Owned

Secure Settings 1

Owned

Kate Boyle has lived through more loss than most people twice her age. She’s strong and independent, so letting people in to help her handle her grief or problems is next to impossible for her.

The owner of a successful company, Secure Settings, Kate devotes all her time to keeping people safe and rescuing those who can’t save themselves. When she gets the call that that her grandpa died and she’s now inherited his ranch, a storm of epic proportions starts. Smart enough to know she can’t watch out for danger while grieving, she calls in a favor for help.

Jared and Dean Acker just got out of the Marines and are a little lost as to what comes next for them. So when they’re asked to back up a friend of a friend, they’re in… And meet the woman of their dreams. Now, if they could just convince
her
.

Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.

Note: This book is written in first-person point of view.

Genre:
Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Vampires/Werewolves, Western/Cowboys

Length:
57,633 words
 

Secure Settings 1

Erin R. Flynn

MENAGE AMOUR

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

IMPRINT: Ménage Amour

OWNED

E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-485-6

First E-book Publication: February 2013

Cover design by Sloan Winters

All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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Owned
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OWNED

Secure Settings 1

ERIN R. FLYNN

Copyright © 2013

Seven Years Ago

“Boyle! Commander wants to see you in his office now,” my Staff Sergeant barked.

Shit! What did I do? It’s only my first fucking month. I can’t have pissed anyone off yet!
I broke formation and jogged over to the Commander’s office. The last twenty feet I slowed to a walk to lower my heart rate and breathing… I was nervous enough. Didn’t want the Commander to think getting called to his office made me panic or breathe heavy. I opened the door and walked up to the Commander’s assistant. “Boyle reporting as instructed.”

“Go right in, Candidate Boyle. The Commander is waiting for you,” the assistant said, looking up. “Knock first, wait for him to say
enter
,” he finished, giving me a wink.

Maybe everyone here isn’t trying to get us to quit, some are actually nice.
The thought made me feel a little better and I gave him a smile. Drawing in a deep breath, I walked straight to the door and knocked loudly twice.

“Enter,” Commander Shaw said from behind the door. I quickly opened the door, gently closed it behind me, and walked up to the desk, stopping five feet before it.

“Candidate Boyle, reporting as instructed, Commander,” I stated, standing at perfect attention.

“At ease, Boyle,” he said, looking directly at me. I adjusted my stance accordingly. Then the pain hit my heart, as it did every time I looked at the Commander’s face. He looked almost exactly like the memories I had of my father.

Six years ago when I was only fourteen, my parents had died in a car accident. I thought back to that day, the police coming to the house to tell me not only was one of my parents gone, but that both would never be coming home. The Commander’s authoritative voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“How do you like training so far, Boyle?”

“It’s challenging, Sir, both physically and mentally,” I replied, not sure why he was asking.

“Do you wish to continue?” he asked me with a curious look.

“Of course, Sir!” I exclaimed, but luckily not in a shrill voice. I didn’t even try to hide my surprise at the question though. “Have I done something wrong, Sir?”

“No, Boyle, so far your scores have been excellent, you’re in the running for the top of your class,” he answered. I waited for him to continue, but he kept giving me a look that was hard to read. It almost seemed he couldn’t make up his mind about me.

“Permission to speak freely, Sir?” I asked when he kept quiet for minutes more.

“Permission granted.” He leaned back in his chair as if realizing I might surprise him with something. Since I wasn’t planning to yank off my top, I wasn’t sure what he was considering I might do.

“Why did you call me in here, Sir?”

“Something has come to my attention, it might affect your training, and I’m not sure how I want to handle it.”

“That’s why you asked me how I like my training so far, Sir?” I asked, and when he nodded, I continued. “I’m going to be honest with you, Sir, because I admire when people are honest with me. I feel like I’ve come home. I fit here. I know that may be a strange thing to say, considering I’m the only female in my class. But I belong here, I want to be here. It’s been challenging, exciting, stressful, fulfilling, and I have a feeling it will never be boring, Sir.”

“Most people don’t smile when they are referring to OCS,” Commander Shaw chuckled. OCS, also known as Officer Candidate School, was like boot camp and a summer college semester rolled into one. From sunrise to dinner it was boot camp, and in addition after dinner we had night classes that ended around midnight. And yes… They gave homework.

“I’m not most people, Sir,” I replied before I could stop myself.

“I’ve heard that.” The tone of his voice was no longer amused and that worried me. “I have a message from your grandfather, Boyle. We don’t normally interrupt training to give messages or allow phone calls, but in this instance I will.”

When he paused, I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest, because there was only one reason to break protocol like this.

“I’m sorry to inform you that your grandmother passed away this morning from cancer. Your grandfather said to call him, but doesn’t want you to come home—”

“Sir, permission—” I started to say, interrupting him, but I wasn’t able to finish the request before the vomit started to rise. I booked it out of his office and out of the building before I fell to my knees and retched. I threw up everything from the day and all the bile I had in me until it was just dry heaves. Unfortunately after being out in the hot sun for ten hours I was already dehydrated.

People were talking to me from what seemed like far away, but I saw shadows on the ground close to me. The pain in my head was so violent, I was wondering if someone hit me with the butt of a rifle to try and get me to snap out of it. When I started to lose my vision and sway, I knew I’d probably be embarrassed later, but didn’t care.

“Take her to the infirmary, Boyle,” I heard Commander Shaw say from somewhere around me.

How can I take someone to the infirmary right now? Her who? I’m the only female here!
That was the last thought I had before I felt myself being moved and the darkness swam in.

* * * *

“Come on, pretty girl, open your eyes and let me see those baby blues,” a man said from somewhere to my right.

“Look somewhere else then, idiot, my eyes are green,” I grumbled as I opened them. It took a few blinks before the world came back into focus and I could see the handsome man leaning over me. He had the most piercing dark blue eyes I’d ever seen. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn they were color contacts.

“Well there you are,” he said, smiling down at me. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit on a stick. How long have I been out?”

“Not very long, maybe twenty minutes? Don’t feel bad, lots of people pass out at OCS, it’s meant to push you.”

“That’s not why I passed out—” I started to say, but trailed off when what happened earlier hit me, what Commander Shaw had told me. “I need to apologize to the Commander and get to a phone.”

“Commander’s not upset. He’s the one who told me to take care of you. I’m Ensign Boyle, Nate Boyle at your service,” he told me with a wink.

“Nice to meet you, Sir. I’m Candidate Boyle. Ahhh, that’s why Commander Shaw said ‘take her to the infirmary, Boyle,’ I thought he was telling me to take someone there.”

“Well you’re not the only Boyle in the world you know,” he snickered.

“I understand that, but given the circumstances it is a little odd for there to be two Boyles.” I started to get up, but he put a hand on my shoulder to make me lay back down. “You did not just put your hand on me, did you, Sir?”