An Unyielding Desire (After The End Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

fun.”
    “I’ve never found any woman sexy,” she said a bit flippantly, though Mina’s stomach tightened. After witnessing the scene between them yesterday, she had no doubt he was talking about Lia. Did he really think she was going to give him some advice on how to capture her married sister’s attention?
    He laughed slightly. “It’s reassuring to know you like cock.”
    Mina flinched at the word. Of course she’d heard it before, but never from someone ten or fifteen years older than her, and in such strange circumstances. Bending her head, she focused on the nesting box.
    “Assuming you’ve actually touched one?”
    She stiffened, not liking his tone or the way he was speaking to her. Putting the basket on the box, she said, “Excuse me,” and tried to move past him. When he stepped in front of her path, his sheer size blocking her, Mina’s mouth went dry.
    He continued on as though he hadn’t been crude, and she hadn’t tried to leave. “This woman is married to a friend of yours, and he’s someone you work with. You’re technically his boss.”
    Mina frowned. “I wouldn’t pursue her.”
    Shane sighed. “I wasn’t asking your opinion.”
    Mina looked up at him. “You said you wanted to know what I thought.”
    “Not about that. Just listen.”
    Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she returned to egg collecting and did her best to endure the man’s presence, still wondering when Coop would show up. Once he finished, he’d move on and she could escape back to the house. How she longed for a hot shower, more than any time in the past thirteen months. Talking with Shane left her feeling unclean.
    “It turns out when you make your move that she isn’t immune. You have a hot affair over a few months.”
    Mina closed her eyes, pained by what she’d heard. The idea of Lia cheating on Tony seemed incomprehensible, but there was clearly something going on between them. “Oh,” she said softly.
    “Oh, indeed. You’re shipped out for eight months, but before you leave, you tell this woman you love her and want to marry her. She tells you she’s not leaving her husband, but she still goes to bed with you a couple more times before you deploy. So you go along with it, thinking a lot can happen in eight months. People are killed by friendly fire all the time.”
    Mina squeezed her hand without thought, breaking the new egg in her palm. She looked up at him, horrified. “You were going to kill Tony?”
    He lifted a shoulder. “It was just a thought, born of desperation. Obviously, it didn’t happen. When I want someone dead, they die.”
    He was so cavalier about taking lives that it made her shudder. The egg residue was still in her hand, and she wiped it on the hay the best she could. “What do you want from me?”
    He put his finger to his lips. “ Shh, and listen. After you’re deployed, the world goes to shit, and you think you’re never going to see this woman again. You’re hurting over it, because you think you love her, and you’re worried about her.”
    She should have been slightly reassured to know he had strong feelings for Lia, but something about him still set her teeth on edge.
    “When your friend, her husband, offers to bring you back to his family’s house, where your woman is waiting, you jump at the chance. You go through hell and back, kill so many people you lose track, and keep fighting just to survive, all so you can get back to her.”
    Mina balled her hands into fists. “You’re wasting your time, Shane. She loves Tony. I don’t know what she was thinking when she had an affair with you, but Lia and Tony are soul mates. They’ve been together since seventh grade. You have to let her go and move on.”
    His mouth tightened , but that was his only acknowledgement to her input. “When you see her, she treats you like a stranger, but you think she’s just trying to hide her feelings in front of her family. Except she keeps avoiding you, and you soon realize she