Page 50 of Too Broken to Love

“The outer space aspect is far-fetched, but you’re on the right track with the sci-fi part.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve saved lives all over the world in every dangerous situation imaginable, but Project V is a different playing field.” The General pulled another cigar from his pocket. “These are nice and smooth. Want one?”

“No.” He wanted answers, but he knew better than to press for more information. When the General changed the subject, the conversation was done. Hudson wasn’t done with questions though. “Did you find out any information about the location of Lieutenant Commander Chris Daviani?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me where he is?”

The General raised both silver eyebrows.

Hudson cursed under his breath. “At least tell me if he’s alive.”

“He’s better than alive. He’s being reborn.”

Tessa yawned as she rounded the corner to the kitchen. The leather tote bag slipped from her shoulder as she froze in the doorway. Catching it before it hit the tile, she stared at the biggest reason for her lack of sleep.

The shirtless reason leaned over the sink, his back to her, as he splashed water on the face she hadn’t seen in three days.

But she hadn’t sought him out either. Not to thank him for the new laptop he’d left in her suite. Not when she saw him and the General through the study window before and after her morning walks on the private beach with Ralphie. And not in the afternoons when Josie mentioned she’d seen him headed to the garage.

But he was here now. Every reason she’d avoided him fled as he straightened and braced both hands on the sink.

She licked her lips. Morning sunlight glinted off shoulders so angular her tongue might bleed if she licked the sweat dotting his skin. She could get used to walking into the kitchen to this sight every morning, but getting attached to Hudson and his…their mansion, and the people in it wasn’t just risky. It was insane to think this alternate reality where she was safe and cared for by the man of her dreams would last.

“Enjoying the view.”

He turned and gripped the edges of the sink behind him. The smirk on his face stalled her hell yes. Instead of pushing her answer free, she stared in stunned silence.

The raw beauty of his rigid torso, cut with smooth lines and deep valleys that matched the mesmerizing landscape of his back, struck her so hard it stole her breath. The marriage of lean muscle and bulky brawn should be celebrated in rituals under a full moon.

Dark smudges under his eyes hinted at sleepless nights. His smirk tilted into an appreciative grin as he dragged his gaze from her silky long-sleeve blouse to the black pencil skirt she’d tucked it into, and down to her black heels.

Good. At least she knew his reason for avoiding her wasn’t his lack of desire.

A water droplet dripped from his chin. She tracked its slow path down the deep valley carved into the center of his chest and over the nearly healed shallow cuts she’d cleaned on the police station.

“Eyes up here, Tessa.”

Slowly, she looked up.

He crooked a finger. “Come here.”

She hesitated as their heated conversation from the terrace pulsed in her brain.

When it comes to your safety, you will listen to what I tell you. And when you’re straddling my cock and making those sexy as fuck sounds that make me harder than I’ve ever been in my life, you are my subordinate.

He wasn’t giving her an order for her safety or mutual pleasure. She should ignore it. She didn’t, but even though she obeyed, she wouldn’t stand around and wait for him to speak first. “I’m mad at you.”

“I’m mad at you too.”

She didn’t ask why. That would lead to questions about her reasons. Instead, she swayed toward the warm heat radiating from his body that smelled like sunlight, and salt, and sweat, and…

She sniffed. “Do I smell chili?”

“I had a bowl after my run.”