Every trace of playfulness bled out of her eyes as she seemed to take his words like blows.“You want me…to leave?”
Shit, when she put it that way, he’d rather lose a leg or an organ or two than watch her leave him.But that didn’t change the fact that their simple mission was about to get way more complicated.
And way more likely to end with him either dead or in solitary confinement for the rest of his life.
“I want you safe,” he finally said.
“This whole thing was neversafe.Hell, no one is ever reallysafe.A plane could crash through the ceiling and kill us both tomorrow.Why would I walk away now?”
There was a time when he wouldn’t have even discussed this with her.He would’ve drugged her, smuggled her out of the city, and stashed her somewhere safe without her consent.But Cole wasn’t that man anymore.He just didn’t have it in him to send her away like that without an explanation.
Her statement still annoyed the shit out of him, though.
“The odds of a plane taking you out aren’t significant,” he said through gritted teeth.“And the mission is about to get more dangerous than it’s ever been.There are too many moving parts.I can’t guarantee your safety.”
Her eyes narrowed.“You make it sound like you’ve been doing all the work around here.You never would’ve got this far without me.”
“I know that.You’ve been great.I’ve seen seasoned operatives who couldn’t handle this mission any better than you did.That’s not the point.”
She threw her hands up.“Well, whatisthe point, then?Because I thought we were going through all this so that we didn’t have to give up our lives and run away.If you just wanted to send me away anyway, what’s even the point of this whole thing?”
Holy fuck, his teeth were in danger, because every word she said just made him clench his jaw tighter.“I don’twantto send you away.I want to get you somewhere safe.”
“In my experience, the safest place I’ve ever been is right behind you.”She leveled him with a glare that would’ve wounded him if he wasn’t so frustrated.“So, I’m not goinganywhere.You’re stuck with me.”
He leapt to his feet.She did the same.He stepped in close enough that she had to crane her neck back to keep glaring up at him.“Why the hell are you acting like a stubborn toddler about this?I just want to keep you safe!”
She looked like she wanted to tear him apart.Good.Now she knew howhefelt.“Are you calling me achild?”
“No.I said you’re beingstubbornlike a child.There’s a difference.Why can’t you just trust me on this and do what I say?”
“This has nothing to do with trust,” she practically hissed at him.“And I’m not a fucking dog.I’ll probablyneverjust blindly follow your orders.”
He shoved a hand through his hair and laughed without a trace of humor.“Sure.Why the fuck not?Walk straight into danger.That’smuchbetter than doing what I tell you to do.”
She shoved him back a step with a surprising amount of strength for someone her size.“I don’t fucking appreciate your sarcasm.And I’ve been in danger this whole time!Why is it such a problem now?”
He leaned down until they were nose to nose.“Because now I know that if anything happens to you, I’ll burn the entire fucking CIA to the ground!Because without you, I’d go back to having nothing to lose, and I’d make thateveryone’sfucking problem.Is that a good enough reason for you?”
Her chest heaved with her angry breaths.Her cheeks flushed.“Well…”
“Well?”he prompted.
“Well……I forgot what I was going to say because that was so fuckinghot.”
Cole wasn’t sure who moved first.It might’ve been him, but he couldn’t swear to it.All he knew was that one minute, he was reconsidering the merits of throwing her over his shoulder like a caveman and hauling her to safety against her will, and the next, they were kissing like their lives depended on it, almost violently passionate.
How they got upstairs and naked was a blur.He imagined torn fabric was involved.But they could deal with that later.
Hadley wrapped her legs around his waist as he slammed her back against the bedroom door.
“Let me keep you safe,” he growled, nipping her bottom lip.“Leave before we get in any further.”
“I’m not leaving you,” she snarled, reaching between them to grab his balls.Hard.
Her mouth fell open on a guttural moan as he lowered her onto his cock, not giving her even a second to adjust to his size.“Why are you so ready to run into danger?”he asked, punctuating every word with a hard thrust.
She pressed her heels into the small of his back, pulling him in tighter.“I’m your person, you asshole.Where you go,Igo.”
