by Dana Volney
When there were no more pops, he lifted his face. “Are you hurt?”
“No. But I’d breathe better if you weren’t lying on me.”
He righted his body, keeping one eye on her as he surveyed the building on fire.
“Where the hell did that come from?” She ran her fingers through her hair and smoothed out her black t-shirt.
“I don’t know.” Dollars to jelly donuts, it had something to do with that money, though.
The flames had fallen back from the doorway, and he slipped out of the truck. No one had come running out of the building, and no one was around to see what all the noise was about. He jogged across the street and headed straight for what seemed to be the main office he’d found the previous night. Ashes of charred bodies, or body parts rather, lay scattered about the room. He coughed, pulling up the bottom of his shirt to cover his nose in a futile effort to keep out the burnt plastic, smoky ashes, and crispy flesh.
There was nothing left to grab. Some bombs were meant for damage; this wasn’t one of them. This was a controlled explosion meant to kill whoever was at the center of the blast. And do it quickly. The bombs and suicide bombers he’d experienced in the Middle East were dirty, meant to inflict the most pain possible, and they were crude. This was sophisticated. This was unlike anything he’d seen before.
He was going to have to reach out to contacts he hadn’t spoken to in quite a while. This type of programming—if the bomb had been hidden inside the money or triggered by it, was next level shit and beyond his techy head.
• • •
Dammit. Hannah shook her head and pressed her phone harder against her cheek. Eddie was empty-handed. He slammed the truck door. She hadn’t expected anything or anyone to be salvageable anyway. Still, a glimmer of the “what if” had kept her eyes glued to the door Eddie had gone through.
She tapped “end” on her cell. She’d called in the blast to the local PD as an anonymous citizen. She and Eddie needed to get out of here before they were spotted. And God forbid she call her junior agents; the sooner the FBI knew what they were dealing with, the quicker she was going to have to answer questions all around as to what she’d been up to the last twenty-four hours. Last night she’d been ready to spill the beans, but in the light of day, that would have been career suicide. Finding out that her kisses had no effect on Eddie had been an unfortunate outcome of her ongoing lies.
She raised her brows. “Survivors?”
Eddie shook his head and pointed the truck toward their hotel.
“Shit,” she whispered to herself as she propped her elbow up on the truck door.
Their case didn’t have a leg to stand on as of right now. They had met with Redburn, bantered, and didn’t have him saying anything concrete on audio. And his lawyer would have the recording thrown out in a New York minute at this point. All conjecture. All inactionable.
She wanted to stomp her feet, shake her fists, whip her hair like she was in an eighties rock video, except she wasn’t jazzed about music. Punching something would work, too. Hard. Fucking hard. She needed a workout. It would help clear her mind. Because all she could see right now was a red wall about 100 feet high. She side-eyed Eddie, who was calmly navigating the streets like they were looking for a cozy breakfast spot, and rolled her eyes. Nothing fazed him. Apparently not even great kisses.
“We’ll regroup. It’s going to be okay.”
“Regroup? Are you fucking kidding me? That was all we had on Redburn. For all we know, he’s the one who figured out we’re on to him and blew up his own people to clean up the loose end. He’s a criminal mastermind bastard.” She spat out the last sentence, heat rolling in her belly and adrenaline starting to take over. Again. Or she’d not calmed down yet fully from the blast that had pushed her ribs into her spine.
There was no way she was letting Redburn win, but she couldn’t think straight in this mental death-spiral.
Eddie kept silent after that. All the way back downtown, to the parking garage, and up to their hotel room.
Okay, this wasn’t great. She was alienating the only person who was here to help her. Who was still by her side.
He kicked off his shoes, sat at the little table by the window, and pulled his laptop from his bag. Always in work mode. Well, who was she to talk? That was her entire life. Work. She cracked her knuckles and peeled off her boots.
What did he do for fun? Hack things? Surely, he had a way to unwind after a particularly hard day.
She moved her jaw around; it had become so tight since the explosion. Since her entire case went up in smoke.
Eddie ran his tongue over his bottom lip. Methodically, back and forth. Back and forth. His nimble fingers flew over the keyboard. How could their kiss not have knocked his socks off?
“What?” Eddie’s voice broke the silence of the space.
“Hmm?” She found his gaze.
“You were scrunching your face. At me.” He took a break from his laptop and slouched in his chair. “You know I didn’t blow up the warehouse, right?”
“Yeah,” she shrugged, “I know.” Did you know that was the best kiss of my life? And it hadn’t mattered one bit to him. What else then wouldn’t faze him? Sex. They could have sex, great sex, and he wouldn’t care one bit. Hey, she might be on to something. If he didn’t care and she didn’t care, what would it hurt?
She let her gaze roam over Eddie’s tan, muscled arms, down to the waist of his pants that led to jeans falling perfectly over his strong thighs. He was in great shape. Very athletic. Just her type. You know, to basically use as gym equipment.
She took a deep breath and licked her lips. She was already ass in anyway, what was one more sham?
“I can’t help but think you’re happy. Now you can focus on Leo’s case.” She baited him on purpose, but her words didn’t hold an edge.
“He is a priority, yes. I’m one hell of a multitasker, though.” He kept his gaze on her and started to smile, then stopped, glanced behind her, and stood. “I should get showered up. We have some leads to run down.”
Welp. How better to live in the present?
She stood and cut his path off to the bathroom, planted her palms on his cheeks then her lips right on his. No hesitation. No holding back.
She was going for it.
That was the only way this worked. If he pushed her back, then she’d just pretend she slipped and fell onto his mouth. Or something.
His didn’t respond. His lips didn’t move; his hands weren’t on her. Anywhere. Shit. She pulled her face back and slowly removed her hands.
Pull yourself together and be a work team, or go after Redburn yourself. But fucking get it together. Could she make any more mistakes? The next twenty-four hours couldn’t possibly be as bad as her current day.
She took a moment to steel her mind before making herself look Eddie in the eye. Chin up—she could deal with it. She didn’t really care, after all; he was a means to an end.
Instead, she found heat. Definite desire in his green eyes.
She rubbed her lips together, watching him. Waiting. Her heartbeat kicked up.
He took a step forward, and she took a step back on instinct. Then another. And another until her back hit the wall. His gaze never left hers, their bodies so close she could easily wrap her arms around his neck and jump into his arms. Now she had nowhere to go. He’d trapped her—was deciding what to do with her—and his intensity lit up her body from her toes to the hair on her scalp. Her entire being waited to see what he’d do next. Heat stirred deep in her belly, nagging to be satisfied.
“Find what you’re looking for?” she asked barely above a whisper because her throat was tight in anticipation of his lips, his touch, his power.
“Yeah.” And with one swift movement, he pressed his lips against hers, pushing her completely against the wall with the weight of his body. His palms wrapped around her waist and squeezed.
He cupped her ass and lifted her as she wrapped her legs around his hips. Press
ing against him, feeling the length of him rub against her core sent pings of desire straight up her spine. She kissed him harder. Clenched his hair in her fists. He tasted sweet, like a green apple Jolly Rancher.
He twirled and landed them on the bed, his weight pressing her into the mattress. His kisses were deep and passionate and so wanting. It had been a long time since she’d been wanted. Or kissed like this.
Eddie pulled back and took his shirt off with one hand. He grabbed the bottom of her shirt and trailed it up, the tips of his fingers skimming up her stomach, over her breasts. Goose bumps littered her skin under his watchful gaze. She moved her arms up, and he slid her shirt the rest of the way. In an instant, their bodies were pressed together, the skin-on-skin contact increasing her need to be connected in the most intimate way. He owned her lips, commanded them, licking into her mouth and tangling their tongues.
She moved her hands between them and unbuttoned her pants. There was no time to waste.
He swirled his tongue on the swell of her breast, and her head dug into the bedding as pleasure rolled through her chest. His hands left her skin, but his lips didn’t as they explored the parts of her that weren’t covered by her black bra. He jostled, and she heard a soft thud—no doubt his pants.
Eddie nestled into the space between her legs. His weight on her was glorious. This wasn’t a marathon; this was a sprint. She wrapped her palms around his upper arm, marveling the feel of his hard muscles for a moment, then rubbed up to his neck as his head bobbed down and he captured her lips. He kissed down her neck, and it was her and Eddie and their lips and their skin, and nothing else in the world mattered.
He braced himself on his elbows, his tongue swirling over her collarbone, and put one hand between them to guide him into her. She arched her back at the satisfaction that rolled through her core. More ... oh, she needed more of him. The need, the need making her heart pound faster and kisses fevered, only grew.
She intertwined her legs around his calves, her hand reaching down and grabbing his ass to press him closer. She needed more of him; she needed all of him, harder, faster. He thrust into her again and again, each sensation lighting up her nerve endings. Her palms smoothed up his back and over his shoulders and through his hair. God, he had thick, blonde hair. She pulled her hands down over his ears and pressed his face to hers again. She breathed him in, shifting her hips up. If only their connectivity would last forever.
Her release started to build to a point of no return. A moan escaped her lips, and he responded in silent accord by increasing the rhythm. His head dipped down, raining hot kisses on her breast, and he bit at her nipple with his teeth.
“Eddie,” she breathed hard and dug her nails into his back. Her orgasm rippled over her skin and sent waves through her. Over and over, she writhed under him.
He groaned and his body shuddered, and she held on to his arms.
She caught her breath as her heart raced out of control. Eddie was on top of her still; he breathed hard into the crook of her neck, then kissed the spot and rolled to his side.
“Well, that was unexpected,” he said in between pants.
“You’re telling me.” She smiled. Now there was no going back from knowing how in tune he was with her body. She wanted more. Dammit. Like, right now.
Neither made any attempt to move. She knew they should get back to work, but what a nice break this had been. She wouldn’t mind another short break. Or many longer ones.
But this was nothing to Eddie, and she couldn’t let him know it had meant anything to her, even if just a little.
“We should take work breaks more often.” He winked at her, then reached up for a tissue on the nightstand, ducked it under the covers for a moment, then balled it up, and tossed it back on the nightstand. Condom. There was a condom in the tissue, and oh holy crap, she hadn’t even thought about protection and she sure as hell didn’t realize he had. Thank God he had.
“Are you going to call and check in?” Eddie kissed her temple and sat up. “I want to know what the team found at the warehouse.” He located his shirt on the nightstand and pulled it over his perfect set of abs.
She bit into her lower lip as her eyes darted around the room. She had to tell him. Her entire body tensed, which sucked, considering the euphoria that ran through her moments ago.
“Oh no.” He shook his head as he pursed his lips. “What are you doing, Hannah?”
“I didn’t mean to, not really.” She took a big breath. Her mission had been shot to shit anyway. Coming clean with Eddie was a start to rebuild and figure out where to go from here. She wasn’t going to bring up Leo though. That was her ace in the hole.
Chapter Nine
Hannah looked up at him with impossibly big, dark blue eyes and searched for forgiveness. For what, he was scared to ask. But had to.
“What did you do?” Had she blown up those guys? Was she playing a game she hadn’t told him about, or was she playing both sides? He needed to look up her brother. Did she even have one?
“I lied.” A swift breath of air left her lips. “My boss dropped the task force yesterday after we got word of Marty’s death.”
Talk about a hard 180. Three seconds ago, he couldn’t remember why he didn’t kiss Hannah every freaking minute of the day, and now he was staring at a stranger.
He ground his teeth together.
“You scammed me?” His voice rose and brows furrowed. So he could’ve been with Amelia making up his mistake to her these last twenty-four hours? And helping his brother with the whole life sentence thing? Instead he’d been falling for a lie.
“I saw an opportunity and took it. I’m sorry. I really am.” She reached out and clamped her hand over his, which lay on his thigh.
He yanked his palm free and glared at her hand until she removed it. Did she understand how much danger she’d put them in this entire time by not having backup?
His gut flopped. He hated being lied to.
“This isn’t a sanctioned mission?” He scanned the room for his pants. It was really hard to be pissed without pants on. “We haven’t had backup this entire time.” The last one wasn’t a question but another nail in the coffin of his trust. Which now was nil.
“No.”
“Dammit, Hannah.” He spied his crumpled jeans and rose off the bed to grab them, sticking one leg in at a time, ignoring the fact that he was butt naked in front of her now, arguing. “The bugs and any information we gather aren’t going to be legit.” If he couldn’t take down Redburn, how was he going to save his brother?
“I think it still will be admissible because we’ll have everything documented, and when we get him, there’ll be no denying it.”
“You are unbelievable.”
“I have my reasons. This is the only way. I—”
“Save it.” He didn’t want to hear more lies come out of her mouth. Not right now.
He placed his hands loosely on his hips. Fuck it. He did. He wanted to hear her lousy reasoning. “Explain to me why you thought it was a good idea to lie to me about the task force?”
Jumping to anger wasn’t usually his go-to. He’d seen too many people leave this earth early, and he wasn’t about to waste what little time he had to enjoy life. That’s why he joked. That’s why he ate jelly donuts. And that’s why he wasn’t quick to anger. That was before he met Hannah. She’d put herself in danger. She’d put him in danger. And she’d put his brother in danger without the protection of the FBI to right any wrongs they might do.
“It’s the only shot we have. Had, probably. I wouldn’t be surprised if that spooks Redburn and he runs from the Huntingtons.”
“Nope. We will talk about the whole fire mess in a second. I have theories on that. I want to get back to the part where you blatantly lied to me.”
“I wasn’t lying. Not at first. Then I just didn’t want to let go.” She gathered the covers around her and scooted up to lean back on the headboard.
“You should’ve told me.” His jaw was tigh
t, and he spoke low and slow so as not to yell. Raising his voice would imply that he was angry, and he was so far past that.
“Would you have helped?”
No. No, he wouldn’t have. Because he had his own shit to deal with right now that was seriously worse than her vendetta against someone who couldn’t change what had happened. Yeah, it was harsh. But, shit, her brother wasn’t coming back to life. His might get life. There was a difference in immediacy.
“That’s not fair. I have my own problems. Leo, remember?”
“Yeah. I do.” She didn’t make eye contact with him as her gaze shot around the room, not landing on anything in particular.
Which wasn’t his problem.
Leo. He had to help her for Leo. She was the key to getting him exonerated. Whether Eddie liked it or not. If he walked away from her now, then she’d yank Leo out of the safe house with Alex and put him into the system. Of that, Eddie was positive. Hannah played to win; she was going to use everything to her disposal, and she saw Leo as a tool. She was clearly on a mission and willing to risk everything, including her life and job, for the cause she believed in.
“Do you know why I was readily assigned to your task force?”
“I asked for you.”
His smile was tight, unamused. “And why Winter was all too happy to oblige.”
Hannah shook her head and loose hairs flowed around her neck.
“Because I missed a signal and my teammate got shot.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry. Are they okay?”
“Amelia is in the hospital, and it’s all my fault.” He rubbed the back of his head, then ruffled his hair with his fingertips before sitting down next to Hannah on the white comforter. “I didn’t have her back like I should’ve. And I’ve learned a lesson. I’m not leaving you to go this alone.” He wasn’t leaving Leo out in the cold, either.
“Thank you.” Her dark blue gaze crinkled on the sides.