At the Shooting Range

SHAY

The moment we stepped into our room, Zane pulled me close for a quick, passionate kiss.

“You took down Connor like a pro. I was in shock when you did it.”

I shifted, feeling the ache in my muscles.

“I just got lucky. He shifted his weight off his leg at the right moment. Plus, finding his ticklish spot helped. It threw him off guard long enough for me to slip out and get on his back.”

“I didn’t even know he was ticklish until I heard him laughing. Then I saw what you were doing. I couldn’t help but laugh at him too.”

I stripped down and stepped into the shower. As expected, Zane followed me in. Before I knew it, I was pinned against the wall and he was inside me.

He held me up, looking deep into my eyes. “Watching you fight got me so turned on, I had to lean against the mat to hide my hard-on. I loved seeing you stand up to him.

“You were so brave, going up against a guy who’s at least six inches taller than you—and way stronger.”

He quickened his pace until it was almost punishing, and we climaxed together. Afterward, we finished washing up, got out, and dressed.

“What kind of gun do you want to shoot with today, love?” he asked as we strolled down a long hallway toward the back of the house.

“I like a forty-five, but I also like a nine-millimeter handgun. As for rifles, I usually shoot a twenty-two, but I’ve used others before.”

We reached another massive steel door. He pressed his thumb to the scanner and the door swung open.

Inside, I was met with walls upon walls of guns, land mines, laser scopes, knives, and other explosives. I stopped in my tracks, taking in the room that was easily sixty feet by sixty feet.

Shelves lined the walls, holding all the guns. In the middle of the room, displays held explosives and other high-tech items.

Zane gently tugged my arm, guiding me around the room.

“Let’s walk down the rows of guns and you can pick what you want to use this afternoon. These weapons are brand new; they’re just waiting for someone to try them out.

“Here are the handguns, and the rifles are over there. Take your time and pick out what you want to try downstairs.”

I looked over the handguns and picked out one that caught my eye. He shook his head and gestured to the others.

“You need more than one, love. Pick at least four that you really like.”

As I walked down the aisle between the shelves, I picked out a Beretta. There was a pink nine-millimeter and a few others that I pointed out, which he took down for me.

When we got to the rifles, I chose a twenty-two that I loved and a shotgun. Zane then grabbed a fully automatic rifle he wanted me to try.

We gathered clips and bullets for all the guns and headed to the shooting range. Conner and Noah were there waiting for us when we walked in.

“Damn, boss, you’re setting her up with her own personal army with those.” Noah looked at all the guns we’d brought.

“I want to see what she can handle and what she needs help with.”

We laid the guns out on a large table in the middle of the room, and Zane nodded at us. “Pick the handguns you want to try first, then we’ll move to the bigger ones.”

I grabbed the pink handgun and filled two clips with bullets. Then the four of us each stepped into a lane and put on our earplugs.

“Hey, want to make this a competition?” I asked the guys.

“What do you have in mind, love?” Zane asked, a smirk playing on his lips.

“How about we do three targets with each gun? And we have to make a specific pattern with each one.”

Conner looked over and smiled. “I’m game. What do you want to do with each target?”

“The first one is a five-shot round bull’s eye at thirty-five feet.

“The second target, the seven-shot, is to see if you can hit each circle in a straight line down to the center at a forty-five-degree angle at fifty feet.

“For the third, we have to create a creature with a maximum of fifteen shots, sitting at twenty-five feet.”

“So we can do any animal we choose on the last one?” Noah rubbed his chin.

“Yes, but you can only use fifteen shots total to create it.”

The guys nodded, and we set up our targets for the first round. A buzzer sounded, and we started firing.

After taking five shots, I broke down my gun and laid it on the shelf in front of me. We retrieved our targets and compared them. We’d all nailed this round perfectly.

“So for this next one, we have to come at this angle and hit it in a perfect line, right?” Noah traced his finger over the way it was supposed to be done.

“Yes, you hit each one of these numbers down through here,” I responded, taking a white marker and adding a number to the middle of each circle.

“All the way down to the center here has to be dead in the middle of each circle.”

“You don’t mess around when you set up a challenge like this, do you?” Zane grinned at me.

“No, I want to see who’s the best out of the four of us.” I smirked as I reloaded the clip.

“That would be the boss man here; no one’s a better marksman than he is.” Conner patted him on the back.

“We’ll see about that, won’t we?” I gave them a side glance as I loaded the last bullet.

“Boss, I think she’s saying she’s better than you are.” Noah laughed as he slid his clip into the gun.

“Then let’s line up and try this next challenge she’s set up for us.” Zane picked up his gun and headed back to his lane.

We lined up again, and when the buzzer sounded we shot the marked numbers on the targets. They came back to us and we pulled them off to compare them again.

“Damn, you’re good.” Conner’s eyes were fixed on the spot where I’d nailed each of my shots—dead center.

Conner’s and Noah’s shots were a bit off, veering to the right or left, but Zane’s were spot on, just like mine. He planted a kiss on my neck, whispering in my ear, “I think someone’s a better shot than they’re letting on.”

“Just luck, that’s all,” I replied, reloading my clip.

He gave my ass a playful pinch and shook his head. “Don’t lie, sweetheart—you know I hate that.”

“Have you guys decided what animal you’re going to do?” I asked, watching the three men reload their guns.

“Yes,” they all chimed in, almost in unison.

We lined up for the final round and started shooting when the buzzer sounded again. After retrieving our targets, we laid them out side by side for comparison.

“Conner, did you do a kitten?” I asked, looking at the almost perfect image of a kitten.

“Hard to do with only fifteen shots,” he grumbled.

“And Noah, is that a frog?” I squinted at what could be a frog made of bullet holes.

“Hey, it looked better in my head than it does on this target, thank you.”

I laughed as I moved on to Zane’s target; he’d made a snake. It was spot on, showcasing his excellent marksmanship.

“Perfect, babe. I can see exactly what you were aiming for.”

“We want to see yours,” Conner and Noah said together.

Everyone turned to my target, and the guys’ eyes widened.

“How the hell did you do that?” Noah stared at my picture of a coyote’s head, howling up at the sky.

“It’s not that hard. See, here’s his ear, his mouth, and then part of his neck. I’ve always wanted to try this but never had the chance. I think I did a pretty good job.”

“You did, sweetheart. Though you have a couple of misses here.” Zane pointed out two shots that were a bit too far in.

“Yeah, I know. I was aiming for perfection but missed it. Still, I’m happy with how it turned out, even with a couple of misses.”

I held up my work, letting the light stream through the holes.

“You did great, Angel,” Noah said. “It’s almost perfect.”

We grabbed more guns and practiced for over an hour. We each took a turn with the fully automatic; the targets were shredded to pieces by that one.

When we finished, we each took a gun and cleaned it, then another, and then another, until they were all broken down, cleaned, and put back together.

Zane handed me the ones I’d picked out, minus the automatic.

“These are yours, sweetheart. Take them up to our room and put them in the safe on your side of the closet. Enter a code that you can remember on the digital pad; it’s open and waiting for you.”

I kissed him on the lips and did as I was told.

This day had been so fun and relaxing. I was definitely going to see if the guys wanted to do it again sometime.