Beneath the Fire (A Guardians Novella) Read Online Free

that,” Nathan said. “She’s hiding something, it will be a mistake to pull me out now.”  
    Viktor and Maia exchanged looks, but it was Maia who spoke. “Until this mess with Francisco Cortez is over, you cannot break cover. You’ll have to find a way to justify not seeing her when you’re on assignments. Your parents do not even know what you do. ”
    “No, they think I install security systems,” Nathan replied.
    “That cover is getting overused,” Viktor muttered.
    “Mine is unique,” Maia quipped. Her cover was a marketing executive for a pharmaceutical company.
    “Unless this goes the distance with her, Stark—” Maia said.
    “Look, I get it,” Nathan cut in tersely. He understood, damn it. Guardians rarely had families of their own because of the strains of their work. That was why he was drawn to the AGS too. They were his family because his own didn’t give a damn about him. Except now he had Lucy. And yes, it had gotten more complicated.

CHAPTER THREE

    Lucy sat on the grassy lawn on campus. Nathan’s head was on her lap and she was idly sifting her fingers through his thick dark hair.  
    “How was lacrosse practice this morning?”  
    “Grueling,” Nathan grunted. His eyes were closed so she took the opportunity to study his face. His skin was naturally swarthy from playing sports outside, his dark brows were set closely to his sapphire blue eyes, which were lashed just right. He had a strong angular jaw and his lips were full but masculine. Right now he was sporting stubble and that made him look extremely sexy.
    A group of guys was playing football not too far from them. One of them recognized Nathan and called out.
    “Hey, Stark! Wanna join in? We could use another one.”
    “Nah!” Nathan replied. “I’m good right here.”
    The guys made some cat calls that caused Lucy to blush, but Nathan just chuckled and tilted his head back to gaze up at her. “Yes, I’m good right here. Give me a kiss, babe.”
    “I don’t think so,” Lucy retorted.
    “Why not?” Nathan asked innocently.
    Lucy playfully covered his mouth with her hand and turned his head. “You are incorrigible. You know if I kiss you, your friends are only going to tease us more.”
    “So?”
    Lucy shook her head. Nathan was hopeless. But she loved his playfulness.  
    “This was how we met, remember, Lucy?”
    “Yes, how can I forget? You threw a football at me and hit my soda, drenching me all over.”
    “Not my fault my friend couldn’t catch it.”
    “You just wanted to meet me,” Lucy said smugly.
    Nathan grinned at her. “You looked so cute all decked out in a pink sweater reading whatever on your iPad. Your lips were sucking on that straw and it was giving me a hard on.”
    “Nathan Stark!” Lucy said in mock horror. “Seriously.”
    Lucy remembered being mad as a wet hen, pun intended. Nathan approached her with a wide grin on his face and had not, in anyway, looked apologetic at all, despite the words that came out of his mouth. And his method of drying her up was something else.
    “You copped a feel, if I remember.”
    Nathan burst out laughing. “I was helping you dry the soda that spilled all over your chest.”
    “My boobs, you mean.”
    Lucy remembered shrieking every unladylike expletive at Nathan that day. And he had just laughed. She had packed up her stuff in a snit and hightailed it back to her apartment. Nathan, sweaty and all, had followed her home. She realized how stupid it was to let him. What if he had been crazy or worse a psycho? Then he would have known where she lived. Unfortunately, she was too ridiculously attracted to the devastatingly handsome stranger following her to remember about personal safety.
    “You stalked me.”
    “Well, yeah I wanted to know where you lived,” Nathan said.  
    “You asked for my number.”
    “Took a while for you to give it to me. You slammed the door on me, remember?”
    “Yeah, but you didn’t take the hint anyway because you were