Free The Recruit: Book One by Elizabeth Kelly Page B

did you say?”
    Richard laughed.  “I said congratulations - you passed.”
    Hannah’s mouth dropped open and she stared at him.  “I
passed?  Are you – are you sure?”
    He laughed again.  “Very.”
    “Thank you.”  Hannah said thinly.  Her heart was pounding,
sending blood rushing through her body.  “Richard, thank you so much.”
    He shrugged.  “Don’t thank me.  Will, Mannie and Isabelle
are the ones who have the final say on whether you pass or not.”
    She stood up on legs that were still shaking but Richard
held his hand up.  “One last thing Hannah.  How did you know Will’s a Lycan?”
    “I’m sorry – what?”  She stuttered, trying to buy some time.
    “A Lycan.  How did you know Will is a Lycan?  He normally
doesn’t tell the recruits until they’ve moved on to the weapons training.”
    “Oh um, I just kind of figured it out.  You know...after the
lessons from Isabelle and stuff.”  She said lamely.
    Richard stared at her.  She knew he didn’t believe her but
he let it go.  “Very well.  Go back to your friends and tell them the good
news.  It’s been a while since every recruit in a group has moved on to the
next level so you’ll have extra to celebrate tonight.”
    “Celebrate?”
    He grinned.  “It’s tradition.  We give the babies a break
from their training, and give them an evening off outside of the facility. 
Enjoy yourself; it’ll be the last break you get for a very long time.”
    She nodded and walked composedly out of his office.  She
shut the door and stood quietly in the hallway for a moment with her eyes
closed.  She took a deep breath and then broke into a hip-gyrating, pelvis-thrusting,
arms-waving-wildly-over-her-head dance. 
    Grinning hugely she opened her eyes and jumped when she saw
Will standing two feet away.
    “Jesus!  Stop sneaking up on me.”  She scowled.
    He grinned at her.  “Nice moves.”
    She gave him a sour look and started to push past him.
    He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her to a stop.  “I hear
congratulations are in order.”
    She scowled at him again.  “Yeah, no thanks to you.”
    The smile dropped from his face.  “What do you mean?”
    “Don’t play dumb, Will.”  She hissed, yanking her arm free. 
“You intentionally tried to sabotage me by forcing me to fight you in the
combat training.  No human would have been able to beat you.  You set me up for
failure.”
    “I can assure you that was not my intention.”  He said
dryly.
    “Oh really?  Then why did you step in yesterday?  Hmm?”  Her
face was completely pale except for two red spots high on her cheekbones. Her
absolute fury with him had turned her usual soft and pretty features into a
ruthless and cold type of beauty.
    He took a deep breath and tried to remember how incredibly
inappropriate it would be to kiss her right now.  He took a few steps
backwards, wanting to put some space between them.  She followed him, her body
nearly touching his, and he backed up again until he felt the wall against his
back.
    “Well?  I’m waiting.”  She said coolly.
    “I thought it would be good for you.”  He lied.  “Thought
you could use the extra challenge.”
    “Fuck you.”  She said scornfully.
    “You already have – remember?”  He dropped his gaze to her mouth
and she punched him solidly in the chest.  He looked back up at her, barely
feeling the blow, and his nostrils flared at the look in her eyes.  The anger
was still there, but underneath it was an emotion he recognized well.  It was
the same thing he felt every time he even thought of Hannah – lust, desire, and
need.
    He glanced both ways down the hallway.  Although he was
aching to kiss her, four feet outside of Richard’s office in a busy corridor
was definitely not the time or place. 
    “This is not a good idea, Hannah.”  He mimicked her from
earlier, and she gave him a decidedly shark-like grin and leaned closer.
    “What’s not a good idea,