Free No Quarter Given (SSE 667) by Lindsay McKenna Page A

water."
    Smiling, Dana rolled gracefully in a complete circle, surfacing on her back and floating. "It's not my nature to do what's easy. I like a challenge."
    Grudgingly, Griff prepared to swim back to shore—by himself. "Come next Monday, you're going to face the biggest challenge in your life, Coulter."
    Her smile disappeared and she held his dark eyes. "Lieutenant, nothing you can throw at me will ever equal what I've already survived. Nothing."
    Dana lunged past him, swimming strongly toward shore. Griff stared at her, assimilating the low tremble in her voice and the rebellion in her azure eyes. He trod water, wondering what she was talking about. Bothered, he began a leisurely swim back to shore. His threats rolled off her like water off an otter's back. Dana was no more afraid of him than she was of this ocean. She didn't scare easily. It had to be a facade. There was no other explanation. Underneath, Dana was just as weak and brittle as Carol had been.
    The water sloughed away the rest of his anger. By the time his feet touched the sandy bottom, Dana had already retrieved her towel and was walking toward the parking lot. Flinging his head from side to side, Griff went in the opposite direction to retrieve his shirt, shoes and sunglasses. Running his long fingers through his hair, he got rid of most of the water.
    He turned and looked over his shoulder. Dana had disappeared, and the beach once more was deserted. What had she survived? Needled, Griff shrugged on the black polo shirt and slipped on the sunglasses. He sat down, brushing the wet sand off his feet, struggling to put his tennis shoes back on. Dana's words echoed in his head: "Nothing you can throw at me will ever equal what I've already survived. Nothing."
    Was she referring to the rigors of Annapolis? God knew, it was a hellish place for a man, much less a woman. Ring knockers were a brotherhood, and didn't take lightly to newcomers in their ranks. The first two years at Annapolis were the most grueling challenge Griff had ever faced.
    Jerking his shoes onto his feet, he got up, dusting the sand from his wet shorts. Griff mulled over Dana's low, trembling voice. Something told him she wasn't talking about Annapolis. But what? A marriage and then a divorce, possibly? Her file said she was single, but it didn't say if she'd been married previously. And what about her comment that this wasn't her first black eye?
    Stymied, Griff headed across the dunes to the parking lot. Dana Coulter was an enigma; a mystery of the first order. His forte was solving mysteries. Irritated by his own curiosity, Griff consoled himself with the thought that come next Monday, more would be revealed about Dana. His method of instructing was sure to garner a host of reactions that would reveal a great deal more about her. And when he had her figured out, he'd make sure she'd never graduate as a pilot. Toby was dead, and he was damned sure he wasn't going to be some woman's next victim.

Chapter Four
    Dana was in the ready room where all the students who were going to fly met their IPs. It was 0700, and she wiped her damp palms against her thighs just as Griff entered. A number of the other students gave her sympathetic glances as her instructor appeared. If Dana read their looks accurately, she was seen as a lamb going to slaughter. Despite the fear sitting in the pit of her stomach, her heart responded strongly to Griff. There was something different about him from any other man in the room.
    Dana stood as he walked toward her. She searched his clear gray eyes and found them icy, without emotion. His mouth, always an intriguing part of his face, was grim. The dark blue garrison cap sat at a cocky angle on his head. She noticed the way the olive-green flight uniform fit his tall, tightly muscled body.
    Dana shook her head, wondering if the nervousness over her first flight was making her crazy. Ordinarily, she never looked at men this way. The fear of how they could harm her always