Page 43 of Nightstalker

“It’s all good.” I tried to smile to reassure him I was fine.

Truth was I had a sick feeling in my gut. Something felt off. I was chalking it up to all the emotional shit that had been dumped on me.

“See you on the other side. You’ll have eyes and ears, COM two is yours,” Eric said as he passed me a slip of paper with the codes I would need to dial into their COMS.

“Yup, be safe.”

“Always. Enjoy the White House, slack ass,” Eric joked.

The rest of the team said good bye, leaving Lincoln and I alone in the room. I suddenly felt like I was fifteen again and waiting for the cute boy in class to talk to me. Screw this shit, I do not play games.

“Be safe Linc,” I said, walking past him towards the door. I could hear the rotor blades starting to wind up signaling their departure was eminent.

Linc grabbed my arm as I tried to slide by him, pulling me into his strong arms, squeezing me tight. He breathed in my neck. “I’ll see you soon, my sweet Jasmin. Please stay at the White House until this is over. I need to know you are safe. I won’t be able to concentrate if I think you are out there unprotected.”

My body stiffened. What the actual fuck? I was not some weak ass little girl. “The fuck? I can more than handle myself. I do not need a baby sitter nor do I appreciate you trying to insinuate I do.” I struggled to pull out of his embrace.

His grip tightened as he lowered his face, coming nose to nose with me. “Swear to Christ you are the most difficult female on the planet. Just this once do what the hell you are told and stay with your uncle so I can do my damn job and take this asshole out.”

He was vibrating with anger. As much as I loved to push his buttons and wanted to disagree, my teams’ lives were on the line. One misstep and the mission would be FUBAR. Everyone had to be at the top of their game. Lucky asshole had me in a corner.

“Fine,” I snapped.

His mouth came down on mine hard. He used my shock to his advantage and pushed his tongue in my mouth. I unwillingly moaned when his tongue brushed mine, flooding my mouth with the taste of coffee, mint, and Linc. In true Lincoln Parker fashion, he fisted my hair and deepened the kiss, taking total control of my mouth. It felt like a ‘good bye’ not a ‘see you later’. When he started to break the kiss, biting my lip then licking the sting, I tried to hold on. Leaning in, not wanting to lose the connection.

Would I ever get enough of his wicked mouth? Would my body always unwillingly respond and soften when seconds before I wanted to punch him in his throat for being an overbearing asshole?

The kiss ended all too soon and without a word Linc was out the door. What the fuck was that! It took me a moment to shake myself out of my Linc induced stupor and run out the door to watch my team depart. I made it out the door just in time to watch the helicopter lift off the ground. The whine of the engines roaring to full power was so loud I covered my ears and enjoyed the vibrations the noise sent through my body. I always loved traveling by helicopter. The sheer power always amped up my adrenaline. Fuck, this sucked ass. Watching my team leave left me feeling inadequate and weak, neither of which I was comfortable with.

Tom and Drew walked back towards me. Tom patted my shoulder and continued on towards the house, leaving Drew and I standing outside watching the helicopter disappear into the dawn.

“You good?” Drew asked.

“I get to shoot guns and take out bad guys, life is good.” I tried to force some spunk in my voice. I did not want a postmortem of my relationship and that is exactly what Drew was trying to do.

“You think that bullshit works on me, girl?” he laughed.

Shit and damn! Since when did Drew want to do girl talk?

“It was worth a shot, there’s nothing to say Drew. My life is fucked. I have lived a lie my whole life, I have an uncle that is the freaking President, and, oh yeah, I am married!” My voice raised a few octaves towards the end, it sounded shrill even to my own ears. What in the hell was that shit?

“Let’s start with your life is a lie. It sounds to me like you had parents that gave a shit and wanted you protected from the fall out that was their life, not wanting you to grow up having to be followed and watched. Get the hell over it. You know now. Move on and get to know your uncle.”

I stood frozen. Get over it. What the fuck?

“Nice. Thanks for that very insightful outlook.”

“Jasmin, what is the alternative? What would your life have been like growing up if Tom took you? You would have grown up in a bubble. You would have been stifled. Body guards and all that other bullshit. Or if you didn’t have Noah? Foster care? So yeah, get over it, that simple. You want a pity party, poor you? That is not the bad ass Jasmin I know. The Jasmin I know pulls her shit together gets square and moves on. So move on.” Drew threw his arm up in obvious frustration.

He was right, of course. I was not one to allow anyone to pity me or treat me like I needed to be managed

“Shit and damn! I hate it when you’re right. I’m good. Yes, just like that before you ask. I just needed someone to set my ass straight. You’ve always been good at that.” I smiled at him.

I knew this was somewhat of an uncomfortable conversation for Drew. He did not do touchy feely. Oh he always had my back and was protective, but he was all man. For him to bring this up to me meant I looked worse than I thought. Damn it to hell.

“You know, I worked with Linc on an op in Germany about five years ago?” he asked, his eyes guarded, looking more uncomfortable then he did a minute ago. “We didn’t work closely, his team was the secondary. We tracked a jihadist group to Germany and his team was already embedded so it just worked to use them.”

“Yeah?” I was confused. Why in the hell would that make Drew so uncomfortable, “So you got a problem with him, did the operation go to shit?”