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Something he couldn’t identify welled inside his chest. The pressure didn’t quite hurt, but it didn’t feel good either. Shouldering his worry and responsibilities by himself had been his choice. He’d always been so busy taking care of others he’d never appreciated the people who took care of him.
Now, while things were quiet, he’d show the special agent with the gun how happy he was that she was part of his family, atleast for tonight. That was all he could look to right now, and he planned to enjoy every minute.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Cannon propped his shovel next to the sliding glass doors. Snowflakes dotted the area he’d cleared on the low deck behind his cabin. “We’ve been through this before, and the argument is getting old. You’re not leaving.”
Rosalie pulled her gaze from the cloudy sky visible through the thin slats in the wooden roof. A tall privacy fence surrounded the sizeable area that housed a sturdy table under the window and a hot tub in the far corner. Cannon had said a sprawling patio and the forest lay beyond, but they didn’t venture out. His top-notch security system, and the clever design of the deck enclosure that ensured privacy from above, yet allowed snow to fall through, cocooned them in a winter sanctuary.
She sighed as she extended her hand to catch a falling flake. “I know you don’t want me to leave, but another agent could take my place. I don’t need to be here.”
Oh, but she wanted to be…even when he acted like a domineering caveman. She thought she’d felt at home in Cannon’s office, but sharing burgers and fries in front of his fireplace had called to a settle-down side she hadn’t known she possessed.
Or craved.
She gathered snow in her bare hand from the back of a lawn chair. It cooled her body but not her thoughts. Could she pursue a happily ever afterandjustice without the man she was falling in love with winding up dead?
If she answered that question solely with logic, she’d already be on the interstate heading home. Somehow, her heart had gotten involved. Julia’s welcome to the family had warmed her in places even Cannon hadn’t reached. While she’d always had the love of her relatives, along with the support and camaraderie of her FBI colleagues, there was something about being a valued member of Cannon’s inner circle that tugged at her soul.
“I don’t want to go. I want to see this through to the end so I can finally face Malgor, but I don’t want to do it in your hospital. Things have been quiet since Aidan’s kidnapping, but my gut’s telling me it won’t stay that way for long. I’m not okay with collateral damage. I’m not okay withyoubeing damaged.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Unless you’re the one damaging me by throwing me on my ass?”
“I can, you know.” She jabbed him in the gut.
“I know.” He caught her fist in his, then brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “But I think I proved during Aidan’s rescue that my skills are valuable.”
“It proved that you don’t follow orders. It also proved that I’m putting people in danger by being here.” She’d talked to Paul after he’d woken up. His take on what had motivated Malgor to abduct Aidan was simple and vague. Disturbing and frustrating, and exactly as she’d thought—to torture her.
Cannon ducked inside. Moments later, he emerged with an armful of fleece blankets and spread the thickest on the deck. “What makes you think Malgor will leave me alone if we aren’t in the same building? What if he gets angry you left the scene of his attack and blows up the hospital?”
Despite the windless night that was making the mid-thirties temperature feel downright balmy, goose bumps rose on her skin. “Point taken. Are we having our dessert picnic style?”
“Something like that.” He tugged her onto the center of the blanket and draped another around her shoulders. “It’s safer if we stick together. Got it?”
She bit her lip. Oh, she liked the sticking together part. It was thereasonshe hated.
Cannon tugged her shirt out of her pants and ran his fingertips along the sensitive skin just below her belly button. “Rosalie, stop thinking and tell me you understand.”
She shivered at the delicious sparks tumbling in her belly. Yeah, she understood. She understood she was in deep with Dr. Cannon Ford.
She stilled his fingers with her hand. Thinking clearly was impossible when he touched her. “Okay, we stick together on one condition. Nothing suspicious has surfaced about the hospital’s employees, but someone is reporting back to Malgor. Tomorrow, we start investigating those that you work closely with.”
“Deal,” he said as he kicked her legs out from under her. Her breath rushed out in a softwhoosh. She clung to his shoulders and braced for impact. Instead of hitting the hard deck, his body cushioned her fall onto the pile of fleece. Half a heartbeat later, he rolled on top of her.
“Remember when I said kissing you felt like falling into fresh snow on a sunny day?” He traced a finger down her cheek.
“Yes.” He’d also called her fearless and tough. And soft. She’d always opposed anything that would make her less of a fighter, but since she’d met Cannon, the parts of her that were soft didn’t feel like liabilities. She arched up against him. Her breasts met his hard chest, and he groaned deep in his throat, the sound all turned-on male and as sexy as the dark night.
Who knew soft could be powerful?
He braced one elbow beside her head, wound his other arm under her back, and pulled her against the bulge in his pants. “I want to fall deep inside your warm, tight body in the fresh snow. Can you handle the cold?”
“I can handle it.” She snaked her hand under his shirt to his carved abs. “Can you?”
His cocky smile deepened his dimple. “I do everything better when the temperature dips.”
“Stop talking and show me.”
