Her Rogue Alpha (X-Ops Book 5) Read Online Free Page A

him to come home, find her there, and tell her to get out and not come back. There were times when it was that bad. The thought of him breaking up with her brought tears to her eyes.
    Cursing under her breath, Layla tossed the disposable dust cloth in the trash can in the kitchen, then washed her hands. She was just checking the lasagna she’d put in the oven earlier when she heard Jayson’s heavy footsteps on the stairs in the hallway. He sounded like he was limping more than usual. Damn, she hated that he’d gotten an apartment in a place without an elevator, but he was so stubborn. Then again, that was part of why she loved him so much. He never let anything stop him from doing what he wanted.
    She was still thinking about all the different reasons she loved such an adorable, frustrating guy as keys jangled in the lock and Jayson opened the door. That’s when she remembered why he’d caught her eye the first time she’d seen him, at Ivy and Landon’s wedding. He was absolutely gorgeous. Tall, with broad shoulders and well-muscled arms, he had dark-blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and a square jaw covered with just the perfect amount of stubble. Then there was his mouth… There were books written about lips that kissable.
    Layla didn’t have to fake the smile that tugged up the corners of her lips. No matter how crazy things were between them on any given day, seeing Jayson always made her happy. She hurried across the room and wrapped her arms around him in a welcoming hug. That’s when she was reminded of the second thing that had attracted her to him at her sister’s wedding—his scent.
    Shifters had a tremendous advantage over the rest of the world when it came to their senses. Since the day she’d gone through her change when she was seventeen, Layla had been able to see, hear, and smell things that the rest of humanity never even noticed. And when it came to Jayson’s scent that was a pity because he smelled better than anyone else in the world.
    As she hugged him, Layla surreptitiously buried her face in the crook of his neck and inhaled deeply. Mmm , he smelled so good. It would be tough to describe his scent to anyone else, even another shifter or hybrid. None of the workplace smells could ever cover his natural, yummy aroma, not even the metallic odor of the guns he handled or the sharp smells of smokeless powder and cleaning solvents. When she was this close to him, all she could smell was his personal musk. It was so perfect that sometimes it was hard not licking him.
    Layla hadn’t been able to do something that intimate in a long time—not since she started field training and Jayson had started working at the gun range. Hugs like this were all they managed these days. Though she had to admit, a good hug could go a long way for her.
    “You worked late.” She reluctantly pulled away from him, not wanting to push her luck. “Somebody having problems getting through their qualification course?”
    Jayson looked around the living room of his small apartment, and she tensed, knowing he could tell she’d been cleaning. She braced herself, waiting for him to get upset. But it didn’t happen. Instead, he smiled and shook his head.
    “Nah. Just had a lot of weapons to clean. Then a shipment of 40mm grenades came in and I had to get them inventoried and locked away in one of the ammo bunkers before closing up for the day. They aren’t something I like to leave sitting out on my desk like a box of doughnuts.”
    She couldn’t help but laugh, both at what he’d said and in relief that he didn’t seem upset at her for cleaning his place. “I don’t know, 40mm grenades might be less dangerous than doughnuts—at least as far as my hips are concerned.”
    Jayson chuckled as he followed his nose to the kitchen. Opening the oven a crack, he took a sniff.
    “Mmm, smells good.” He turned to give her a big smile. “Is that homemade lasagna? Special occasion or something?”
    Layla had seen the