Challenging Love Read online

  Challenging Love

  A Katlin & Alex Novella #3.5

  KaLyn Cooper

  Black Swan Series

  Challenging Love

  * * *

  Copyright 2017 KaLyn Cooper

  * * *

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction.

  Names of characters, places, and events are the construction of the author, except those locations that are well-known and of general knowledge, and all are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental, and great care was taken to design places, locations, or businesses that fit into the regional landscape without actual identification; as such, resemblance to actual places, locations, or businesses is coincidental. Any mention of a branded item, artistic work, or well-known business establishment, is used for authenticity in the work of fiction and was chosen by the author because of personal preference, its high quality, or the authenticity it lends to the work of fiction; the author has received no remuneration, either monetary or in-kind, for use of said product names, artistic work, or business establishments, and mention is not intended as advertising, nor does it constitute an endorsement. The author is solely responsible for content.

  * * *

  Editor: Marci Boudreaux Clark

  Cover design & Formatting by:

  Drue Hoffman, Buoni Amici Press.

  Contents

  A Letter to Readers

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  About the Author

  Also by KaLyn Cooper

  A Letter to Readers

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome to the next installment of the Black Swan series.

  Challenging Love is a stand-alone contemporary romance novella that picks up at the end of Unexpected Love. In truth, it started as part of that book, but my editor convinced me that Katlin and Alex needed their own separate story. Look for more novellas about the tumultuous life of these two characters.

  Like any new relationship, Katlin and Alex enjoy those perfect moments, but their love is challenged when secrets from Alex’s past clash with Katlin’s trust issues. Throw in her boss’s unwanted overtures and this story will take you on fast ride of emotions.

  Thank you for purchasing Challenging Love. If you enjoy this book, consider purchasing the other books in the Black Swan series as well as the related Guardian Security series.

  Always,

  KaLyn Cooper

  * * *

  Black Swan Series

  Unconventional Beginnings: Prequel (Black Swan Novella # 0.5)

  Unrelenting Love: Lady Hawk (Katlin) & Alex (Black Swan Book #1)

  Noel’s Puppy Power: Bailey & Tanner (A Sweet Christmas Black Swan Novella #1.5)

  Uncaged Love: Harper & Rafe (Black Swan Book #2)

  Unexpected Love: Lady Eagle (Grace) & Griffin (Black Swan Book #3)

  * * *

  Guardian Elite Series

  Smoke and Mirrors (Novella #1 Guardian Elite series crossover with Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire and Rescue Kindle World)

  Double Jeopardy (Novella #2 Guardian Elite series crossover with Hildie McQueen’s Indulgences series)

  Rescuing Melina (Novella #3 Guardian Elite series crossover with Susan Stoker’s Special Forces: Operation Alpha Kindle World)

  Snow SEAL (Novella #4 Guardian Elite series crossover with Elle James Brotherhood Protectors Kindle World)

  * * *

  Cancun Series

  Christmas in Cancun (Cancun Series Book #1)

  Conquered in Cancun (Cancun Series Novella #1.5)

  Captivated in Cancun (Cancun Series Book #2)

  Claimed by a SEAL (Cancun Series crossover Novella #2.5 with Cat Johnson’s Hot SEALs Kindle Worlds)

  Crisis in Cancun (Cancun Series Book #3)

  * * *

  For the latest on works in progress and future releases, check out KaLyn Cooper’s website

  www.KaLynCooper.com

  http://www.kalyncooper.com/

  Follow KaLyn Cooper on Facebook for promotions and giveaways

  https://www.facebook.com/kalyn.cooper.52

  Sign up for exclusive promotions and special offers only available in KaLyn’s newsletter http://www.kalyncooper.com/newsletter.html

  I dedicate this book to every military wife who has questioned her husband’s fidelity and faced unwanted advances.

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank Drue Hoffman and Marci Clark for convincing me to publish this novella after it was pulled from Unexpected Love. Katlin and Alex’s stories need to be told and will be under this new look. Which brings me to the cover, thank you Drue for creating a new cover template to separate these Katlin and Alex novellas from the full length books in the Black Swan series. My sincere thanks to Marci Clark for convincing me that it’s okay to lift 22,000 words from a book and give these characters their own separate story. Last, I thank my husband who continues to support me while I write these books.

  Chapter 1

  “Did you see where they just ranked the Barrett sniper rifle number two?” Katlin Callahan threw the question out to everyone lounging in the living room. They’d been useless since stuffing themselves with another magnificent lunch. Good thing they’d run seven miles that morning. Rosita, the head cook, was determined to fatten up everyone sequestered at the Callahan compound in Costa Rica.

  “What did they put as number one?” Tori curled her long legs underneath her, settling into the overstuffed couch. Although each of the five Ladies of Black Swan carried a custom-made Barrett .50 caliber rifle, she was their designated lead sniper. The woman had a confirmed kill from a mile away and was deadly at 1500 yards.

  “The AWM.” Katlin leaned forward and poured white sangria over a tall glass of ice. The fruit, soda, and wine combination was the drink of the day. After a week in hiding, Katlin had taken to concocting cocktails since Rosita had banned her from the kitchen, claiming she needed every minute throughout the day to prepare meals for the seven full-time guests.

  Taking a long sip, Katlin smiled inwardly, pleased with the refreshing drink. She set the glass on the large coffee table, scratched Damnit behind the ears then leaned back into the couch.

  “Come here.” Alex Wolf’s low voice warmed her from the inside as he slid an arm around her waist and positioned her back to his chest. Her lover, business partner, and longtime friend was with them in seclusion at the request of General Lyon, commanding officer of U.S. Special Operations Command.

  Katlin breathed in his masculine scent, a hint of ocean lingered from their morning of scuba diving. She wanted to lick his neck to see if he tasted of sea salt and sweat. She wasn’t sure where her relationship with Alex was going, but they were together, at least for now, enjoying each other is much as possible.

  A disastrous first marriage to a serial cheater had tainted her view of that particular commitment and, as a devout Catholic, she wasn’t sure she could stand before God again and promise her heart and soul to another man. Without a doubt, she loved Alex. But marriage, that was a whole different question. That was forever. A place she was not willing to go right then. Their newly discovered love was too fresh, almost fragile.

  She tuned back into the conversation but had mis
sed what Tori said.

  “It’s a good gun. Too bad it has such a hefty price tag.” Grace Hall, their second sniper, snuggled into Griffin Mitchell’s good side. Four weeks ago, he had protected her from a home-grown terrorist, receiving a stab wound in the side for his good deed. The multiple defense wounds had healed nicely over the time they’d been impounded in paradise.

  “We might want to take another look at the newest version just to see what American Firearms Company has done to improve it.” As team leader, it was Katlin’s responsibility to see that they had the best equipment available.

  Tingles started in her belly as Alex made small circles with his fingertips a few inches above her bikini bathing suit bottom. Her beach cover-up gave her a bit of modesty, but the heat from his hand seemed to penetrate the nearly sheer material. The now familiar zing migrated south a few inches to her core.

  She wondered if it would be rude to drag him upstairs to the suite they shared and make love for the second time that day? She loved the way he played her body like a fine tuned guitar, plucking more each time from her taut nerves and tight muscles with practiced fingers. She also liked it when he used his tongue, but nothing compared to the first slide of his cock into her wet, aching sheath.

  Warm, moist heat bathed her ear. “I’m barely touching you, and you are on the verge of coming,” Alex whispered so low only she could hear. She felt his smile. “I promise I’ll take care of you in just a little bit. In the meantime, you’re gonna want to take a deep breath and control your body before you shudder and scream my name right here in front of all our friends.” He lifted his hand and laid his arm across the back of the couch.

  Instantly missing his warmth on her belly, Katlin shifted and noticed his impressive hard on. Oh, yes. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. But now was not the time.

  “—competition rifle.” Grace’s words were proof that Katlin had temporarily checked out of the conversation.

  “They’re using the AWM in many of the new video games, you know.” Lei Lu glanced up from her laptop. The team’s computer expert always seemed to have an electronic device in her hands. “Personally, I think I’ll stick with my Barrett.” Her rifle was in the locked cabinet just inside the front door along with all the other duffel bags ready to go at a moment’s notice.

  Nita stood and stretched. The team’s doc smiled at Katlin. “I think I’ll go take a nap outside in the shade. I need to look my best tonight when I seduce your brother to come home with me.” Later that evening, they would all go to the resort next door and her friend would supposedly entice Daniel back to her room. In reality, he would join them for at least a night, two if they were lucky.

  Katlin and Daniel owned the large compound originally purchased by their parents to provide supplemental retirement income, and a getaway haven on the Caribbean Sea while her father was on active duty. As a child, this was one of the few places she actually spent time with her brother.

  When their father, a career Marine, had been offered his first embassy duty, Katlin had been a baby and Daniel in the third grade. Since there were no American schools nearby, he would’ve attended a boarding school over 100 miles away. The family had decided it would be best for him to live in the United States with their grandparents and continue to attend his charter elementary school.

  Growing up in embassies around the world, behind twelve-foot concrete walls topped with concertina wire constantly protected by U.S. Marines, Katlin had never known the freedoms enjoyed by American children until she was in high school. The exception was the weeks they’d spend as a complete family in the Callahan compound or the family lake house in the Virginia mountains.

  She loved her brother and truly missed growing up with a sibling. Katlin had always cherished their time together, even more as an adult. She was excited that he would soon be joining them. Currently working deep undercover for the CIA in Nicaragua, only a few miles over the border, he might as well have been on a different planet. It was nearly impossible to get a message to him and even more difficult for him to get away from the guerrilla group he’d infiltrated. He had missed their father’s funeral and hadn’t been able to be there when she had buried her husband, either. Not that she really expected him for the latter. Daniel had never really cared for Tyler Malone.

  Katlin’s gaze swept the living room. Grace and Griffin were involved in a private conversation that ended in a passionate kiss. Standing, she announced, “I need a shower before the salt from this morning’s dive turns my skin to leather.”

  Grinning, Griffin stood, wincing only slightly. “I think I’ll join her.” He ran his fingers through her loose auburn locks. Lost in each other, ignoring everyone else, he whispered, “I love you more every day.” When he laid his lips on hers, the feminine sigh in the room was audible.

  “Get a fucking room.” Nita grabbed her towel and headed toward the beach.

  “Fucking room is exactly where were going.” Griffin grabbed the hand Grace was about to swat him with and started toward the grand double staircase that led to the ten suites on the second floor.

  Alex rose, almost shoving Katlin off the couch. “That sounds like an excellent idea to me.” With his hands on her hips, keeping her in front of him as they passed Tori and Lei Lu, he guided her to the other set of steps since their extra-large suite was on the opposite end of the long hallway upstairs.

  They trotted up the wide staircase side-by-side and practically ran to the door at the end of the hall. Alex followed her through, but when he stopped to close the door, he jerked her back against it trapping her between thick muscled arms.

  “I’ve wanted to do this for hours.” He lowered his face slowly toward hers.

  “Me, too.” She lifted her face until their lips met. She opened immediately for him, allowing his tongue to thrust into her mouth as his hips rocked against her. His long and hard erection seemed to grow as they deepened the kiss.

  He dropped a hand to the bottom of her bathing suit cover-up, and glided it over her bare hip to find the lower edge of her bottom. With one finger, he traced the edge of the suit down her exposed hip, pressing as he crossed her sex, and up the other side. On his way back across he cupped her. “I can feel your heat radiating through your bathing suit. Are you wet for me, babe?”

  She ran her hand over the front of his swim trunks, stroking his cock. “Are you hard for me?”

  “Always. And only for you.” He crashed his mouth on to hers, pressing his lips so hard against her teeth she knew they would be swollen for hours after they had made love.

  He slipped his hand down the front of the suit bottom and groaned when he slid a finger between her folds.

  She whimpered as he circled her clit.

  With his other hand, he picked up her knee, wrapping her leg around his waist, opening her completely to him. She rocked her hips into his hand, wanting more. Needing more.

  “Hungry, are you?” He eased back.

  “For you.” She shoved her hand down the loose-fitting trunks that rode low on his hips. She loved the feel of his hard shaft in the palm of her hand. She stroked upward and ran her thumb across the large tip, gathering the moisture that had seeped out. Using her thumb, she spread the thick liquid as she circled his most sensitive spot, mirroring his movements on her.

  He kissed his way along her jaw and nipped her ear before he started down her neck. Tracing the edge of her bathing suit top with his tongue sent a zing straight to her clit.

  Alex grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand out of his shorts. “You keep that up, and it’ll be all over before we really get started.” He gently lifted her breast free of the cup. After circling her areola with his tongue, he blew a stream of cool air chilling it until her nipple pebbled from the onslaught of hot then cold. When he sucked it into his mouth, he pressed hard on her clit.

  Her body shook in anticipation.

  He rubbed the bundle of nerves, curling his finger, igniting every sensation in her body.

  “I�
�m going to—” She started to protest.

  “I know. Come for me, babe.” It was a demand, not a request. He pressed harder and flicked the underside of her clit.

  When she would’ve cried out his name, he covered her mouth with his as every muscle in her body released at once. He continued rubbing, making the orgasm last until she closed her eyes and succumbed to the last of the pleasure.

  Boneless, she started to slide down the door, but Alex scooped her up. “I’ve got you, babe. I’ll always take care of you.”

  He slid her between the sheets, then crawled in behind her. She took care of him as soon as she recovered. They spent the entire afternoon making love, sometimes fast and frantically, and other times slow, as though they wanted it to last forever.

  Although they had been together in Costa Rica for four full weeks, that afternoon had seemed different. Katlin wasn’t sure why she felt anxious, perhaps it was her brother’s impending arrival.

  Chapter 2

  Alex strode down the hallway beside Kat who looked stunning in a blue sundress and strappy sandals. Sometimes he couldn’t believe this beautiful woman was his.

  They had made love and napped the afternoon away before escaping to the private beach to the left of the compound, taking Damnit with them for some much-needed fun. It had become a special place for the three of them. A mere hour ago, he and Katlin had swam naked in the gentle surf, tossed a tennis ball for Damnit to chase, then sat wordlessly on the warm white sand watching the setting sun turn the sky from azure blue through every shade of purple.