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His mouth curved up. “Black told me.”
She gasped. “He knew we were going to have sex? That’s embarrassing!”
“Nah. Don’t worry about it. He didn’t know and he couldn’t know. But he did see how I was looking at you and told me condoms were in the drawer. SEALs always plan for contingencies. It’s part of our training.”
She flopped on her back and contemplated the ceiling. “Huh.”
“At the time I was thinking of a careful seduction, step by step.” He tightened his grasp on her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing the palm. “But what happened,” he said, “that was weird. I don’t usually jump women. The first time was pent up desire. This one here—I think we were celebrating not having died.”
She smiled into his eyes. “Right?”
He brought her closer to him, kissed her forehead. “Some bodyguard I am.” He kissed her cheek. “You were nearly blown up.”
“I don’t know. I’m alive, aren’t I?”
Stealing a glance at him, his face went from smiling and relaxed to grim. “By a hair. I just found you and then I almost lost you.”
“Almostis the operative word here. True, it was close, but close only counts in …”
They said it together, “Horseshoes and grenades.”
Pierce’s mouth tightened. “Actually thatwasa grenade and it was fucking close. If you hadn’t been on your laptop…”
“I was, though. But how could that drone know? There’s got to be a leak somewhere.”
He drew in a deep breath. “Yeah, that occurred to me, which is why we’re here and not at the safe house. And the only place a mole could come from is Black Inc.”
She nodded. “I hate to think that. Just hate it.”
Pierce’s jaws clenched. “Me, too.” He looked at her, scowling, daring her to react. “It’s not Jacob himself.”
Her head drew back in horror. “No. Absolutely not. But …”
“But…” he agreed.
With a sigh, Pierce stood and reached down a hand. She actually needed it because her muscles were made of rubber. This man was fabulous for her hormones but bad on her muscles. If she had to climb a wall at her gym right now, she wouldn’t make it past the first handhold.
As soon as she was on her feet, Pierce put his arms around her and held her tightly. They were naked and she should have felt embarrassed or ashamed or … something. But she didn’t. She only felt gratitude that he was at her side. And, well, she also felt some heat, which was absurd after an earth-shattering orgasm, but there it was.
She sighed and leaned into him. Into that long, strong body that was made to be leaned against.
Riley had never leaned on anyone in her life. Certainly not her mother, and her father made clear that a dinner was about all he was willing to commit himself to. If you’d asked her a couple of days ago, she’d have said she didn’t want anyone in her life, and didn’t need anyone. But that was ridiculous. She’d be freaking if she were facing all of this alone. But she wasn’t freaking. She was scared, yes. Anxious, yes. But there was something about Pierce that told her that no matter how bad it got, he would be there.
It filled something cold and empty inside that she never knew was there.
Her head was against his chest, so when he spoke, she could feel the vibrations.
“Honey,” he said, “we need to contact Black.”
She sighed. Those vibrations were so sexy and so comforting that the words meant nothing to her.
“Hmm?”
He held her away from him, hands on her shoulders. “We need to talk to Jacob Black. We need to talk to him now and we need a better plan than what we’ve had so far.”
The words swept away the orgasmic steam that had messed with her head. She blinked and suddenly she was there, with him. Facing a huge problem, but not alone.
He pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Do you know a way to contact him without turning our cells on? I bet someone somewhere is trying to track us.
