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EXCERPT:

To observe a Marine is inspirational. To be a Marine is exceptional.

"Get the fuck outta my face, right now, maggot, before I skin you alive and wear your ass as a hat. What the fuck do you think you're doin'?" Colonel Joe -˜Magnus' Rivers yelled at the recruit and snatched the M4 out of her hands.

"Colonel." Gunny Paul Roberts tried to calm him, but Magnus was furious.

Of all the fucking stupid things. Damn it.

"Fuck that shit. She got Stewart shot! This is why women shouldn't be on the front fuckin' line. Fuck!" Magnus ran a hand over his face and handed the gun to Corporal Moore. "No fuckin' way is this going to work." He turned to walk back to the barracks. He couldn't stand to be around her for a second more. Fuck ups like her got people killed. Sloppy didn't cut it in his unit.

"Mag, Private Stewart wasn't really shot." Roberts rushed to keep up.

"I know that, Gunny. It's the principle of the matter."

"Oh, he knows another word besides fuck." The words were almost too faint to be heard, but they reached the Colonel's ears.

Magnus whipped around and got up into the recruits' face. In a quiet voice, he addressed the woman.

"What did you just say?" There was no need to speak louder, his voice seethed with anger and he was about to snap.

She stared straight ahead and didn't look him in the eye.

The only smart thing she's done so far. Take a deep breath, man. Calm down. No one was really hurt.

Reasoning with himself sucked, but luckily for the recruit, he was able to leash his anger or she'd be down for the count, woman or not.

"Not so tough now, huh, Patterson? Drop and give me twenty."

Without hesitation, she dropped to the ground and started counting out her pushups. Magnus would expect no less and his team knew it. No one fucked with Mag, at least not to his face.

"Moore, take over PT." He turned back to Roberts and gestured for him to follow. "Roberts, I don't think I can keep this up. What was the General thinking? This woman doesn't belong here. She's some military brat trying to prove herself. How are we supposed to make her into a soldier?" Magnus said in frustration.

Roberts looked back at the woman doing pushups.

"I don't know, sir. Looks like you're doing a good job to me."

Magnus glanced back as well and waved his hand. "Physical exercise does not a soldier make. You saw her at the range. How the fuck did she make it out of boot?"

"Mag, it's only been a few weeks. Give her a break," Roberts tried to soothe him.

It wasn't taking. He was still too furious. What if they'd been on a live exercise?

"I can't. I wouldn't let the guys get away with that shit. No fucking way am I giving the wannabe warrior a break. She'll do it my way or I'll kick her ass back to Daddy's. We're supposed to take her on fucking missions for chrissake." He shook his head. "She's going to get someone killed."

"We have a month before we hea-”"

Mag glared at Roberts. Without another word he entered the building, trying to forget the woman doing pushups in the yard.

Trouble with a capital T is what that one is.

Mag led Roberts to his office. "We need to go over the training schedule. I want us tight before we head into Sri Lanka. We'll have to compensate for Patterson."

"I don't think you're giving her enough credit. She made it through boot camp. Not even her dad's rank would get her through that."

"So she has guts, but can she really cut it?" Mag worried his lip with his teeth.

These soldiers were his responsibility and their families trusted him to bring them home alive, if a little dinged up.

"We have training time. Push her to the limit. You know the General isn't going to take her off the team. We work with what we've got. That's all we can do. Remember, this is a peacekeeping mission. If we do it right, a shot won't even be fired."

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EXCERPT:

Mari jolted out of bed. Something had woken her up and she was a bit disoriented. She threw off her blankets, stumbled to the front of her apartment and paused with her hand on the doorknob, still not all the way awake.

Something isn't right.

She cocked her head at a noise coming from the other side. It was times like these she wished she'd listened to her brother and had that peephole installed. The rustling sound came again and the knob turned in her hand. That woke her up.

What the hell?

She backed away and looked around to find a weapon. The only thing close was an umbrella so she grabbed it and waited. It seemed like hours, though it was only seconds later when someone stepped through the doorway. She closed her eyes and swung the umbrella like a bat. It made a nice swooshing sound, then a whack as it connected and a thud when the person fell. She opened her eyes and her jaw dropped.

On her floor was Ben - all six foot three inches of him. Mari flipped on the light so she could see him better. He was dressed in blue jeans and a red T-shirt that showed off his dark complexion. His black hair was barely there with its short Marine high and tight cut. His full lips looked so inviting and she wanted to kiss him, but she was pissed off and he'd probably have heart failure if his best friend's sister gave him a lip lock.

"God damn it, Ben! How many times have I told you to knock!"

Mari went with anger, it was easier than focusing on how much she wanted in Ben's pants...or him out of them.

"Well shit, Jellybean, if you'd lock your door, I might just knock." He looked up at her from the floor, rubbing his head.

Mari put her hand out to help him to his feet, not letting his big brown eyes distract her. She was upset. He'd just broken into her house and she hadn't seen or heard from him in weeks.

"When are you going to realise I'm not a kid anymore and stop calling me by that ridiculous nickname?"

Secretly she liked Ben calling her Jellybean, but she'd never let him know that. Lusting after her brother's best friend probably wasn't the best thing she could do, but she couldn't help it. She'd been in love with the man for as long as she could remember and he never saw her as more than a friend's annoying sibling.

Mari thought things might go differently after they both attended a family friend's wedding. The dance she'd shared with Ben had been wonderful, but he ran off right afterwards. This was the first time she'd seen him since the reception.

"What did you hit me with?"

Ben still rubbed his head and she chuckled at his hurt expression. She also noticed that he'd ignored her comment about the nickname.

"An umbrella, I couldn't find anything else." Mari shrugged and put the umbrella away.

"Just wait until I tell Fin."

"What? That you broke into his poor defenceless sister's house? And you leave my brother out of this. What are you doing here anyway?" It was nice to see Ben back to his old self. This was who she knew and loved. Not that man who had left her on the dance floor feeling so alone and confused.

Ben snorted. "I'm taking you out. Go get dressed, Jellybean."

She liked how he dismissed the poor defenceless part. Of course it helped having an older brother and his friends teaching her ways to make sure her dates didn't get too grabby.

"Why me? Isn't Fin home?" Mari plopped down on her couch.

"He's out on assignment." Ben moved to sit down beside her.

Mari loved the way his cologne smelled and she liked having him here beside her. She really didn't feel like going out.

"Shoot, that's right. I forgot he was delayed because one of the pilots got sick. He's due back any day. Can't you wait?"

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EXCERPT:

"What the fuck?" Rock stumbled as the ship shuddered. He looked up as Sela ran onto the bridge. "Hold on to something. A ship just exploded in our path." He focussed on steering the Salvation out of the flames but something caught his eye. "Se, there's an emergency pod! See if you can find their frequency and hail them," Rock said over his shoulder, fully expecting her to jump to it. She was efficient that way. He scanned the area to see if there were any other emergency crafts, but didn't see any other pods in the aftermath of the explosion.

"I'm supposed to be on vacation. I didn't sign up for this," Se grumbled.

"You didn't have to come, you know." It came out more harshly than he'd intended, but they were in crisis mode right now.

"Rave wouldn't have forgiven me if I'd let you go on a gun run on your own," she said clearly, then he thought he heard her mumble, "Stupid libido."

"I've been doing this solo for a while. I don't need my hand held by Rave and your cousin. Or you for that matter. Shit. Someone's shooting at the pod. You get a frequency yet?" Rock threw back at her.

"I'm going as fast as I can."

"Go faster," he snapped. He wasn't irritated with her but he needed to get to the pilot of that pod. He'd apologise later. Maybe.

"Damn it, Rock. If you don't like my speed, do it yourself."

"Stop arguing with me. I'd like to find out why my gun sale went south." He didn't understand her need to fight him at every turn. Most days it was a turn-on, but this wasn't the time or the place for his cock to take charge.

"What are you talking about?" Se sounded peevish.

"That ship was my contact. Maybe whoever escaped in the pod has the answers I need."

"Put more pressure on me, why don't you?" Se said under her breath.

"Se!" He was about to lose what little sanity he had left. Didn't she know that?

"It isn't the fate of the world. It's one gun sale." Se sighed, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Those guns were going to a planet being overrun with marauders. The inhabitants need to protect themselves or they'll be enslaved. So, yeah, the fate of someone's world could be at stake. We need that pod." They were going to have to do something about the sexual tension between them soon because he couldn't take the fighting anymore. He'd rather be fucking. And now wasn't the time. Damn.

"Stop it with the bleeding heart stuff. I've got them," Se mumbled almost to herself.

"I'm the bleeding heart?" That made him smile. He'd never been known for his sympathy. Not that he wasn't sympathetic, but money was a bigger motivator.

Se laughed. "Just talk to the pod. You're keyed in."

And just like that, his sanity was back. They really did work well together.

"Emergency pod, this is the captain of the Salvation. Do you need assistance?"

There was no response. Fuck. That couldn't be good.

"Are you sure this is right?" He looked over at Se.

"Yes. They probably don't know if we are friend or foe. They did just come off an exploding ship and who knows who's there or what shape they're in." Se shrugged.

"This is the captain of the Salvation. We will shelter you. Please acknowledge," Rock tried again, realising that Se was correct-”anyone could be in there and only a handful of people had known he was meeting up with the ship.

"How do you use this thing? Hello? Hello?" A masculine voice floated over the airwaves.

Rock bit back a shout of relief. "I hear you. Do you need us to bring you in?"