to get off his lap. Then he surprised her by reaching underneath her to draw down the zipper on her jeans.

When she felt him pulling them down, she started to struggle in earnest.

“Don’t you dare.”

Despite her kicking and fighting, she was no match for him, and soon her jeans were down around her knees and the only thing protecting her butt from his hand was a thin pair of panties.

“I like this color,” he said, smoothing his hand over the lavender silk before smacking her rear end, again. Loud enough for someone to hear, too.

“Stop that!” It stung, but what she found surprising was how much it turned her on. She was getting wet. But was that due to Mac’s touch, the mental thrill of being spanked, or because the other guys might be listening in?

“I think you like this,” he said. “I think knowing the guys might hear excites you.”

“That’s ridiculous.” She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of admitting what she’d been thinking, even though every word he spoke made her cream in her panties.

He inhaled sharply. “I can smell you, Lily. When you’re excited, I can smell your pussy. God, that’s a sweet, hot scent. And it makes my dick hard.”

He rubbed her ass, trailing his fingers down to her pussy.

“You’re wet through your panties.” He slipped his finger underneath her panties and drove two fingers inside her.

“Goddamn are you ever wet.”

She couldn’t help but moan when he entered her with his fingers. It just made her wetter, feeling her pussy convulse around him. She wanted his cock in there, filling her, fucking her, making her come.

The soft tear of fabric brought about a wrenching gasp from her as he ripped her panties away, lifting the material from her body so he could cup her pussy with the palm of his hand.

He caressed her sex, back and forth, rubbing her clit until she writhed against him, searching for that sweet spot she craved so desperately. He removed his fingers and coated her anus with her cream, then slid one finger inside her ass while he used his other hand to stimulate her clit.