Captivated by the Soldier (BWWM Interracial Romance) Read Free Page A

dangerous to his iron-meshed control.
    “Can I help?” Makayla asked eagerly, standing right next to him, almost too close to let him think straight.
    One would think he’d never been around a sexy, beautiful and alluring woman before. He had to keep reminding himself that she was not just Gina’s roommate, but her friend as well, and Blade had made it a rule since they were younger never to mess with his stepsister’s pals, no matter what.
    Now all he needed to do was remind his raging lust of that.
    “Yeah, that’d be great. You could grate some cheese.”
    She looked happy to be involved, even if it was just a simple task. But then, it was a one dish meal anyway; his favorite recipe of chicken covered in Dijon mustard sauce.
    It wasn’t too fancy but it was a great after-work meal and coupled with his winning bottle of wine – as well as the special little impromptu treat he had lined up after they ate – he felt sure she’d love the results.
    With a total time between prepping and cooking of just twenty minutes, they were sitting down to eat within an hour since she arrived home. An hour had never seemed to go so fast…and neither had a meal.
    Makayla was full of praise for the food which they sat to eat at the kitchen table. “It looks almost too beautiful to eat,” she joked, fork and knife already poised over her plate. “And it smells divine. In fact, the whole setting and plating of the dish feels like true fine dining.”
    “Thank you,” he said, grinning from all the praise. He liked a woman who could show sincere appreciation. It looked really easy but he had put a lot of thought into everything, after racking his brain how to make up for his blunder last night.
    Blade could only imagine her fright when she found him waiting asleep in her bed. He well remembered his state of undress when he’d toppled beneath the covers and had an idea she might have got a rude eyeful where she least expected. He couldn’t be sure though but he was glad for this chance to make her feel comfortable and safe around him.
    “I’m glad you approve,” he added after a sip of wine, his eyes dancing. “Being in the military doesn’t mean we service men have no clue about dining etiquette. During special operations training we actually had a class dedicated just to being schooled in proper table manners and such. And then we had the chance to practice the skills learned during all those unit dinners. Back then it all felt like such a waste of time and yet I now know I may never need to fire an M14 Sniper rifle again, but what I learned involving table manners will aid my enjoyment of the finer art of dining for many long years to come.”
    He saw her pause as she was about to fork some food into her mouth, before she asked curiously, “Is that what you did in the army? You were a sniper?”
    Shit! Blade thought, chewing hard on his food as he bought more time. He really, really didn’t like talking about that part of his life in Special Ops. Especially not now, when the wounds, both emotionally and even physically, were still fresh.
    He had his fair share of medals and commendations, but there had been times when Blade had felt nothing like a hero; what with those victims that never even knew he was there, aiming to take a shot and take them down. Those poor guys never knew where or when – although some of them seemed able to tell intuitively that the end was near, that Blade was hidden and waiting. A single, clean shot – or however many it took. And never leaving until the job was done to perfection.
    No way he could tell Makayla about that. Sure though, the people he’d brought down were people who deserved no one’s pity, least of all his.
    Operation after operation, he’d had to keep up his cool-headed outlook on things. This was a job. It was what he was trained to do. No honor or glory in that; just doing what needed to be done because if he didn’t do it, someone else will.
    Like some of his other