Bonus Epilogue
Ben & Jolly
Undercover in the Foothills of Colorado
...the barn door slammed shut behind us with enough force to rattle the hinges. Voices carried from outside, too many of them, punctuated by footsteps pounding across the packed dirt.
“They know,” Lydia whispered, pressing her back against the rough wood wall. Her eyes were wide, panicked.
I reached for her hand in the darkness, threading my fingers through hers the way a husband would. The fake wedding band on my finger felt cold, but her palm burned hot against mine. Her fear was palpable, radiating through her skin into mine. “No. They suspect. There’s a difference.”
Jolly’s low growl rumbled beside me. My hand rested on his collar, holding him back as his hackles rose. The muscles in my forearm flexed with the effort of keeping nearly one hundred pounds of trained aggression in check.
“Miller saw me near the communications shed.” Her voice came out breathier than usual. “He’ll tell Briggs.”
Damn it. My chest tightened. This was my fault—I should have been with her, should have kept her closer. “Then we give them something else to think about.” My voice dropped lower without meaning to. The same command tone that came out when I needed control, when the mission required it.
I moved my hands to the hem of her shirt. “It’s going to be okay.”
Before she could protest, I yanked it over her head in one swift motion. She gasped, arms crossing instinctively over her chest, over the bra that was now the only thing between her and exposure. Guilt stabbed through me. This was necessary. I had to keep telling myself that.
“Ben—”
“They need to see evidence.” I tossed her shirt into the hay, then pulled my own over my head. Her eyes tracked across my chest before she looked away. “We practiced this. You know what to do.”
But we’d practiced in a safe room with fluorescent lights and supervisors. Not here. Not with her life on the line.
Light swept across the gaps in the barn siding. Flashlights. Multiple beams searching, hunting.
“Ben and Lydia Harrison!” Briggs’s voice cut through the night. The Pioneer Guard’s second-in-command sounded almost pleased. “Come on out. Time for evening devotions.”
Evening devotions. My jaw tightened. Freeman used them to break people, to test loyalty in ways that had nothing to do with faith. I’d watched it happen. I wouldn’t let it happen to her.
I traced my thumb across Lydia’s knuckles, then higher, finding her wrist where her pulse hammered against my fingers. “Remember what we practiced.”
“The part where we convince thirty armed militia members we’re madly in love, or the part where we don’t die?”
“Both. At the same time.”
More footsteps. Closer now. They were surrounding the barn.
The barn door rattled. Someone was working the lock.
“They need to believe we were in here for a reason.” I slid my hand from her hip to the small of her back, pulling her flush against me.
She gasped at the contact, and I felt every curve of her body pressed against mine.
My body reacted instantly, betraying me.
Heat flooded through me—shame and desire tangled together in a way I couldn’t untangle. “A married reason.”
“Ben—“ Her protest died as I tangled my hand in her hair, tilting her head back.
“I know.” I pressed my forehead to hers, our breath mingling in the space between us. “I’m sorry.”
Sorry for what I was about to do. Sorry for how much I wanted to do it. Sorry for the way my body responded to her every time we shared that bed, every time she changed in front of me thinking I wasn’t watching. Sorry I couldn’t be the man who could keep her safe without putting her through this.
The door clicked open.
I crashed my mouth into hers just as the door swung wide, flooding us with harsh LED brightness.
But the kiss wasn’t just for show—my tongue swept into her mouth, demanding, and she moaned against me.
Her fingers dug into my chest. I kissed her like I’d been starving for it all week, like I wanted to memorize the taste of her.
Because maybe I had been. Maybe this was the excuse I’d been waiting for, and that made me the worst kind of bastard.
My hand tightened in her hair, angling her head for deeper access. My other hand grabbed her thigh, hitching it up around my hip. She rolled her hips against me, and I groaned into her mouth, the sound torn from somewhere deep in my chest.
“Well, well.” Briggs’s voice cut through everything like a blade. “Seems the newlyweds got distracted.”
I pulled back slowly, keeping my breathing ragged, my lips swollen. I shifted, turning us so my body blocked her from their view, one arm still wrapped around her waist. “Can’t a man have five minutes alone with his wife?”
Lydia was panting behind me, and I could feel the heat of her skin where my hand splayed across her bare back. The cool air made her shiver against me.
Briggs stepped into the barn, flanked by four other Guard members. All armed. All watching us with expressions I didn’t like. Jolly’s growl returned, and I felt the tension coiling through his body. My own tension mirrored his—ready to strike, needing to strike, knowing I couldn’t.
“Five minutes?” Briggs smiled, his eyes trying to look around me at Lydia. “Miller says your wife was near the communications shed thirty minutes ago. That’s a long time to be looking for privacy.”
“I was looking for Ben.” Lydia’s voice came out wrecked, thoroughly kissed. She pressed closer to my back. “Got turned around. This place is bigger than it looks in the dark.”
“Is that so?” Briggs took another step forward. Jolly’s growl dropped lower, more warning than threat.
“Control your animal, Harrison,” one of the other men said, hand moving to his sidearm. But his eyes weren’t on Jolly—they were on Lydia, on the way her chest rose and fell with each breath.
“Jolly, heel.” My command was sharp. The dog moved to my side but kept his eyes locked on the threats. Good boy.
Briggs studied us for a long moment, taking in Lydia’s messed hair, her swollen lips, the way my hand hadn’t moved from her bare skin. “Freeman wants to see you both. Now.”
Freeman. The man who’d orchestrated bombings in three states. The man who was planning something that would make those look like warm-ups. The man who liked to watch.
“Of course,” I said, keeping my voice rough. “Just give us a moment to... compose ourselves.”
Briggs’s smile grew predatory. “Actually, Freeman wants to see her first. Alone. Just the way she is.”
Every muscle in my body went rigid. My hand tightened on Lydia possessively before I could stop myself. Over my dead body. The thought came unbidden, instinctive, and I had to force it down. Had to think tactically. Had to remember the mission.
“That’s not—”
“Not what?” Briggs interrupted. “Not acceptable? You questioning Freeman’s authority, Harrison? Or maybe you don’t trust your wife alone with other men? That doesn’t sound like the devoted couple you’ve been selling us.”
This was it. The moment our cover shattered, or the moment we played a card we couldn’t take back.
“Ben.” Lydia pressed her palm against my shoulder, then leaned up to brush her lips against my ear. “If you come after me, we’re both dead.”
I shuddered, my control hanging by a thread. The same thread that had snapped thirteen years ago when I’d beaten a man nearly to death. Only this time, I couldn’t protect her without destroying everything. The frustration burned through me like acid.
“Tick tock,” Briggs said, his eyes dropping to where Lydia stood behind me. “Freeman doesn’t like to wait. And he’s very... eager to get to know you better, Mrs. Harrison.”
I moved fast. My shirt was closer than hers, crumpled at our feet. I grabbed it and yanked it over her head before any of them could react.
“Harrison—“ Briggs started.
“She’s not going anywhere half-dressed.” My voice came out steel. I helped guide her arms through the sleeves, the fabric hanging loose and oversized on her frame. Still warm from my body.
Lydia untangled herself from me slowly, her hand trailing down my chest. I struggled not to grab her, not to keep her with me. She took one step toward the door. Then another.
Behind me, Jolly barked once, sharp and warning.
Then I heard it—the sound that made my blood run cold.
The distinct mechanical click of a hammer being pulled back on a pistol.
“Just in case anyone gets any ideas,” Briggs said softly. “Your husband stays here. You come with us. And if anyone does anything stupid...” He smiled. “Well, widows—minus their dogs—are always welcome in the Guard. Freeman has a special place for them.”
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Keep reading Ben and Lydia (and Jolly’s!) story in DUTY UNLEASHED!
Fake marriage. Real danger.
And a militia that tests loyalty in the most intimate ways.
ATF agent Lydia Norrill’s undercover mission is already difficult: infiltrate the Pioneer Guard before their next attack. But the militia’s “community” runs on devotion, control—and twisted loyalty rituals that push every boundary.
To make matters worse, she’s been partnered with Ben Harrison, the man she never thought she’d see again.
Ben knows danger—it’s what he’s built his life around in Citadel Solutions. With Jolly—the canine partner who’s saved his life more times than he can count—Ben knows survival in the compound depends on a flawless performance.
Play her husband. Sell the illusion. Find a way to take these bastards down.
But the longer Ben and Lydia live the lie, the harder it becomes to keep emotion out of it. And the secrets they’re both keeping could detonate the entire mission.
When the Guard’s true plan explodes into motion, Ben and Lydia will have to decide what they’re willing to sacrifice—duty, loyalty, or each other.