Rules in Deceit

by Nichole Severn

  She didn’t have to turn around to know Braxton had let himself in. The weight of his attention from the doorway pimpled goose bumps across her back. “How are you feeling?”

  “Still hurts to breathe, but I’m alive.” Two days. Two days since he’d charged through that door and shot the man determined to destroy her life. Two days since she’d woken up, facedown on a stretcher getting wheeled into surgery with him by her side. He’d promised never to leave her again, but the situation between them hadn’t changed. He’d sold classified intel to an enemy combatant, and the NSA would charge him with treason the second they got their hands on him. So what were they supposed to do now? “Thanks to you.”

  Liam Waters’s body had been recovered by Anchorage PD, as had mountains of evidence proving he’d been stalking her for months. He’d been careful, planned every step and stayed ahead of her the entire time, but even knowing the former agent would never come after her again, she couldn’t relax.

  “You did a damn good job protecting yourself, Sprinkles.” Braxton crossed his arms over his torso, all three hundred stitches securely in place again. “Have you slept?”

  “No.” The memories running through her head wouldn’t let her. It’d take time for her to scrub the slate clean. She reached for the gun on the sink.

  Braxton struggled to straighten, the pain in his expression evident. She wasn’t the only one who’d been through hell over the last week. “Liz—”

  “Waters told me why you did it.” She fisted the towel tighter. Waters had blackmailed him. She didn’t know all the details, but if Braxton had proven anything over the last week, it was that he’d do anything to protect her. And he’d left thinking the former CIA agent would leave her alone after he’d delivered the intel. But killers rarely kept their end of the deals they struck. She’d learned that the hard way. “He threatened to kill me unless you got him the intel on Oversight, right? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Any reason I gave after you found out would look like a desperate attempt to win you back.” The vulnerability and sorrow in his voice raised her body’s awareness of him to new heights. “I needed you to find out on your own.”

  Elizabeth gripped the weapon harder, hot tears in her eyes. “And if he’d never told me, you were willing to walk away from us forever? Never meet your daughter?”

  “If it kept you alive, yes.” The solemn expression etched onto his face penetrated deep into her soul, as though he’d stolen the very oxygen she needed to live. “I told Waters how to access Oversight’s feeds, and people died because of it. Because of me. I’ll never be able to forgive myself, and I’ll understand if you can’t, either. But I made you a promise. I’m not leaving you behind. Not again. I’ll avoid arrest as long as I can to stay in Anchorage. For you.”

  The guilt she’d witnessed inside Braxton consumed his irises. The shock of his admission cut her like a blunt blade, rough and painful. Dalton Meyer and Liam Waters had been killed, an entire country had been put at risk, all because Braxton had tried to protect her.

  “You gave up classified intel to a former CIA agent then came back to stop him when you realized that he was going to use it to hunt me down.” She could barely believe the words coming from her own mouth.

  “He threatened to kill you. I may have lost my temper.” He stepped forward, slowly closing the space between them. The steam from the shower penetrated through the thick towel wrapped around her. Or was it her heart racing out of control? He glanced at the gun in her hand. “You don’t need the gun, Liz. Not for me.”

  Silence reigned, perfect silence almost too good to be true.

  It took three deep inhales before she could look at him again. Liam Waters would’ve gotten his hands on Oversight’s intel one way or another, maybe tortured and killed dozens more people to do it. She knew that now. There was no reasoning with him, no convincing him killing her wouldn’t bring his partner back. And she and Braxton had stopped him. The man standing two feet from her had ensured the world had one less killer to worry about.

  Her body ached as Elizabeth set the gun back on the sink. The internal torture he’d put himself through showed in his expression, and she reached for him, framing the side of his jaw with her uninjured hand. His warmth burned a hole through the last bricks of the wall she’d created around her heart, desolating everything she’d held against him.

  He’d done it all for her.

  “The gun’s not for you. I just...need it for a little while longer. What you did, it made me feel protected.” She swiped her thumb beneath one bright green eye. Careful to avoid the bandages over his left shoulder, she stepped into the comfort of his arms. How could she ever have thought he’d betray her? The past week alone was proof enough. He’d do anything to protect her and their baby. And she’d do anything to keep him in her life. “Made me feel loved.”

  “You’re safe now. It’s over.” He ran his fingertips through her hair. The slight tremble against her scalp mimicked the uneven thump of her pulse. Elizabeth caught the struggle to fill his lungs but couldn’t force herself to straighten. Not yet. She hadn’t felt so content in months, his skin warm, traces of his clean, masculine scent diving deep into her pores. Her nerves settled the longer she counted his heartbeat. “I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.”

  “I know,” she said.

  Physical tension drained from him. Only the sound of their combined heartbeats filled her ears, but her fingers tingled with the urge to touch him. Elizabeth slid her hand across his torso, following the peaks and valleys created just for her. The soul-deep craving she’d always had for him erupted as she craned her head up. The emptiness in those irises had vanished, leaving nothing but her reflection in his gaze.

  “I was going to stock your freezer for you.” Braxton swiped a strand of hair behind her ear, sending liquid pleasure shooting to her core. His laugh vibrated through her. “Then realized you already have three gallons of chocolate ice cream.”

  “I stopped at the store right after they released me from the hospital.” Something stirred in her lower abdominals. If she was honest with herself, she’d already made her decision, but so much had happened between them. He’d sold classified intel to save her life, had gone as far as putting his own life in danger for her, but the sting of his disappearance hadn’t lessened. Four months of wondering, of questions, had nearly driven her to the point of insanity. She couldn’t go through that again. “I was hoping we might be able to share a bowl tonight. And every night after that.”

  Disappointment overwhelmed his features, and her heart shattered from the agony consuming him. She’d experienced the same pain when Braxton had vanished and had completely lost herself inside that betrayal. “I can’t. Not without dragging you and the baby into the NSA’s manhunt for me. I’ll stay in Anchorage, but it’ll be at a distance.”

  Stepping back, Elizabeth ran the pad of her thumb over his left cheekbone. He lifted his gaze to her, staring at her as though she was the center of his entire world. Just as he had when they’d first met. She’d never get used to that. “And if I told you the NSA didn’t get to decide our future?”

  Those mesmerizing green eyes narrowed on her. “What do you mean?”

  “Answer the question.” Elizabeth pulled back, eager for his response. This was the defining moment, the chance to risk it all. And if he didn’t take it? Her insides churned at the thought. But she’d move on. She’d raise this baby alone. She’d tell her daughter the truth. That her father had to stay in hiding to protect them. “Would you stay here with me—with us—and give us another shot if the manhunt was called off?”

  “Damn right I would.” Braxton threaded his fingers through the hair at the back of her neck, molding her to him. “Making you mine is the only thing I’ve wanted since you walked into the office all those years ago.”

  Her cell phone dinged with an incoming message from the other room. Perfect
timing. “Good. I called Dalton Meyer’s replacement when I got home from the hospital and told them I would only help restore Oversight’s feeds for the NSA if they cleared the charges against you.”

  Braxton’s expression slackened. He tried to pull away, but she secured him against her. No. No more running. No more lies. From now on, they’d be honest with each other. “Liz, you didn’t have to do that. I would’ve figured something out—”

  “Yes, I did. You saved my life more times than I can count. It was time to return the favor.” She’d vowed never to work for the NSA or touch Oversight’s programming again but ensuring Braxton could help raise their daughter, that he could make them a family, was worth it. “As twisted as it sounds, Waters died for the one person who mattered most to him in the world. His partner. I realized when he had that gun to my head, if I had to, I would do the same thing for my partner.” Fisting her fingers in his T-shirt, she pushed against him slightly. “I love you. I never stopped loving you, and I want you here. I want you to help me raise this baby. I want to be a family.”

  “I love you, too.” His breath warmed her neck. Pressing himself against her, he smoothed the tip of his nose along the outside cartilage of her ear. A shudder ran across her collarbones and down her spine, and she closed her eyes to heighten her senses. “What do you say we get out of here? You, me, no more secrets, no guns. Just the open ocean and sandy beaches for a few weeks.”

  After what they’d been through, she needed it. She spun in his arms, securing the towel around her once again, and wiped steam from the mirror. She’d have to clear the time off with Sullivan and the rest of the team, but she doubted Blackhawk Security needed her for the next month or so. “I’m bringing my gun.”

  “You say the sexiest things.” Braxton slid one hand along her thigh, below the hem of the towel. The rough patches on his fingertips scraped against her skin, but not uncomfortably. He buried his lips in the crook between her neck and shoulder. He planted a kiss against her skin, tracing the edge of her tendon with his lips. She grew painfully aware of the reaction his lips elicited in her lower abdominals. He slid his hand over their baby from behind, lowered his chin onto her shoulder and held her against him. “Marry me.”

  Interrupting her next inhale, he guided her head toward him and crushed his mouth against hers, urgent, warm. Her vision wavered as she surrendered herself over to him completely. After almost four months of missing his touch, she couldn’t think of anything but the towel and his clothes separating them. Their injuries wouldn’t allow them to fulfill all of their physical desires, but having him close was more than enough. Pulling away for a moment, her lips growing cold without his, she reveled in the weight lifting from her chest. He was a free man. He was hers. “Deal.”

  Hints of that gut-wrenching smile pulled at one corner of his mouth, and her pulse rocketed higher. He swept a stray piece of soaked hair off her face then brought her hips into the circle of his arms. “I only have one condition.”

  “You realize you’re the one who proposed to me, right? I’m supposed to make the conditions.” She melted from the warmth radiating from under his clothing. Something exploded inside, seared her from the inside out and destroyed the horror-filled memories of the last week. Her heart thundered with a renewed possibility of finally having the man she’d wanted from the start, of starting their family together, and she smiled against his lips. “But go ahead. Name your price.”

  “We get on a plane tomorrow,” he said. “And you marry me by sunset.”

  “What are we supposed to do until then?” Elizabeth had meant the question innocently enough, but the desire burning in Braxton’s gaze filled her thoughts with plenty of things they might be able to do despite the near-death injuries they’d sustained.

  “I have a few ideas.” Braxton pulled her closer, her back pressed to his front, and fit her against him. His pulse was slow and steady between her shoulder blades, and she collapsed her head back against his shoulder. “One of them involves getting this towel off you.”

  She wrapped her hands around the Glock on the counter and dropped it to her side. Safety on. She might need the extra security for a few more weeks, until the nightmares subsided for good, but at least she’d have Braxton at her side to help her forget. Forever. “Good luck with that.”

  Five months later...

  SCREAMING. BLOOD. ICE CHIPS. More screaming. All for the tiny, perfect human in his arms.

  “Karina Dawson-Levitt.” He couldn’t believe it. Braxton cradled his daughter tighter. Mere hours ago, they’d rushed to the hospital, and before he knew it, here she was. Their baby girl opened her mouth wide in a yawn, and his eyes burned. Hell, he’d never been so happy in his life. A laugh rumbled through him. “Welcome to the world, half-pint.”

  “Hey, I pushed that watermelon out. I get to hold her, too, you know.” Liz slid her fingers across his arm, pulling him back toward her on the bed. The damn thing wasn’t wide enough for all three of them, but there was no way he was moving from this spot. Liz pressed against him on his right, baby Karina in his arms. His wife rested her head on his shoulder and set her hand over his heart, right where it belonged. A moan filled his ears as she glanced up at him. “She’s so perfect, I want to eat her up. Want to count her fingers and toes again?”

  “No, let’s let her rest. She’s got to save her energy so she can keep us up all night.” Planting a kiss in Liz’s hair, Braxton caught movement through the small window in the hospital room door. They’d held them off as long as they could, but the team had gotten restless. There was no stopping it, but he was determined to stretch out this moment of peace as long as he could. Stroking his fingers over Karina’s baby-soft skin, he braced himself against the oncoming chaos. “They’re going to break down the door if we keep them waiting any longer.”

  “You can let them in in a minute. But only because I’m afraid Elliot will start telling the staff he’s a doctor to get in here.” Liz leveraged her hands into the mattress and straightened, then ran her hands through her hair. “Hell, he probably has the credentials already made just in case.”

  “You look beautiful.” Braxton brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear, sliding his thumb across her bottom lip. “You grew a human inside your body. What you did was amazing, and you’re more beautiful now than ever.”

  He still couldn’t believe she’d married him on that beach, couldn’t believe she’d chosen him after he’d failed to keep her safe. With her work for the NSA behind her, Oversight up and running, and the charges dropped against him, he’d spent the last five months making it up to her every way he knew how. And he’d keep trying for the rest of his life. Without her... No. He wouldn’t think of a life without her. There was no life without her. She’d been the one to get him through the darkness. Everything he wanted was right here in this room. And he’d fight like hell to keep it that way.

  The CIA had taken possession of Liam Waters’s body after the fight in his hideout. The bastard would never hurt her again. Only after receiving confirmation his remains had been incinerated had her nightmares finally subsided. She didn’t need to sleep with the gun stashed under her pillow at night. She was safe. And the past was officially dead.

  She leaned into his palm, kissing the callused skin there with a wide smile. Her breath brushed lightly over his wrist, and every nerve ending in his body went haywire. For her. “You’re just saying that so I’ll let you eat the cookies the nurses brought me to get my blood sugar back up.”

  “I love you.” Braxton kissed her with everything he had then handed off the tiny human to her mother. He maneuvered off the bed and crossed the room. Spinning back toward her before he opened the door, he pointed at her. “But I’m getting those cookies one way or another.”

  He wrenched the heavy metal door toward him, and in three breaths her team flooded the room with congratulations. Sullivan Bishop, Elliot Dunham, Vincent Kalani, Anthony Harris
and Glennon Chase all closed in on his wife and daughter. The only operative missing was Kate Monroe, but he was sure the profiler would get to meet the newest member of the Blackhawk Security team soon.

  Liz’s smile brightened despite the grueling process she’d gone through to deliver their baby, and a rush of joy had him cracking his own smile.

  That was his wife. His daughter. His life.

  Braxton saw the future in that moment.

  And, damn, it looked good.

  * * *

  Read on for a look at the next book in

  Nichole Severn’s Blackhawk Security series.

  Rules in Defiance is available next month!

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  Rules in Defiance

  by Nichole Severn

  An ear-piercing scream had Elliot Dunham reaching for the Glock stashed under his pillow. He threw back the sheets and pumped his legs hard, not bothering to check the time as the apartment blurred in his vision. That scream hadn’t come from his apartment, but it had been close. Air rushed from his lungs as adrenaline burned through his veins. There was only one name that came to mind. “Waylynn.”

  Ripping open his front door, he made the sharp turn to his left in the darkness and faced his neighbor’s front door. No hesitation. He aimed the heel of his foot toward the lock and kicked with everything he had. Pain shot up his leg, but the door splintered, thick wood slamming back against the wall. He raised the gun and moved in. One breath. Two. Nothing but the pounding of his heartbeat behind his ears registered. He scanned the scene, his senses adjusting slowly.