“Fuck, Evie. You’re gonna make me come so hard,” he groaned.
Bobbing my head up and down, I quickened my pace. I wanted, no needed, to send him over the edge. It didn’t take long before I got my wish. Hot jets of come exploded from his body, into my mouth and down my throat. Swallowing them down, I hummed in pleasure. When his fist unclenched and his hold on my hair loosened, I lifted my head and kissed my way up his chest. His head was thrown back against the pillow, his eyes clenched shut. I curled up on his chest, dragging the sheet with me and covering us both. His arms slipped around me and held me close.
Snuggling into his warmth, I felt triumphant. I’d accomplished what I’d set out to do, making my man come in my mouth. Contentment filled me, and I was drowsy again. My eyes slid shut, and I drifted off to sleep feeling more secure than I ever had before during a mission. Alex and I might have opposing orders, but he was still my safe place. My beloved husband, and the only person I would ever truly trust to have my back.
When I woke up a few hours later, it was to the cold light of day. To a reality where our situation couldn’t be avoided. Where we couldn’t screw away the truth. Our missions were fucked, both of them. We had to find a way to work together to track Heron down, and then I was going to have to kill the target in front of my husband and blow his mission sky high. I didn’t want to fuck him over, but I didn’t see another solution that didn’t end up with me burned—or even worse, dead. My division operated under different rules than Alex’s. He could survive a failed mission with his career intact, while I’d be lucky to keep my life. I only hoped he’d come to understand why Heron’s death was necessary when the time came for me to do my job.
“I much prefer the mood you woke up in earlier than this quiet intensity I’m feeling from you now,” Alex whispered in my ear as he lifted me out of the chair where I’d been sitting while I sipped my coffee and stared out the window.
“Me, too,” I sighed, settling onto his lap as he lowered himself onto the seat.
“Everything will work out in the end,” Alex assured me. “Between the two of us, I’m sure it won’t take us long to track Heron down. Then we’ll be able to put this all behind us and head back home.”
“What? No Fiji?” I joked.
“Did you pack your white bikini?”
“I don’t have it with me, but I’m sure I can pick another one up along the way.”
“Then Fiji it is,” he promised. “As soon as we clear up this mess with Heron. The quicker the better because it’s been too long since I’ve enjoyed the sight of you in a bikini.”
“It didn’t take me too long to find him the first time around. I’m sure I can do it again,” I answered carelessly.
“Or I could.” A competitive gleam shown from his eyes.
“How long did it take you to track him down to the Rafaello the first time around?” I asked, pretty damn sure I’d been the first agent to locate the Heron at his hotel, since it had taken another twenty-four hours before I noticed anyone else on the scene. Alex had hidden in the shadows, but the signs had been there all the same.
“Three days,” he muttered, sounding disgruntled.
I cocked my head, wondering if he was even better at hiding in the shadows than I realized. “Including travel time?”
“Plus the time it took me to get here,” he admitted gruffly.
“Aha!” I crowed, triumphantly. “Then I beat you to him by a whole day.”
“And yet he’s still alive,” he grumbled.
“We don’t just go around killing people willy-nilly,” I protested, hurt by the implication otherwise. I strode to the window and stared out, unable to see anything through the tears which filled my eyes. “I studied the target and reported back to my boss before he confirmed the kill order stood.”
“I’m sorry,” he sighed, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my middle. “That was a low blow.”
“I wish I could say it was uncalled for too, but I guess I can understand how much of a shock it was to learn your wife kills people for a living.”
He dropped his chin onto the top of my head, tightening his hold, as though he thought I was going to try to get away. “It’s not like I can point an accusing finger your way. I’m hardly innocent. I’ve taken my fair share of lives over the years, too.”
I straightened my spine and leaned farther into his body. Running was the last thing on my mind. “We both know your job is different from mine.” Taking a deep breath, I said the words I’d never expected to speak. Not even after finding out Alex and Justice were one in the same. “And that your kill count is much lower than mine. As is every other agent’s in your division and most of the ones who serve beside me in mine. It might not be something you want to hear, but I’m very good at my job.”
“Are you trying to scare me away?”
It sounded like I kind of was, but it wasn’t my intention. “No, just trying to make sure you see me for who I really am and hoping like hell you still want me afterwards.”
“Want you?” He sounded incredulous as he yanked me by one shoulder and swung me around until I was facing him. “Don’t you get it? Want isn’t a strong enough word for what I feel for you. Neither is love. Or need.”
My heart raced as I was filled with hope we’d find a way out of this mess, with our marriage intact. “Promise?”
“You’re mine, Evie. Period. End of story,” he answered. “I meant it when we said our vows and each time I’ve repeated it ever since. Until death do we part. And forever after.”
My nerves settled at the familiar words. “I love you, too.”
“You’d better,” he muttered. “Cause there’s no getting out of this marriage for you.”
“Or you,” I warned. I might have let him walk away from me four years ago, but that ship had sailed a long time ago. I’d hunt his ass down if he tried it now, and I was damn good at finding the people I searched for.
“How about you stop worrying about what I’m going to think about you and focus on proving your stuff instead?”
“Proving my stuff?” I sputtered.
“That’s what I said, baby. I’ve heard about the infamous Scarlett for years. It’s about damn time I had the chance to see her in action,” he teased.
“I packed more ammunition than I need. You want to be quiet or do you want me to start using it?”
“Can you really blame me for being curious?” he asked. “I’ve been married to you about as long as I’ve known Scarlett existed.”
I thought back to how we met, on the tail end of one of my earlier missions. It was too much of a coincidence to think he hadn’t been in London hunting Pierce down too. I’d just gotten to him before Alex’s team had a chance to do a snatch and grab. “London? When we met?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “It was the first time Scarlett interfered with one of my missions.”
“You really shouldn’t complain,” I chided. “I left you the ledger, after all.” My boss knew another team had been sent in and wasn’t far behind me. It was easier to leave the ledger to them after I’d eliminated Pierce and made a clean getaway.
“Gee, thanks,” he groused. “But you also left a mess behind since we had some questions to ask Pierce about his mafia ties.”
“You snooze you lose,” I joked. “If you’d managed to gain access to him before me, then I guess you wouldn’t have had that problem.” And I would have had a bigger one, since I would have failed a mission.
His gaze dropped to my tits, filling with appreciation. “I think you had a slight advantage that time around. You had just the right assets to lure a reclusive target into a meeting.”
I swatted at his arm. “If by assets you mean my brain and my knowledge of fine arts, then yes, I did.”
“Let’s put your big,” he paused to slide his hands up to cup my breasts, “brain to good use and figure out where Heron’s hiding.”
“Just so long as you don’t think this is me proving myself to you,?
?? I replied, sliding my hand down his side and moving over to cup his dick. “Because Scarlett doesn’t need to prove herself to anyone.”
His thumbs slid over my nipples, making them stiffen into hardened nubs. In retaliation, I squeezed his cock lightly, feeling it harden in my palm. “You sure you don’t have anything to prove to me? Like maybe how fucking gorgeous you are as you cry out my name while you come?”
I tugged him towards the bed. The search for Heron was going to have to wait a little while. I had a husband who needed fucking first. A girl had to have her priorities after all.