Page 42 of Fox in Plain Sight

He released her hands and cupped her face. “I couldn’t let it happen. And when you invited me to your place to take care of my bruises, I knew I couldn’t leave without making love to you. I know I should have just thanked you for the icepack and left, but knowing what had nearly happened made it impossible for me to keep my cool. I needed to feel you.”

Tears stung in her eyes. “You really saved my life…” She sniffled. “But then why did you almost kill me tonight?”

He closed his eyes for a short moment. “I thought you’d been sent to kill me. Michelle, the Stargate agents are hunted. Somebody killed our leader three years ago, and the rest of us have been on the run ever since. Somebody is after us and will kill us first chance he gets. Whoever it is wants to wipe us out. We’re a threat to him. And I think I know now why: he’s planning something big.”

“That premonition, the one with the inferno,” Michelle murmured.

“Yes. It’s an event in the future. And only Stargate agents know it’ll happen. If we can figure out what it is, we might be able to prevent it. And I think the person who killed Sheppard knows that. That’s why he needs us all dead.” He brushed a hand through her hair. “When you showed up at the meet tonight, I thought you were one of his hired assassins. I’d guessed already you were working for him. I just wasn’t sure whether your expertise went beyond computing.”

“So you think Smith is the man who killed Sheppard?”

“Absent of any other leads, I have to assume it. At the very least, he’s connected to whoever wants us dead. He got you to try to keep me out of the CIA’s servers. He knows I’m trying to get at files so I can resurrect Stargate. That’s why he used you to deny me access. But I have to get at those files. With them we have a better chance of finding the others.”

“Don’t you think he’s using those same files to find all of you?”

“He probably is. We have to be faster, or he’ll pick us off one-by-one.”

Michelle shivered. “We can’t let that happen.”

He smiled suddenly. “We?”

“Well, we’re a team now, aren’t we? Or are you planning on pointing your gun at me again?”

He chuckled softly. “Not that kind of gun.”

Michelle sucked in a breath of air, releasing it on an outraged huff. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you just said that. What is it with men? Is there ever a time when you’re not thinking of sex?”

Nick winked at her. “I’ll let you know as soon as that happens.”