Page 5 of Secret Mission

This is when I do reach out and snag her.

My arms are way fucking long, and she probably thought she was out of range, but I grip her wrist in a loose ring formed by my long fingers.

No need to use force. She’s easily a hundred-fifty pounds lighter than me, and she’s got nowhere to go. I’d chase her down in four seconds flat.

Or maybe I’d just chase her away so I wouldn’t have to ever look at her again.

But I’m more honorable than that.

“Hold on a hot minute. We’ve got questions.”

A look of alarm transforms her face, blanching her pale color even more, and I realize she’s looking up at a giant of a stranger with a scowl that’s been known to scare grown men so bad they piss their pants.

A lot of grown men.

Some were begging for their life too.

For a fraction of a second, I feel human like I never do during interrogations of tangos.

The girl’s had it rough and I’m making her life worse.

“Look, I’m not going to hurt you.”

She tugs her hand free. I let it go, my hand stinging weirdly from the contact.

Again, I wonder what the hell is going on with this energy crackling between us.

The picture of anger, as she folds her arms, pinching her black raincoat to her middle. “You and your people need to stop looking for me.”

Looking at her? No. Sorry.

Taking my time to look her over, I take in all of Allison Westerly. The target we’ve been hunting for weeks.

She’s an enigma, so elusive a whole damn team of SEALs haven’t been able to locate her. Until she located us.

Two weeks isn’t a long time when it comes to missions, but it was plenty of time for me to become obsessed with her.

Consumed.Not in a healthy way.

That inappropriate emotion is the first thing I’ve felt in forever.

A shudder rolls through me, leaving behind a longing so destructive that things inside of me creak and break like rotten timber that can’t hold the weight of my existence any longer.

The suffering in her eyes adds to the excruciating agony.

“Are you alone, Allison?”

More elusive silence follows as she looks quickly toward our team and the equipment gathered at the entrance of the cave. Five more minutes and our divers would have been in that cave risking their lives to look for her.

I press, “Do you have a guard?”

She blinks at me, her soft green eyes widening a fraction, before she flicks her gaze away. “I um…I did. Not now.”

That seals her fate. As if that hadn’t already been decided. But now, knowing she’s alone—she’s not going anywhere without me. “You’re not going anywhere then.”

A swirl of panic flares in her expression. “No! You don’t understand.”

The panicked tremble in her voice hits me square in the chest.