When hubby and I were talking ideas for the second book in the SWAT Series over Spicy Chicken at P.F. Chang’s, we immediately knew we wanted to add a female werewolf to the team. The moment we broached the subject with all the guys on the team (not named Gage, of course!) everyone wanted to be The One for Khaki. But ultimately, we left the decision up to her. We think she made the right choice!
Blurb:
He's in trouble with a capital T…
There's never been a female on the Dallas SWAT team and Senior Corporal Xander Riggs prefers it that way. The elite pack of alpha male wolf shifters is no place for a woman. But Khaki Blake is no ordinary woman.
When Khaki walks through the door attractive as hell and smelling like heaven, Xander doesn't know what the heck to do. Worse, she's put under his command and Xander's protective instincts go on high alert. When things start heating up both on and off the clock, it's almost impossible to keep their heads in the game and their hands off each other.
Excerpt:
Xander had to pick his jaw up off the floor of the training room when Gage introduced the newest member of the SWAT team. He didn’t know what to expect, but it sure as hell wasn’t Officer Khaki Blake. Tall with an athletic build and just enough curves to fill out the SWAT T-shirt, she had the biggest brown eyes and softest looking lips he’d ever seen. She had her dark hair back in a bun, so he couldn’t tell how long it was, but he’d bet money it fell past her shoulders. She smelled way too good to be believed, too—like a slice of frosting-covered spice cake in a uniform.
Shit. He was practically panting. If he didn’t get a grip soon, he was going to start frigging drooling.
He gave the other guys a covert glance to see how they were dealing with her scent and was stunned to see that none of them seemed to be reacting at all. Why not? His nose wasn’t that much better than theirs. He knew for a fact that several of the other guys—Cooper and Brooks specifically—could smell a hell of a lot better than he could.
Maybe everyone was so mesmerized by finally getting to see a female version of their kind that the rest of their senses had stopped working.
Gage had left it up to Xander to fill the Pack in on what had gone down at the meeting with Deputy Chief Mason while he’d headed home to pack for his trip to Washington State. While the guys had been pissed that the top brass was playing politics with the team, they’d been intrigued at the idea of adding a female werewolf to the Pack.
They’d bombarded him with dozens of questions, none of which he could answer. Was she as fast and strong as they were, or did her abilities manifest themselves in completely different ways? Would she be as aggressive as they were and able to handle herself in a fight? Were there more like her out there, or was she the only one?
Not all the questions were so general. Brooks wondered what she would look like, Max wanted to know if she would smell like them or more feminine, and Becker… Well, Becker just wanted to know if she liked to wear yoga pants. God, that kid had an obsession with those things.
Xander had told them the only truth he knew—that no one outside of Gage knew a damn thing about female werewolves. And Xander wasn’t so sure how much their commander knew, either.
While Xander had been lost in thought, Gage turned the floor over to Khaki, who was currently explaining how much she appreciated the opportunity to be in SWAT.
“I know I won’t be handed anything, but I look forward to proving to every one of you that I belong in the Pack and on the team.” She spoke in a light, lilting voice that nevertheless easily filled the large classroom. He could definitely pick up the Midwest accent, mixed with a little West Coast flavor. “I’m not asking for anything from you, but a chance to do just that.”
Xander surveyed the room again, trying to read expressions and body language. Some of the younger guys like Becker, Cooper, Max, and Remy seemed ready to accept her. And while the rest of the team were projecting a cautious wait-and-see attitude, no one appeared to be flat out against her yet.
That was a relief. From what Gage had told him about Khaki, she seemed like a good cop. But getting accepted into the Pack was an uphill battle for everyone new to it. Just ask Max and Becker—the two most recent additions to the team. Being a woman was going to make it even harder. It would be damn near impossible if some of the guys were already dead set against the entire concept of a female on the team before she even started.
Khaki’s scent wafted across the room to tease his nose again, more insistently this time. Xander took a deep breath through his mouth, hoping to clear his head. It seemed to work—until she and Gage walked over to him.
Xander pushed away from the desk he was leaning against to stand up straighter. This close, he could see that her eyes weren’t merely brown. They had little flecks of gold in them, too. He had no doubt she’d look even more amazing when she shifted and her eyes turned completely gold.
“I’m giving Officer Blake the afternoon off to go apartment hunting, so you won’t be able to start training right away,” Gage said. “But I wanted to make sure she got to meet her squad leader before she took off.”
Xander was so busy figuring out how to breathe without overdosing on her scent that it took a minute for Gage’s words to register. When they finally did, he just about had to lean back on the desk again to keep from falling over. He’d just assumed Khaki would be assigned to Mike’s squad. Which was stupid, he realized. Xander had one less team member than Mike, so now they’d be even. But Mike was more patient than Xander, and far less brusque. Or maybe it only seemed that way because Mike thought before he spoke, whereas Xander tended to blurt out the first thing that came to mind. Regardless, he wasn’t the best person to train Khaki.
Even if he was, he couldn’t. She smelled too damn irresistible. He’d never be able to concentrate for more than a minute at a time, much less be objective about anything.
Khaki smiled and held out her hand. Xander shook it, trying to ignore how smooth and warm her skin felt in his rough mitt.
“Sergeant Dixon told me a lot about you, Corporal,” she said. “I’m looking forward to learning from you.”
Xander returned her smile, unable to help himself. “Welcome to the team.”
Thank God the rest of his squad came over or he might have stood there gazing into her eyes for the rest of the day. He released her hand and stepped back as Max, Hale, Becker, Cooper, Alex, and Trevor crowded around Khaki, asking her where she was from and how long she’d been a werewolf. That was when reality kicked back in and reminded him the woman he’d just spent the past fifteen minutes mentally undressing was going to be in his squad, and that he was going to be her supervisor.
Shit, he was in so much trouble.
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