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  Son of a bitch, he should have made her lie down on the seat. He hadn’t considered it because he’d thought he was ahead of the curve. He should have fucking known better.

  Then again, whoever’d killed Scott Lloyd had been able to erase security footage. If they could do that, they could also watch and see when Brooke left the building.

  Shit.

  Cade stomped on the gas and hit the button on his steering wheel to activate hands-free mode. “Call Hacker,” he said, and the phone began to dial.

  “Yeah, man.” Hacker’s voice was crisp and businesslike.

  “Got a tail. Left Brooke’s building and someone was waiting for us.”

  “Where are you?”

  Cade checked the GPS and rattled off the street and cross streets as they passed each one.

  “Hang on,” Hacker said, and Cade could hear the clicking of keys on the keyboard. “Okay, see that red light up ahead?”

  “Yeah,” Cade replied. It was in the distance but getting closer quickly.

  “Take a hard right there. Then another hard right. There’s a small alley. Drive down it until you come to a cross alley and then make a left. Turn off the lights and wait.”

  Cade didn’t even question his teammate because Hacker knew his stuff. Brooke could hear the whole conversation, but she wasn’t saying anything. He thought she might be praying.

  Cade barreled toward the intersection, then swung hard right at the last moment. He floored the pedal, then jammed the brake and swung hard right again. The cross alley loomed and he pulled a left, stomped the brake and engaged the emergency brake, then flicked off the lights.

  Max panted in the back seat. Brooke didn’t utter a sound, but her chin dropped and she closed her eyes.

  “Anything?” Hacker asked.

  “Nothing yet.” The buildings were close together, and the alleys were literally small access roads that ran behind them. It was a good place to hide because you’d have to drive right up on someone’s ass to find them.

  “Wait ten minutes. If he doesn’t show up, I’ll talk you out. There’s a network of small alleys you can traverse until you get to the highway. Which direction you want to go?”

  “Get me back to Maryland. After that, I’m probably gonna head south. Get a hotel room somewhere quiet for the night.”

  “Copy that.”

  “Got to mute you for a minute,” Cade said as he glanced at Brooke.

  Her face was white and she had a hand over her heart.

  “Go ahead.”

  Cade pressed the Mute button and touched Brooke’s shoulder. “You okay, angel?”

  She glanced up at him, blinking rapidly. “I’m okay. Just feel a little panicky. I never expected…” She shook her head. “Yeah, I never thought I’d be in this kind of situation again. It’s a little overwhelming.”

  “A little?” He said it teasingly, and she smiled for a second before frowning again.

  “Okay, a lot overwhelming. But I’m better prepared now. I have you, I have Max, and I took a self-defense class.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got it covered then.” He grinned and she smiled back.

  “Yes, I think I do.”

  “Don’t worry, Brooke. I know what I’m doing.”

  “And if they find us before the ten minutes are up?”

  “Nobody’s getting to you without going through me. And believe me, that isn’t happening. Not my first rodeo.”

  Her smile was shaky. “I said I hated guns, but right now I’m pretty happy you have one.”

  He winked. “I have two on me. Both hold fifteen rounds per magazine. Plus I’ve got extra mags. We’re good.”

  She turned to look at Max, who sat watching them both, tongue lolling out as he panted. “You okay, Maxie?”

  His tail thumped the seat, and Brooke reached back to scratch him. Cade checked his watch and then scanned the mirrors and the street. Nothing happened. He unmuted the phone and told Hacker he was back.

  “Five more minutes,” Hacker said.

  “Can you check for some motels on the route?”

  “I can do better than that. I can book you something under an assumed name.”

  “Yeah, sounds good.”

  “I’ll send details to your phone.” He tapped some keys. “What’s the plan tomorrow?”

  “I think we’d better plan for a meeting with Ghost.” Ghost was Alex Bishop, HOT’s second-in-command. He was a hell of an operator, and he’d more than proven himself to the guys when he’d taken over the unsanctioned shadow-ops mission to rescue Mendez in Russia.

  Ghost was the guy you went to first. Mendez, or Viper as he was also known, was the big kahuna, the man in charge, and these days his plate was so full he didn’t need to be bothered until necessary.

  “Copy that. Okay, got you a reservation, Mr. Jones. Sending over the details. And we’ve got two minutes to go.”

  Brooke sat quietly, hands folded in her lap. Cade wanted to kiss her for luck, but he didn’t. The two minutes passed and nothing happened—no cars careening down the lane, no gunfire, no yelling or screaming.

  “Ready to go?” Hacker asked.

  Cade put his foot on the brake and released the emergency brake. Then he flipped on the lights. “Ready. Now get us the fuck out of here, buddy.”

  “Copy that, Saint.”

  Chapter 14

  Brooke felt like she hardly breathed for the entire trip through DC and into Maryland. She kept glancing at Cade, knowing that if someone was tailing them again, he would know. But nothing happened and no cars seemed to be following them.

  It took over an hour to reach the motel Hacker had booked for them. It was a small strip motel on the outskirts of some small town along the route. Brooke eyed it dubiously as they turned into the parking lot. Cade drove around the rear and backed into a slot.

  They got their things and Max and went to check in. The night manager eyed the dog, groused about a pet deposit, which Cade paid in cash, and then handed them the key.

  “Room 136. Upstairs, last room at the end.”

  “Thanks.”

  They left the motel office and headed for the stairs that would lead them up.

  “You stand here and I’ll take Max into the grass,” Cade told her when they reached the bottom of the steps.

  She would have protested, but she was too tired. “Okay. Thanks.”

  Max sniffed around a bit but did his business when Cade firmly told him to pee. Then they returned, and Cade lifted his gear while handing her Max’s leash.

  She went upstairs first and Cade followed. He inserted the key in the lock and swung the door open while Brooke braced herself for a disaster.

  But the room was clean, if dated, and it smelled like lemon oil and pine. Those were the scents of her childhood, the way she’d known that Mom had been cleaning all day and everything was fresh. Add lavender to the linens and the picture would be complete.

  Cade stowed their bags against the wall. There was a dresser, a queen-size bed, a bathroom, and a small couch against one wall. Max immediately bounded up on the couch while Brooke told him to get down. He looked at her with such a sad face she frowned.

  “Let him be,” Cade said. “Neither one of us will fit on it anyway.”

  She swallowed as she realized the implications of that declaration.

  “Relax, angel,” he told her, and she knew her face must have shown her thoughts. “We can sleep in the same bed without touching.”

  Her skin flamed. “How do you always know what I’m thinking?”

  “Because I know you,” he said simply, and her heart squeezed. If she hadn’t called him to pick her up from the hospital, he wouldn’t be here right now. Then again, she might not be here either. And that could be a whole lot worse for her.

  “I’ve gotten you into a mess you didn’t bargain for, but I’m so glad I called you to come get me, Cade.”

  “I live my life getting into messes—and getting back out again. It’s fine.”

&nb
sp; Brooke rubbed her arms. If she’d called Grace, her friend’s Secret Service protection would have extended to her while they were together. But it wouldn’t have lasted, and Brooke was fairly certain Grace’s guards wouldn’t share information with her the way Cade did.

  “How long do we have to do this?” she asked.

  “I really don’t know, angel. I’m sorry.”

  Brooke sank onto the end of the bed and rubbed her hands through her hair. Emotion simmered beneath the surface, swirling and boiling and trying to break free. But whether she’d scream or cry or yell, she didn’t know.

  Her life had been normal—or as normal as it ever was for her—just a couple of days ago. She’d been doing her work, taking care of her dog, and sexting with a handsome hunk of a military man. She might have gone on that way forever—well, except for the sexting because he definitely would have stopped doing that before too long—if she hadn’t taken Max out for a walk at precisely the time she did.

  Strike that. It wasn’t the going for a walk so much as the choice of when to return. That was the mistake.

  “Maybe if I go to sleep, I’ll wake up and find out the whole thing was a nightmare.”

  She remembered, forcefully, the dream she’d been having when he’d woken her just a couple of hours ago. He’d been about to slide into her body when the dream evaporated and she was being shaken awake instead.

  Heat blossomed between her thighs. She didn’t really know what Cade looked like naked, but she’d seen most of him in the pictures he sent her. She’d seen the bulge, but not the real thing. Suddenly she wanted to see him. She wanted to know what it felt like to have him inside her, to feel his penis slide between her folds and fill her. Would it be amazing? Or would she chicken out and beg him to stop?

  He lifted his shirt and extracted a weapon that he laid on the table beside the bed. Another gun appeared and he laid that on the table too. Brooke pulled in a shaky breath.

  He peeled his shirt off his body with one hand, then turned to face her. She snapped her jaw closed and tried not to focus on the acres of muscle adorned with ink in a few places. But oh, he was so lovely. So perfect.

  The old Brooke would have wanted to run her tongue over those peaks and valleys, sliding her way down his washboard abdomen to the root of him. And then she’d have wanted to slide his cock into her mouth and lick it too.

  The new Brooke was jumping up and down inside and yelling, Me too! Me too! Let’s do it!

  But that was too big a leap. Maybe a smaller leap was needed. Something she could handle. Something that wasn’t threatening.

  “You want the bathroom first?” he asked.

  Brooke shook her head.

  “You okay, angel? The guns are loaded, but they won’t hurt you lying there. I need them close by, or I’d make sure you didn’t see them.”

  “It’s okay,” she croaked out. “It’s fine.”

  He frowned. “Something wrong?”

  “No. Yes.” She closed her eyes and blurted it out because she’d never be able to say it otherwise. “I want you to kiss me.”

  * * *

  Cade froze. Kiss her? Holy hell, he wanted that pretty damned badly. He wanted a lot more than that too. He wanted his tongue in her mouth, and then he wanted his tongue in her pussy, licking her into a shuddering orgasm that had her screaming his name.

  He’d dreamed about it. Pressing her back on the bed, sliding her ridiculously tiny panties from her hips, spreading her legs open and sinking between them where he’d taste her while she shivered and shook and moaned.

  But fucking hell, she’d asked for a kiss. It was monumental for her, and he knew that. Let her come to you.

  That had been his strategy, and it had worked. But it was also a big responsibility. He couldn’t scare her with his raging desire for her.

  “Honey, I want that more than you know. But you’re going to have to tell me how you want it. Do I treat you like glass and give you a chaste peck on the lips, or do I hold you close and slip you some tongue? And if I slip you some tongue, I’m going to get hard. Not that I’ll expect to do anything with it, but it’ll be there between us, and I’d rather not have to contort myself to hide it from you.”

  Hell, he was already hard. But she didn’t need to know it.

  Her gaze dropped to the floor. She was so cute in her yoga pants and jacket, her tennis shoes so small on her feet. Her hair was a messy tangle of golden strands, and her chest rose and fell a little more rapidly than it had a few seconds ago.

  “I want the real kiss, Cade. I trust you. And I know, no matter how aroused you might be, you’d never force me to do anything I didn’t want to do.”

  His throat was tight. “You’re right, I wouldn’t. But how do you know that for sure?”

  She shrugged, her expression suddenly shy. “I just do. If I can’t trust you— Well, how will I ever trust anyone?”

  “I’m not sure I deserve that kind of trust, angel. I’m just a man trying his best to be a good guy instead of a dick.”

  Her blue eyes snapped to his. “You couldn’t be a dick if you tried. You’re too decent. You’ve been nothing but decent to me.”

  It was work to contain the inner beast that wanted out. The one that wanted to conquer and pleasure this woman until she couldn’t stand. Until she couldn’t think a single thought except his name.

  “Just so you know, Brooke… You’re my favorite dirty thought. The first dirty thought of my day and the last in the evening. I imagine you naked, beneath me, surrounding me. What I’m thinking is anything but decent.”

  “Are you trying to scare me on purpose?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. I just know that I’m not pure when it comes to you—and you need to know it.”

  “I think your texts were clear on that,” she said with a hint of humor. “You told me what you wanted to do to me. But I want to start with a kiss. Just a kiss.”

  She was going to be the death of him.

  “Okay.” He closed the distance between them and dragged her softly into his arms. She sucked in a breath and gripped his biceps before her fingers relaxed and went to his pecs. She smiled up at him so trustingly that his heart ached.

  Holy fuck, she was beautiful. Would she taste as sweet as she looked?

  “If it gets to be too much, tell me stop, angel. Don’t hesitate, don’t try to think your way through it, don’t keep going for fear of making me angry. Tell me to stop, and I will.”

  Her eyes were so innocent. “It’s just a kiss, Cade. How can it be too much?”

  He chuckled deep in his throat. “Oh baby, you have no idea. You ready?”

  She nodded. He skimmed his palm along her jaw and into her hair, massaging the back of her head as he tipped her back with a gentle tug on the long strands. Not much, because it would scare her, but enough to let her know what he wanted.

  She was small in his arms, a pixie to his giant. He could pick her up and not even feel like he was having to do much work. But he wouldn’t do that yet. Later.

  He pulled her in closer, close enough to feel his erection, and dropped his mouth to hers by slow degrees. She closed her eyes at the last second and he stopped, gazing down at her, at her pink mouth, parted slightly, her lashes fanning her cheeks, her creamy skin flushed and slightly rosy.

  She wanted the kiss. There was no doubt about that. He cupped her skull with one hand and slid the other down to her buttocks, pressing her hips tighter to his body.

  And then he kissed her, a gentle claiming of her mouth with his own. She moaned softly, her mouth dropping open a little wider than before. He hesitated to enter, but she had no such fears. Her tongue darted out to meet his, tangling with him in a sensual duel.

  Cade’s knees went weak. Literally weak. He didn’t buckle, but he damn sure wondered what the hell it was about. Still, he kept kissing her, plundering her mouth, driving deeper with each thrust. She didn’t stiffen or cry out or push him away.

  She clung to him, her mouth
as ravenous as his, her tongue searching and seeking as her arms went around his neck and tightened. If she were any other woman, he’d have her tits in his hands right now. But he couldn’t do that. Not with her, and not without express permission.

  There was no room for the typical give and take of seduction. He needed to know what she wanted, and he needed to take it absolutely no farther than what she allowed.

  And yet two weeks’ worth of fantasies and naughty texts were working in his head, making him think about all the ways in which he wanted to explore this woman. Anybody else and he’d be ripping her shirt off and filling his hands and mouth with her luscious breasts.

  Then he’d lick his way down her abdomen, rip off her yoga pants, and sink his face into her center.

  He did none of that, of course. He simply held Brooke tightly to him and devoured her mouth, licking, kissing, nipping. Her moans told him she approved. Her arms around his neck told him she wasn’t afraid. The arching of her body against his told him she was aroused.

  They kissed for a long time, sucking and devouring and moaning until Cade’s balls ached from the lack of a pressure release valve, until he had to stop kissing her and set her away before he took the next step.

  She gazed up at him, blinking, while he held her at arm’s length.

  “I can’t keep doing this, angel,” he said roughly. “I want you too much.”

  She licked her lips, her tongue swiping a wet trail over the bottom one, and he wanted to suck it into his mouth and make her moan.

  “I want more too.”

  Jesus.

  “Angel, you told me you haven’t had sex in two years—maybe you need to slow it down a bit before we take this too far and you regret it.”

  She shook her blond head, hair shimmering in the dim light of the lamps. “Maybe I’ve been taking it slow for too long. Maybe I need to plunge full speed ahead and see where this takes me.”

  He wanted to pounce—yet he hesitated. “You know the kinds of things I want to do to you, Brooke. I’ve told you many nights, haven’t I? While you stroked your pussy and begged me for more. But this is real, baby. As real as it gets. You’re asking for me to do all those things to you for real. And once we’ve gone there, once we’ve tasted each other—there’s no going back. We burn through this thing together until the end. You need to be sure, and I’m not at all certain one kiss—no matter how hot—is enough to make that decision.”