Page 24 of Duality (The Archers #1)

Retracing our footsteps, we crept down a flight of stairs to the second floor.

“Guard Two has re-entered the building and should be headed to the break room,” Liam said softly as we paused in the stairway.

I pushed the door open, the soft click echoing in the hallway.

This floor was a mirror of the third floor, except the HR supervisor’s office was in the back.

“I’m going to place some bugs in the break room,” Grace murmured.

Sometimes the best intelligence was gathered from overheard conversations where people thought they were safe. And everyone always congregated in the break rooms and bitched about work, so there was a chance we could get something valuable from those bugs.

I nodded. “Liam, walk me through what Sebastian is doing. We need to split up and move faster.” It wouldn’t be long before the guards would do their rounds again.

“Got it, Boss Lady.”

I slipped into the office next to the stairwell.

This office was for the director of operations at this building.

It was much larger than the office upstairs, complete with a bathroom and a small closet that I cleared before sitting behind the computer desk.

Liam walked me through plugging in the drive, and I leaned back in the chair as the code started running.

“All good in here?” Sebastian poked his head in. I nodded.

“Are you done already?”

He nodded. “Easy peasy.”

“Well, you just jinxed it,” Liam drawled. “The guards just left the control room and are making their rounds early.”

Fuck .

I glared at Sebastian, who held up his hands. “Sorry, sorry.”

I motioned him inside quickly and hit the lights. “Grace?”

“I’m in the breakroom. I’m good.”

“You’re in a cabinet, aren’t you?” I smirked. It wasn’t the first time we’d had to take cover. Grace could fold her lithe frame into the smallest of places, including cabinets.

“Fuck off.”

I powered down the computer and made sure the screen was dark.

“Hurry,” Liam hissed. “They’re about to come out of the stairwell.”

Sebastian yanked me into the closet just as we heard the door to the stairwell open.

The closet was small and cramped, and I tried not to panic as my face pressed against a coat that smelled like mothballs and mold.

Gentle hands turned me around until I was pressed against Sebastian’s chest. I wasn’t sure that was much of an improvement, but at least Sebastian smelled better, like bergamot and chocolate.

Even with his arms around me, the small, tight space had my breath quickening as I fought to control my body’s panic response. Small dark spaces had never bothered me growing up. But after the…incident, I hated the feeling of being trapped.

“Shhhh, I got you.” Sebastian’s words were barely more than a whisper in my ear, then he cupped the back of my head. His fingers moved in a gentle massage, the sensations distracting me from my panic.

“Hang tight,” Liam said softly in our ears. “They should be gone in a few minutes. Maybe five.”

Five minutes? I wasn’t sure I was going to make it that long. Panic rose inside me again, and my breath quickened. Sebatian’s fingers tightened on the back of my neck. “Liam, shut off our comms until the coast is clear.”

“Are you sure?” Liam questioned.

“Do it,” Sebastian instructed. I heard the soft click in my ear, then the comms went silent.

“Talk to me, Evie,” Sebastian whispered. “What can I do?”

I trembled against him as I squeezed my eyes shut. “You can get me out of this closet.”

He huffed softly. “I would if I could. But I’m not leaving you alone.” He squeezed me tighter, and some of the panic eased. “You’re not alone,” he murmured. “You’ll never be alone again.”

Tears burned against my eyelids. How I wanted to believe his words. But they were meaningless platitudes only meant to soothe me so I wouldn’t blow the mission. They didn’t mean anything. They couldn’t mean anything.

Sebastian’s hands slipped from the back of my head, and his thumb brushed my cheekbone. “What can I do?” he asked as my shaking got worse.

“Distract me,” I murmured, my breathing shaky. Fuck, what a time to fall apart.

“Gladly,” Sebastian murmured.

I expected him to keep talking. I did not expect his lips on mine.

His lips were warm and sure as he took advantage of my shock.

I was torn between wanting to push him away and pull him closer.

He decided for me when he tugged me closer.

The press of his warm body against mine had me gasping, and he slipped his tongue in my mouth to tangle with mine.

My entire world narrowed down to the feel of him against me, his lips against mine, the heat of his chest under my palms.

It felt like hours passed by as I lost myself in the taste of him. Our comms crackled to life with a small click.

“All clear. But I would get moving now.”

I shook my head, breaking away from Sebastian and trying to clear my brain of the pleasurable cobwebs that had filled it.

“Did you get the computer cloned?” I asked softly, feeling Sebastian’s eyes on me like a heated caress as I stepped out of the closet, putting some needed distance between our bodies.

“I finished while you two were in the closet,” Liam said, something snarky about to come out of his mouth when Sebastian cut him off.

“Good. Give us a clear path out of here.” Sebastian’s eyes were hard in the low light as he stared at me. There was heat in his eyes but also something else, something I couldn’t identify yet. Did he regret the kiss? He’d probably only kissed me to prevent me from freaking out, right?

Except when we exited the office and met up with Grace, he captured my hand with his, and he didn’t let go until we were back in the car with Adrian.

The mission had been successful. The data we were collecting from Citadel’s servers would be invaluable.

But instead of thinking about that, my head was filled with how good it felt to be pressed against him.

These guys keep uncovering little pieces of me, but what would happen when they realize that all my edges are sharp?