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Prologue

TEN YEARS BEFORE

CLINT MCINTYRE, TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD A Navy SEAL A fully grown, sensual, dominant male He was a rown in confidence and in power He wasn't a child fighting to hide the abuse he had suffered any longer He was aless than his best froside

But he was a ht of one se Lolita decked out in a short skirt, a thin pale blue blouse, and high heels Dark brown hair flowed around her in a ray eyes sparkled back at hihter and interest Too much interest

He was a grown ers To even consider the beginning pulses of awareness he could feel h him was a crime One he refused to allow to take hold

She was his best friend's sister She was his sister's best friend And normally she was the bane of his existence

Morganna Chavez had been tor him in one form or another since the day she learned hoalk and toddled to him to set his attention She had been getting his attention in one form or another ever since

He hadn't expected this, though That glih breasts beneath her thin blouse and the long, shapely legs beneath the short skirt Pink lips glistening with a soft gloss and gray eyes that looked smoky, seductive, rather than immature and filled with childlike wonder

He deserved to be shot

"So, are you going to stand there like a knot on a log or are you going to dance with me?" She propped one hand on her hip and smiled slowly "It is my birthday after all"

His lips twitched at her flirtatiousness She had been flirting with hi as he could remember, too

He stared around the backyard; the lights strung through the trees cast a soft glow over the thirty-so the party her brother had allowed

Reno had lost his lanced across the yard to where his best friend, Morganna's brother, was testing the punch bowl for alcohol, to the laughing aathered around the table

They were kids Morganna was a kid

"Go dance with one of your friends, brat" Clint smiled to soften the rejection He didn't have to fake his affection for her; she was as much a part of his life as his sister hen he was hoanna Deeply

"Coward" She flicked him an amused look from beneath her lashes A look far too mature for her years and far too

knowing

No man he kneould ever call hi Deadly He was scared to death to be within a hundred feet of her

He shook his head and laughed at her A soft, indulgent laugh that had her brows drawing together and her gray eyes di with a hint of vulnerability

"Go play, Morganna," he told her gently as he turned away "Leave the grown-ups alone"