The world came back into focus breath by breath, a little bit at a time. The white tile. The warm water splashing against them. The steam fogging up the glass bricks surrounding the shower. Beyond that was the rest of Fare Island, her family, and the covert operation that had brought them here in the first place. It was amazing how something so close could feel so far away when she was in Lucas’s arms.
The unmistakable sound of a cell phone vibrating against a countertop snuck its way into their hidden spot. His body stiffened. She’d never hated anything as much as she hated that fucking phone right now.
“Duty calls,” she said as she lowered her shaky legs to the shower floor.
“Always.” He released her and slipped out of the shower to answer the call, drawing the thin silver chain connecting their wrists as tight as the vice around her heart.
Falling for a guy like Lucas shouldn’t be easy, but it was and that was beyond dangerous. So she wrapped a thick towel around herself as he stood naked, water dripping off his body, and his glower became darker with every word coming from the person on the other end of the phone.
For all of its shitty timing, the call couldn’t have happened at a better moment. Nothing like a clear reminder that this was a mission for both of them, definitely nothing more. The sooner they got the information Lucas was after, the sooner she could escape Fare Island and leave it all behind her for good.
Chapter Ten
An hour later, Lucas stopped outside the closed dining room door. The hand-binding shirt itched. The lack of a clear plan of action to gain access to Rolf’s phone gnawed at the back of his brain like a piranha with an axe to grind. And the woman next to him stole his breath every time he got a glimpse of her out of his peripheral vision. Clearly, this mission was going pear-shaped, and the more time he spent on Fare Island the worse it was going to get.
Laugher filtered out from underneath the closed dining room door. Ruby tensed beside him.
The news this afternoon meant the time for fun and games was over. Gregers Henriksen had been spotted in Spain for half a second before disappearing again. Elskov couldn’t wait patiently for him to appear again in hopes of trailing him to the exchange. The bastard was too clever for that. Getting the information from Rolf remained the best option, even as volatile as the situation may be. That meant pushing forward no matter how much he wanted to protect the woman beside him from the danger of being caught.
Duty to Elskov came first. Always. Still, he took her soft, small hand into his rough one. “Got your game face on?”
Tension pulled her pasted-on smile tight. “I always do.”
“Not always.” The image of her coming apart in his arms flashed in his mind. “You seem to let it slip off in the shower.”
She froze for half a heartbeat before pivoting to face him and walking her hot-pink-tipped fingers up his chest, leaving a line of sizzling want in her wake. “Are you flirting with me so I’ll relax?”
“Yes.” Maybe then he would, too.
Stretching up on her tiptoes, she brought her lips close to his ear. “You should try it sometime just for the fun of it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Along with a thousand other things he wanted to try with her naked and spread out before him.
“Here.” She brushed her lips across his jaw then reached up and ruffled his hair. “Now, it looks like you’ve been up to something besides brooding and pacing since you got that phone call.”
Is that what he’d been doing? Probably. Everything after that phone call had yanked him away from her and the earth-shaking certainty that came with being sheathed inside her warmth. The Silver Knights had confirmed Jasper’s claims of being a double agent working for the United States government. An agent working as a liaison with the Spanish government had delivered the news about Gregers. So close. They’d been so damn close to getting the bastard, but, once again, he’d slipped right through their grasp. That couldn’t happen again. They had to stop the arms exchange. God knew how many innocent people Gregers would mow down in his quixotic quest to take down the queen and avenge his traitorous father. No matter how tempting Ruby was, Lucas had to keep focused on his only purpose: keeping Elskov safe.
He smoothed his hair back into place. “You don’t have to protect me.”
“Then who will?” Her jaw tightened and she blinked twice before jerking her chin down in a quick nod, all of the playfulness gone from her beautiful face. “Don’t worry, I know it’s not real, but we both have a mission here and it’ll get done faster if we work together. Clock’s ticking, remember?”
As if he could forget. He’d never wanted time to speed up and slow down at the same time so much before, but he had to pick. So he did. He grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open.
“And there they are,” Ingrid exclaimed, rising from the table and walking toward them.
Ruby tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and they strode in together. Jasper and Clausen sat on one side of the long rectangle table flanked by Antoine and his entourage. On the other side of the table sat Rolf, Joey, a man who must be the minister, and Ingrid’s empty chair. Formally dressed servants were busy going from one person to the next, pouring champagne into silver flutes.
“Congratulations, you’ve made it through the hand-binding and judging by the looks of you, all went well.” Ingrid wiped her thumb against his jaw. “Lipstick,” she whispered with a grin. “Now without further ado.” She took a key out of her pocket and inserted it into the small lock holding the silver hand-binding chain around their wrists and then turned it. The chain fell away from their wrists. “Please take your seats at either end of the table and join us as we toast to your many happy years together.”
Lucas rubbed the inside of his wrist. The chain hadn’t been heavy or constricting, but being without it felt…weird. Glancing over, he saw Ruby doing the same as she made her way to the opposite end of the table. Once they sat down, everyone else stood and raised their glasses.
“To the happy couple,” Rolf said, his smile not reaching all the way up to his eyes.
The champagne bubbles popped on Lucas’s tongue as he sipped, keeping an eye on everyone else as they took their seats again.
“There is so much to do before the ceremony,” Ingrid said as soon as she’d sat down in the chair to Lucas’s left. “Take a good look at each other because you won’t be seeing much of your bride-to-be until the minister pronounces you man and wife, especially not with you being relocated to Jasper’s wing until then.
The fork bit into his palm and he forced himself to loosen his grip. “You’re moving me?”