Page 59 of Fighting With Light

We hang the net back up and check it one more time, making sure we left it as we found it. I close the doors and put the new security band right where I found the old one. Then, Aelia takes another picture of the container. A group of men on one of the dock trucks’ lights shine over to us.

“Time to go,” Aelia says and hops in the car. I throw it in drive and we take off to the exit. The gate opens, and Aelia leaves the man, blowing a kiss in his direction before we speed off into the night.

We’re silent for about a mile and I keep checking my mirrors. But nothing is behind us. I make a random turn and check again nothing.

“Holy crap, we did it!” Aelia squeals, and she crawls into the front passenger seat. “Liam, we did it! You found it and we have evidence!”

I smile as I drive us towards the villa, doubling back just to be extra sure. My heart is pounding with excitement because we got away with it.

“I want to do that again,” she says, a little breathless.

“You’re a bad girl, princess.” I grin. She leans over the armrest and bites the lobe of my ear.

“I think I like being bad,” she whispers. “But is it reallybadif we’re doing it for good reasons?” she asks.

“I don’t know, but it sure felt good,” I mutter.

She hums and kisses my cheek.

“Yes, it does,” she says between kisses everywhere she can reach.

I squeeze the steering wheel and focus on getting home. This is just one step towards a larger picture, but it’s quite a zinger. We just proved that illegal guns are being shipped to the US. We need proof that a Costa business is the one receiving them and confirm that my father uses his relationship with border authorities to get them through.

22

Aelia

My heart is poundingso hard I swear it’s about to pop out of my chest. That wasexhilarating.That wasfun.My lips look for every bit of bare skin that I can reach on Liam; adrenaline is running through my veins and I’m high off of it. I bite his ear and his jaw twitches, trying to keep his reaction to me buried. But I want to rip it from him. Reaching for his hand, I bring it to my chest.

“Aelia, I’m driving,” he grits out.

Smiling, I move his hand lower. “I know you can handle the vehicle just fine, Tarzan.”

He watches me out of the corner of his eye, as I drag his hand down my body to my legs. I like the way my heart pumps too hard because there’s still a little tinge of fear. Or how my skin feels all prickly because the adrenaline makes me feel like I can fly. I want to do itagainand I think I might if I stick with Liam. He wants to go to Colombia, it scares the crap out of me, but it also excites me. Playing detective is more fun than I thought it would be.

“Tu es dangereuse,” he whispers under his breath.

I pause, wondering what I just heard, and he fists his hand, pulling it away.

“Not now, Aelia,” he grumbles.

Sighing, I sit back down in my seat. But I know if he wasn’t making sure that someone was following us, he would have pulled this car over, and we would already be in the back seat because he feels it, too.

We make the last turn onto the street for the villa, Liam drives through the gates, and pulls the SUV into the garage. He clicks his seatbelt and the only sound in the car is the belt rolling back into place. We sit there for a moment and I’m still ready to jump his bones.

I glance at the clock, it’s already eleven in the evening and he has a competition tomorrow. He needs sleep, not me…unfortunately.I move to open the car door, then I’m hauled back over my seat and onto Liam’s lap. He grabs my jaw with his large hand, sliding his fingers over my pulse, and gives me a knowing look before kissing me. The space is tight, but I manage to move my leg so I’m straddling him with the steering wheel digging into my lower back. His other hand grips my thigh, keeping me in place, and I lean into the kiss as his tongue grazes mine, pumping a fresh wave of need to flood through my body.

He grabs my bottom lip with his teeth and pulls at it. I reach for his mouth to kiss him again, and he pushes me back with his hand wrapped around my throat. Pressing my neck into his hand, he gently squeezes. “When are you going to give me control, princess?”

I bite my lower lip, refusing to give him an answer. He drags his mouth across mine and I nip at his lip, forcing a rough groan from his mouth. Our teeth clash with the hunger that seems to keep building. I don’t think it will be sated until we cross that line we keep dancing behind.

“Take me inside,” I murmur. His hand drops from my neck and he pulls the latch to the door. I push the car door open and his powerful arms hold me as he steps out of the car. With my ankles locked at his back, he holds me with one arm, slamming the car door closed. I nuzzle my nose into his neck and take a deep breath of his ocean scent tinged with sunscreen.

I can feel his heart beating against my body and I don’t think it has anything to do with him carrying me into the house. He turns and walks into the kitchen, flipping the light on, and then leans forward to set me on the counter. His hazel eyes meet mine for a moment and he kisses my cheek before stepping over to the fridge. I watch him grab the container of leftover meat and potatoes that the chef made.

Liam grabs two forks and hands me one, then grabs a chunk of potato and shoves it into his mouth. He holds the container between us while he stands between my legs, and we eat while staring at each other.

This is a little weird for me, I’ll admit...butIlikeit.