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When the shudders, the implosions, finally calmed to ripples of sensations rather than the melting, soul-deep rapture they had been, she felt Jack easing back, heard him groaning as her inner muscles continued to clench around his flesh.
The vibrations that had racked her body had ceased, but she couldn’t stop the low, aching cry of added pleasure when he drew the toy free of her.
She just wanted to sleep.
Exhaustion edged at her mind, pulling her, threatening to drag her into a sleep deep enough, heavy enough to allow her to forget for a little while that a reckoning was coming.
She didn’t want to face a reckoning. Not yet.
There was the feel of a damp cloth, then a dry towel moving over her, cleaning the sweat and their combined releases from her breasts, stomach, and thighs.
Gentleness echoed in every touch, and when she forced her eyes open it was to see his expression softer than she’d ever seen it before.
“Rest, baby,” he whispered, leaning down to smooth a kiss over her lips. “Just sleep. There’s plenty of time later for other things. Sleep for now.”
He eased the sheet and blanket over them as he lay next to her, sharing the warmth of his body, satisfying her need for a touch that kept them connected. Nothing more. Just so she could feel him.
She loved him.
She loved him with her whole heart—she always had. But she wasn’t a woman who could ignore the truth or allow herself to live in the darkness of ignorance. There were things she had to know.
Even if it destroyed both of them.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jack slipped from the bed, careful to cover Poppy, before quickly dressing. Carrying his boots, he eased from the bedroom and closed the door quietly. He stepped into the living room, quickly pulled on his boots, then walked to the basement door, opening it and peering downstairs.
There, Lucas, Hayes, Hank, Ian, and Kira waited, all turning at the sound of the door opening.
Ian and Kira had obviously used the hidden entrance that connected to a drainage system beneath the street.
With a jerk of his head, Jack indicated that they join him.
He was sitting at the table finishing a cold beer as they stepped into the kitchen, looking around curiously.
“She’s asleep,” he said. “The room’s soundproofed, and I can see the door from here. We shouldn’t be disturbed.”
He twisted the cap off a second beer and stared at Ian as he and Kira made their way to the table.
“Sutton and Baines?” he asked about the two SEALs from the bar.
“Right now, they’re watching this place, waiting until you’re alone, I presume.” Ian grinned faintly. “They’ll be gone within the hour. Reno and Clint are currently en route. We may need the two men from your former team, but we’re unable to read them into the op just yet; they’ll be told enough to keep them contained until they’re needed.”
Jack nodded.
“Crossfield showed up before I headed for the bar. He wants the name of the team that took out Rollins and the other two mercs. Said he had a job for them.” He sneered. “I didn’t reveal it was us, but he knew.”
It was information Jack had been unable to give Ian while meeting at the bar. Ian’s sole purpose had been to make a more public show of meeting with Jack. The decision had been made last minute when word had reached Ian through the Fuentes Cartel that they’d been approached to provide a competent team capable of abducting and holding a female from Barboursville.
Diego Fuentes, at Ian’s request, had returned the call personally with a refusal to act against one of his new contractors in any way, and to inform the party requesting the service that Jack would be informed of the call.
“Diego received another call,” Ian told him then. “They requested that he reach out to you in regards to a job they had, but they refused to provide details. Diego refused to pass along the information without them.”
Jack nodded as he ran the information over in his mind.
“Any further word on the shipments?” he asked.
“All we know is that they’re en route,” Ian said.
