Read Last Virgin In California (Mills & Boon Desire) for Free Online

and started his long walk down the narrow aisle. She caught glimpses of pale faces and she could only make out the Gunny’s silhouette, but she had no trouble at all hearing him.
    “Listen up!” he thundered in a roar that was designed to capture everyone’s attention. “When I give you the word, you will get the hell off this bus. Then you will stand in the yellow footprints painted on the pavement. You will then wait for further instructions. Do you hear me?”
    “Yes, sir,” came a desultory answer from only a handful of the kids trapped on that bus.
    “From this moment on,” Michaels screamed and Lilah was pretty sure even she flinched, “you will begin and end every answer to every question with “sir.” Is that clear?”
    “Sir, yes, sir!” A few more voices this time.
    “I can’t hear you.”
    “Sir, yes, sir!”
    With that, he strode back down the center aisle, left the bus and stood just at the bottom of the steps. “Move, move, move, move…” he shouted and instantly, dozens of feet went into action.
    Clamoring to hurry, racing to follow instructions, a bunch of kids who only the day before had only to worry about which hamburger joint to have lunch in rushed toward destiny. Lilah winced in silent sympathy for what she knew they’d be going through soon. Boot camp was rough, but if they made itthrough, each of those kids would be stronger than they ever would have believed possible. Heaven knew she had never really felt as though she belonged, but she respected what the Corps could do. What they represented. What was possible with the kind of teamwork taught in the Marines.
    A flash of pride swelled inside her as she listened to those feet hustling off the bus. They were scared now, but in a few short weeks, they’d be proud.
    “I should have known,” a voice came from right beside her and Lilah jumped, just managing to stifle a screech of surprise.
    Grabbing the base of her throat, she half turned and looked up into now familiar green eyes. “Good God, you almost killed me,” she said.
    “Don’t tempt me.”
    She straightened up to her full, less than impressive height. “Hey, I’m not one of those kids, you can’t order me around.”
    “That seems pretty clear,” he muttered, then grabbed her upper arm in a grip that told her his temper was carefully leashed. “Why are you here?”
    Lilah flashed him a grin. “Because you told me I couldn’t be.”
    “You know,” he said, with a shake of his head, “I never thought I’d feel sorry for an officer. But damned if I don’t feel some sympathy for the Colonel.”
    “I’ll pass that along for you,” she said.

Chapter Four
    “D o you ever do what you’re told?” he asked, voice tight.
    “Almost never,” she said softly.
    And damned if she didn’t sound proud of that little fact.
    Standing here in the dark with her, Kevin wasn’t sure if he wanted to strangle her or kiss her. Either way would only lead to trouble though, so he resisted both impulses.
    Still, he felt her warmth, felt it drawing him in. And after being so cold for so long, the temptation to step closer was a strong one. Warning bells went off in his mind, but unfortunately, his mind wasn’t in charge at the moment.
    Moonlight barely reached into this one little darkened corner of the base. But even in the dim light, he had no trouble making out her delicate features, the paleness of her skin or that wild tangle of hair lying about her face and well past her shoulders. He caught a whiff of her perfume and it tantalized him, making something inside him clutch up tight and hard. And he damn well resented it.
    What was it about this one tiny woman that seemed to be getting past every defense he’d erected over the last couple of years?
    “How’d you know I was here?” she asked, keeping her voice low enough that no one else would hear her. Especially over Staff Sergeant Michaels’s shouting.
    How to explain that, he wondered. He wasn’t about to admit