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“We go forward. Komal is the most wanted man in the world, and minutes matter. His attacks killed scores of innocents in the Netherlands. He’s abducted almost half a million children and subjected them to the horrors of war and prostitution. I know your brother will want this information. He needs to get assets moving, so he’d want it sooner rather than later.” Zane made her life so easy, and he made sense of the world on the other side of her computer screens.
Jewell nodded and pulled up the transcribed document. “I’ll clean this up and blast it out to everyone involved. That’ll save me from telling everyone the same thing repeatedly.”
“Smart. I’m going to wake up Ethan. He has a test he needs to log in and take.”
Jewell made a grunt of disapproval. “That class is so below his skillset.”
“Now, and thanks to you.” Zane chuckled. “Are you set here?”
“I’m good.” She moved forward and bumped her knee. She rubbed it and griped, “Ouch. Man, I’m hoping the Annex is ready sooner rather than later.”
“We should be there in less than a month. I promise bigger and better things are coming your way. Can you hang on that long? Maybe Santa will bring you something special, too.” Zane bent down and kissed her.
“Santa doesn’t need to get me anything. With you by my side, I can do anything.” She truly believed that.
He smiled at her and dropped for another kiss. “Be right back.”
She watched him walk away, then turned back to her document. With Smithson’s criminal history, he wouldn’t get a standard clearance from the Office of Personnel Management. But then again, for what he was doing and who he was with, he didn’t need a standard clearance. His criminal history would probably be attributed to the gain column rather than a loss tally. But ultimately, that wasn’t her decision. Archangel, Fury, and Lycos would have to make that call. Sunset Operatives were their territory.
* * *
Val woke suddenlyalert and lifted her head, looking at the man with her. Smithson Young. He was such a sexy savage. She relaxed and lowered her head. He’d finally shown her how strong he was. She ached in all the best places. The tentativeness the man held her with needed to go. She wasn’t fragile or breakable.
She rolled over and snuggled into his warm body. Rain pelted the windows, and she could see rivulets run along the glass. It was getting dark, so they’d been asleep for a couple of hours, at least. She knew the moment Smith woke. “We slept,” she whispered.
“We did,” he whispered back, pulling her against him a little tighter.
“I liked it when you lost a little bit of that iron-clad self-control you brandish about like a weapon.”
Val felt him stiffen immediately. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
She turned in his arms. “No. I enjoyed it. I’d tell you if I didn’t.” She rested on her arm, and he did the same. “You don’t have to be careful around me. I’d tell you if I didn’t like something we did.” The tension seemed to release from his body at her reassurance. She watched his reaction, which, other than releasing tension from his body, was no reaction. That meant his defenses were up. He was a master at masking what he was thinking or feeling.
She lifted an eyebrow. “One day, I’ll get you to trust me.”
His jaw twitched, and he looked confused as he told her, “I’ve told you more about myself than I’ve ever told any other living soul. You’re the only person I’ve opened up to.”
She lifted her finger and traced his bottom lip. “But you still don’t trust me.”
He moved back a bit, and her finger dropped. “Do you trust me?”
She lifted to her elbow and looked down at him. She could tell him a lie, but he’d know it. “I trust you as much as I trust anyone.”
He smiled at that. “Perhaps one day we’ll trust each other.”
She smiled. “Guarded people, aren’t we?”
“We have the right to be,” he agreed.
“We do. I need to rescue our clothes from molding to the tile floor.” She sat up and stretched. “Bathroom is in there. I’ll meet you in a couple of minutes if you start the shower.”
“Deal.” Smithson lifted out of bed and headed into the bathroom. She watched his muscled back, ass, and thick thighs the entire way. Drool-worthy.
Val popped downstairs, shut the front door, which they’d left open, and mopped up the water pooling from the blowing rain. The fire was set and ready to light. It took several minutes for her to get the clothes hung on kitchen chairs and placed in front of the fire, which was licking happily at the dry wood in the cast iron belly of the stove. She turned and headed toward the stairs, and that’s when she heard the phone vibrate. “Aw, damn it.”They really knew how to ruin a lazy rainy day, didn’t they?
Val answered the call, authenticated, and was placed on standby immediately. She walked upstairs and opened the bathroom door. Smith wiped at the steamy glass of the shower enclosure and peered out at her. She pointed to the phone and crooked her finger at him.
He turned off the water and slicked back his hair, swiping most of the moisture from it. She handed him a towel and watched him dry off. Damn, if there weren’t people on the line, she’d drop to her knees and make that mountain of a man tremble.
