Free Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Cowboy D-Force (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Brotherhood Protectors Book 4) by Elle James

her arms crossed over her chest and an expression that said, I told you so, Lena stared at him. “Uncle?”
    He gritted his teeth, dragged in a deep breath and then strode down the hall. At her bedroom, he kicked open the door, entered the huge room and dumped her ass on the king-sized bed.
    “Hey! That wasn’t very nice.” She righted herself and pulled the comforter over her nakedness. “You, Mr. Morrison, are no gentleman.”
    “And you, Miss Love, are no lady. Didn’t your mother teach you to wear a swimsuit when you go swimming out in the open?”
    “It’s my place. I can walk around stark naked wherever the hell I please. Besides, a polite gentleman would have looked away.”
    “Since we’ve already established that I’m no gentleman, it’s a moot point.” He strode to the windows, checked the locks, double-checked the bathroom and ducked to glance under her bed.
    A slim, bare foot shot out hitting him in the shoulder, knocking him backward.
    He grabbed the ankle attached to the foot as he went down, dragging her off the bed. They landed in a tangled heap on the sheepskin rug.
    Lena tried to scramble out of reach.
    Duke wasn’t having any of it. “Prepare to reap what you sew.” He flipped her onto her back on the rug, straddled her hips and pinned her wrists high above her head. Then he stared down at her flushed face.
    “I don’t think pinning your client to the floor is in your job description.” She wiggled beneath him, igniting his desire for this mess of a woman.
    “I’m guarding your body.” His gaze slipped lower. “And since you seem to enjoy strutting around in your birthday suit, I assume you have no problem with your bodyguard seeing you nude.” His glance slipped to the breasts he’d seen last night, flashed fully in his face. Only this time, there was something different. On her left breast, just below the nipple was a tattoo of a heart surrounded by two doves in flight.
    He froze, studying the tattoo.
    “Hey, you can quit staring now,” she said, her cheeks turning redder by the minute. She arched her back in an attempt to dislodge him.
    Still holding her wrists with one of his hands, he pointed at the mark. “This tattoo, when did you get it?”
    She stopped struggling. “When I was eighteen. The year my parents died.”
    For a moment, her words hung in the air, as if they didn’t quite belong anywhere. Then it all came crashing down around Duke.
    He glared down at her. “Who the hell are you?”
    Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. “Wh-what do you mean? I’m Lena Love. Who else would I be?” Her gaze slipped to the corner of the room.
    “The woman in the bar who flashed me last night was Lena Love. She didn’t have a tattoo on her breasts. You, however, do.”
    She set her jaw in a tight line. “Get off of me.”
    Duke shook his head. “Not until you tell me what the hell is going on.”

    A ngel could tell by the dark look in Duke’s eyes he wasn’t going to buy any more of her bullshit.
    “I’m Lena Love, and I’m ordering you to let go of me.”
    He shook his head. “Nope. Try again.”
    She fought to free her wrists, finally giving up. “Fine. Let me up, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
    For a long moment, he continued to hold her wrists above her head. Then he abruptly released them and rose to his feet.
    Angel covered her breasts with her hands, glad she at least still wore panties. Though, even with everything covered, she felt completely exposed to his all-seeing gaze.
    He reached a hand down to her.
    She ignored it, rolled to her side and pushed to a standing position. With her back to him, she crossed to a dresser, pulled out a leopard print nightgown, threw it down in disgust and found a plain gray T-shirt. Pulling it over her head, she turned to confront her bodyguard.
    “Come with me.” She led the way into the bathroom with its bright white walls, brushed chrome fixtures and muted lighting
    Once she closed the door behind