Page 64 of Rogue Mission

Somehow caused by me failing them.

“You’re really not worried?”

“I’m concerned,” I admit, stripping my shirt off, tossing it down, feeling the fatigue crawl up my spine.

“But concern doesn’t help a search at this stage. It only clouds my insight. Strategy works. Intel is the foundation, and Marshall will be up all night working.”

Rosalie’s locked onto my abs, a glimmer of pleasure in her expression. It pleases me that she likes what she sees.

Taking a steadying breath, I unlock my tight muscles. Rolling out my neck, I take a moment to enjoy the heat that’s still heavy in my pelvis.

“In the meantime, we get time for us.”

“So this is your strategy?” she teases softly, the gentle smile ripping away another layer of my inner fortress.

“Yeah, it is. Very soon I’m going to be an expert strategist when it comes to you.”

“I like the sound of that,” she whispers as I close the distance between us, making myself take this slowly. Trying to defy my need to throw her on the bed and devour what’s mine.

Damn. Things changed fast.

Now I can’t imagine not having her near.

A sense of rightness is building like a banked fire in my chest as I tug her closer.

“Right now, this is about reminding both of us that we’re still here. Still alive.”

Her breath catches again when my fingers thread into her hair.

“So alive,” she says huskily. “But you can’t make me scream.”

I brush my thumb along her jaw, trace the corner of her mouth with my knuckle because I cannot stop touching her. “If I do, they’ll know I’m doing my job right.”

She laughs.

I swallow roughly as the light, slightly nervous sound invades my senses. It is the best sound I’ve heard in days.

Maybe in my life. The gravity of that fills my voice with emotion when I whisper against her temple, “You’re my only mission tonight.”

TWENTY-FIVE

Wow. Part of what’s happening inside of me is a chemical reaction.

But the rest? There really aren’t words for how it feels.

“I had no idea there was so much room inside a person’s chest. It seems impossible, but my heart feels bigger and bigger the more time we spend together.”

“Yeah, I’m trying to sort that out too.”

“What do we do about it?” I ask.

“This.”

It’s not my heart that reacts almost violently when he skims his hands up my body, stopping with his thumbs resting at the base of my neck.

He rasps hotly, “I’m going to make you mine tonight, beautiful.”

The idea of fainting crosses my mind, but Justice steadies me with a strong arm around my waist. Time seems to halt as he looks at me, searching. Seeing something that makes his tension ebb for the first time in hours.