by Bella Grant
When his fingers reached her wrist and the large gashed scar there, she pulled away. He closed his hand around her wrist gently before she could, though. “They slit your wrists… Or was that you?” he asked quietly, and she didn’t meet his gaze as more anger filled him when he thought of her feeling so helpless, so alone, that the only way out was to kill herself. “Eddie?” She tried to pull away again, but he didn’t let her. “No, no more hiding, especially from me. What did you do?”
She fidgeted but looked him in the eyes when she said, “Suicide attempt, two of them. Wrists were in the hospital right afterwards. I couldn’t take it, kept seeing his face, feeling his hands on me…” She shuddered, and Beau wanted to pull her close and tell her she was safe, but he didn’t, not yet. “The second when I tried to drive my Jeep off a cliff.”
“You are never allowed to try that again, understand me?” His words were harsh as he thought of her bleeding out. “Never again. That is an order.” His thumb brushed over her old scars as his lips touched hers.
“I thought I was just a liar and manipulator,” she muttered against his lips.
“I was wrong,” he said, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I’m sorry for it. Still pissed though.”
“I don’t blame you,” she murmured, and to his surprise, brought him back for another kiss. It grew in heat. He needed her just as much as she needed him, no matter how hard it was for either one to admit it. His hand tangled in her hair, and he wanted nothing more than to show her what a man who loved a woman was really about, but she was still recovering. And the word ‘love’ passing through his mind seized his body.
“I need to shower and change,” he managed to announce. “Still covered in blood.”
“Who’s here?” she asked as he helped her back to her feet. He considered telling her to lie back down, but the second his gaze landed on the bed, she followed, and her eyes narrowed.
“Agent Laon is on her way if she’s not here already, and Shane with her.”
Eddie told him she would be down there to see what she could find out, if anything. He knew they wouldn’t tell her anything. He was more pissed at Reinhart than Eddie, anyway. The man in charge should’ve brought Beau in from the start; then none of this would’ve happened.
And you never would’ve met Eddie, he thought, stiffening at the realization of it. The man trying to kill them both was the only reason they were together in the first place. Beau frowned at the irony of it and contented himself with imagining various tortures to use on Coleman for what he had unleashed on Eddie.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Eddie reached the bottom stair in the new safe house, barely a quarter of the size of the first, to find Jackie standing near the fireplace, yelling at someone on her cell. When she turned and saw Eddie, she hung up and rushed over to her.
“I thought I said no more scaring the shit out of me,” she snapped. “What happened at the house?”
“All I know is I was drugged. You want to fill me in?”
Jackie waited until Eddie sat down on the couch, wincing and rubbing her knee. “You going to live?”
“Been through worse,” she muttered. “What do we know?”
“Look, Reinhart does not want you doing anything stupid, Eddie—you or Savage. Got it?”
She glanced at her knee with a raised brow. “Does it look like I’m going anywhere?”
Jackie frowned but didn’t say anything as she sat across from Eddie in the armchair and opened the files on it. “Those men from the house are dead. Cyanide. Didn’t get anything out of them before they offed themselves.”
“Anything off West?”
“No, just the pictures of you and Savage. We found the other missing agents dead in Milan.”
Eddie listened to Jackie go over what they’d found, but they were still waiting to hear back from the techs to see what could be gathered from the old security footage. Eddie doubted they’d find anything they could use, so for the moment, they were once again at a dead-end.
“Reinhart’s pissed the safe house was attacked,” Jackie added after silence fell over the room. “He kept it together while he was there, but the second he was back at command base, he lost it. Tore up his office. Never heard that man curse so much.”
“Not surprising. It’s taking everything I have right now not to call him and tell him I told you so.”
“I don’t think he’d even be mad about it,” she chuckled without humor. “But he doesn’t want either of you to leave this house. You’re not even allowed on the front porch.”
“Great, so house arrest,” she muttered. “What the hell are we supposed to do here?”
Jackie winked. “I think the two of you will come up with something to keep yourselves busy.”
Eddie glared at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. I don’t know a thing about what’s going on.”
“He told you we’re having sex?” Eddie hissed in a whisper as she leaned forward. Jackie burst out laughing then quieted as she shook her head. “Damn it, I hate you.”
“Hate me all you want. As long as you’re being taken care of, I don’t care.” She gathered up the files on the table and checked her watch. “Your brother should’ve been here by now.”
Eddie shot a look towards the front door as an agent passed by it and the front windows, talking on a radio. “You know everyone outside?”
“I do, checked them out myself. Ted’s out there, too.”
She frowned. Ted and Gareth had been with her through those weeks of torture. The last thing she wanted was for this to bring up any bad memories for them, too. None of them should have to deal with this again, but Coleman wasn’t disappearing anytime soon. She’d hoped, after not hearing anything about him for so long, someone would’ve shot him. Buried him in a ditch.
Everything in her career up until that point meant something to her. She had a purpose when she got up in the morning, when she worked with her team. She helped bring down drug lords, war lords, terrorists, and gathered intel from places across the entire damn globe. But the moment Hugh betrayed her, everything just stopped. Nothing helped her move past it until Savage came into her life, but Hugh was trying to take that away from her, too.
If she lost Savage, she would lose the last bit of hope she clung to for a normal life. It couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t let it happen.
“You’ll keep me posted on everything you find out?” she asked Jackie as her friend stood.
“Whether Reinhart wants me to or not,” she promised. “We’ll find him, Eddie. We’ll get him this time. He won’t hurt you again.”
She watched Jackie leave before going back upstairs to check on Beau and find out if her cell and gun survived the attack and trip to the new safe house. Beau hadn’t come down yet either, and she didn’t hear the shower running. There were only two bedrooms upstairs. The first was empty, and when she reached the room she’d woken up in, she found him passed out on the bed. He’d showered and thrown his jeans back on but left his shirt off.
The slash against his back was red and puckered, tugging a bit as he breathed.
As she watched him sleep, saw the bags under his eyes and the lines on his face, she realized she knew hardly anything about this man who’d managed to break down her icy walls of bitterness and rage. He was arrogant, but that was only a front for what he dealt with during his career. His arrogance was his defense against caring, like anger had been hers. Now, they were both vulnerable to whatever happened next. Before, she’d told herself that after this was over, he would hate her too much for lying to want to be with her and that it could never work between them. Ever.
Watching him sleep, the first time she’d seen him relaxed, she knew she couldn’t live without him. If they both survived.
On the dresser were her cell and holster, the Sig back in place. Quietly, she grabbed them and slipped back out the door to let Beau sleep. She was wired and paced anxiously arou
nd the lower floor of the small house. Back and forth from the kitchen to the living room and back again as her leg’s aching refused to stop. She’d used it more these past few days than over the last few months; stopping West from killing Beau caused most of the pain. West had been compromised, just as Hugh was all those years ago. Eddie wanted to trust he was the only one, but since she woke up, a nagging in her gut refused to go away.
It was far from being over. If Hugh was this intent on killing her and Savage, he wouldn’t put his faith in only one man and certainly not someone like West. He was too new to the game. It must be someone else.
Eddie stopped moving long enough to pull out her cell and call Shane. It rang and rang, but he didn’t answer. Jackie said Shane should’ve been here by now, and that was over an hour ago. He wasn’t answering his cell. Jackie said the other agents who disappeared were found dead in the warehouse. Hugh knew Shane was her brother… He was supposed to be his best man at the wedding.
She meant to try him again when a darker thought popped into her mind… Maybe the lead she hoped would go cold was actually right on target.
When they were first betrayed by Hugh, the world turned upside down and Shane had been by her side through it all. Her mind wandered over these ideas before, but she’d pushed them aside as she and Shane became closer after the accident instead of drifting. But now, when Hugh was back in play and agents were turning up dead, the thoughts returned.
Ten years ago, Shane had introduced her to Hugh. They were young, just starting their careers with the special division within the Navy and other military branches, teams sent out to gather intel for others to move in more efficiently. Hugh and Shane hit it off as friends, and not long after, Eddie was swept off her feet by his charm. Back then, he had been Gabriel Willem and was everything she’d always wanted in a man. It was too good to be true, and Shane swore up and down there was no way he could’ve known who Hugh really was. He’d been interrogated over and over, but they never found a reason to suspect her brother.
Eddie tried him again and left a message. She hung up and texted Jackie. If her brother did not check in soon, he was either in serious trouble or he was up to something he shouldn’t be. Either way, Eddie needed to know.
Heavy steps on the stairs drew her gaze to Beau readjusting his holster at his side as he searched for her. “Did I miss anything?”
“Jackie filled me in on what they found so far.”
“From the look on your face, they don’t have anything new. What about the men they took into custody?”
“Dead—cyanide pills—and I killed West before he could give us anything,” she muttered. “I knew better. We needed him alive.”
Beau shrugged as he moved to her side. “You did what you had to do to keep us both alive.”
“No,” she said and hung her head. “I killed him for what he said. That speedball overdose? ‘Gift from Hugh,’ that’s what he said… Right before I drove that knife into his throat.”
She watched the vein in his neck bulge as his jaw tensed. His anger pushed against her and he looked ready to kill someone, but that someone wasn’t anywhere near enough for him to get his hands on. Eddie knew exactly how he felt, but to see a man act that way for her filled her with an insatiable need to fall into his arms, and, for once in her life, let someone help carry her hatred.
“Well,” she said, breaking eye contact before she did something neither of them was ready for. “We’re not technically on duty. How about a drink?”
She heard him follow her as she limped back into the kitchen and dug around in the cabinets. She reached for a bottle of whiskey tucked back in a corner, the bottle dusty and old, but she didn’t care. Anything sounded good. Beau found two glasses and carried everything to the table, poured them a decent measure, and they sat down. The whiskey would do little to ease her racing thoughts, but it might help ease the ache in her knee and her arm.
Beau sipped his whiskey, his eyes on Eddie. “You’re worried about something.”
“Aren’t you?” she said. “Someone did almost kill us both.”
“That’s normal for me,” he replied with a dark laugh. “Come on, no more secrets.”
She caught the hint of anger in his voice. “You can yell at me if you want. I can take it, Savage.”
“No,” he sighed. “I’m pissed, but I’m not going to take it out on you. I think we’ve both been through enough because of this bastard.” He took another long gulp, and when his eyes found hers again, she felt as if she were staring in the mirror. “And you can’t lie to me, not anymore. What else are you thinking about?”
Eddie ran her finger along the rim of her glass, debating what to tell him. She didn’t know anything for certain, and it had been years since she’d trusted her instincts. They’d been wrong about Hugh, so why not everything else too?
“Just unanswered questions about West and the other agents.”
“The dead agents or ones still alive?”
Damn, how does he do that? “Alive and maybe too close for comfort.”
“Eddie, just tell me what you’re thinking. It can’t be that bad.”
“Depends on your definition of bad.” She sighed and drained the rest of the whiskey, cringing at the burn going down her throat. “I’ll tell you when I know more. It might be nothing.”
Eddie glanced at her cell again, but there was no word from Shane or Jackie. Before, when it was about guarding Savage, she was fine, her usual indifferent self. Now, after the incident, there were too many questions without answers, and the world threatened to crash down around her again. But it wasn’t just her life on the line any more. The man she grew to like a hell of a lot, maybe even love a little, was in danger as well.
He shrugged his shoulders and grimaced across the table.
“How’s your back?” she asked.
“Barely a scratch,” he teased, and his eyes settled on her face before they trailed lower and she watched his pupils dilate. Since her near-death experience, all they’d shared was a kiss.
The need to be in his arms overwhelmed her, and Eddie’s breath caught in her chest as his eyes devoured her over the rim of his whiskey glass. He shot the rest of it back and wiped his upper lip with his finger before setting his glass down. His jaw clenched, but not in anger, not this time. The predatory gaze in his eyes turned into one of possessiveness, and before Eddie realized what she’d done, she rose and led the way towards the stairs.
Beau was right behind her as she hurried to the bedroom at the end of the hall. The second Beau was through the door, she closed it and wrapped her arms around him, pulling his holster off as his hands slid up under her shirt, her hands shaking with need. His touch was soft against her skin, but underneath was the quivering need to know she was still alive and still his to have. She shivered at his touch and the desire exploding within her.
His holster off and resting on the nightstand, she yanked up his shirt, tossing it aside so she could see his bare chest again. Her fingers traced the scars that puckered his skin here and there, mindful of the new injury to his back. His hand skirted around the gauze on her forearm, and his eyes narrowed in anger at the wound, making her loins clench tighter with desire for this man who would kill for her. She leaned forward and kissed his skin until his hands tangled in her hair and pulled her head back.
“Eddie.” He breathed her name, his eyes darkened with desire, and the man who stood before her was no longer just Beau Savage. He was hers.
She took off her holster, and his hands lifted her shirt and quickly undid her bra. The second she was free of it, he growled and pressed her against his body as his mouth slanted over hers. His tongue demanded entry, and she could do nothing but let him in, leaning into his touch as her need for him grew. Before, when they’d made love, she’d been Naomi, but now she was Eddie and Beau’s hands knew it. He might have been pissed at her for lying, but he seemed to care more about feeling every inch of her to know that she ha
dn’t left him yet.
Watching her almost die put things in perspective for them both.
Eddie and Beau had their secrets and they had their pasts, but in that moment, the only thing that mattered was holding onto each other. She ran her nails down his back, heat spreading between her legs as he grunted and moved them back against door. His head lowered, and she gasped when his mouth closed around her nipple, sucking hard and without mercy. She wanted it, needed it. Her hands threaded through his hair, pushing him closer as his hand tightened on her hip. Her eyes rolled back as every nerve in her body tingled. His tongue licked the slope of her breasts before closing around the other nipple.
She moaned, and his hand slid to her jeans, unbuttoning them and sliding the zipper down. His fingers sought her folds, and when he found them, she smiled when he cursed.
“When I’m finished with you, you’ll never think of Coleman touching you again,” he whispered in her ear. “You are mine, Eddie Sage, and I’m never letting you leave me. No matter how much shit you put me through.”
She grabbed his hair and pulled his head back so she could stare into his eyes. The range of emotions racing through her didn’t stop as an overpowering sense of love she never thought she’d feel overflowed within her. “Swear it.”
His fingers penetrated her, and she gasped at the sensation of him inside her. He nibbled her lip and whispered, “I swear it.”
Beau kissed her hard, his fingers moving inside her, stretching her as his palm rubbed her clit. She wrapped her arms around his neck, the contact between them electric. He picked her up with one arm, and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her back to the bed. Her jeans were tugged off along with everything else, and she lay bare before him. Eddie wanted him inside her, but he wasn’t going to give in that easily and knelt at the edge of the bed. His lips started at her knee, caressing the scarred skin with this tongue, making her body quiver under his touch. His stubble rubbed against the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, and when his warm breath hit her clit, she held her breath, trying to hold back the plea on her tongue.