Jolie didn’t.
She was collateral standing too close to the blast radius, and the longer she stayed near him, the worse the danger became.
He knew himself too well to lie about it. He’d spent a lifetime alone, not wanting more. But Jolie made him realize that given another few days on base, he’d stop thinking about getting her out.
Another few days and he’d start thinking about keeping her.
Another few days and it would be too late for either of them to walk away.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. The sooner Cannon could get her out, the better. She was basically a prisoner here, with no sense of time or place. He of all people knew how that felt.
A soft knock on his door scattered his thoughts.
Heart hammering faster, he swung his legs out of bed and crossed the room. In the hallway stood Jolie, wearing an oversized T-shirt and her hair loose over her shoulders. The light glowing from her room framed her body in soft gold.
And she was looking up at him without a hint of apology in her direct gaze. “I was trying to hold back. It didn’t work.”
Heat slammed into him low and hard. Dark desire swirled around the base of his spine, and his hands twitched with the need to reach for her.
To yank her inside and slam the door, creating a world where they could exist together.
“Jolie.” Her name broke free on a groan.
She stepped closer, her bare toes curling into the concrete an inch over the threshold. “I know what I’m doing, Archer.” Though her voice was steady, her pulse fluttered in her throat. “If you’re going to send me back…do it now.”
He should have.
Instead he stepped aside, and she walked in like she belonged there.
Hell, he already felt like she did.
Archer shut the door slowly behind her, his instinct split between caution and all-consuming hunger. Before he could speak, she turned to him, sliding both hands up his chest, and rose onto her toes to kiss him.
It was warm and sweet and enough to rip the last thread of control out of his hands.
He caught her waist and kissed her back hard enough to make her gasp.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” he grated out.
“I came because I wanted you.” Her eyes were two pools of want he couldn’t deny.
Her blunt honesty undid him. He backed her toward the wall, palms braced on either side of her head, gazing down at her while both of them breathed too fast.
“You have any idea what you’re doing to me?”
“Yes.” She issued a throaty laugh that made his cock swell to full mast. “That’s why I couldn’t stay away.”
He groaned and kissed her again without restraint. Jolie met him with equal hunger, her fingers raking through his hair, her body arching into his. Her thigh slid up his leg, and he broke the kiss.
“Baby.”
“That sounds like a warning.”
“It is.”
“Stop warning me.”
God. He’d survived combat and undercover missions, been held hostage by a terrorist…but he wasn’t going to survive her.
