Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
He didn’t answer, but I knew what was there. Every once in a while, when life piled up and his job demanded too much, he thought about ending it. About walking away from us. About taking the easy way out.
But it was too late for that. For both of us.
“I was just—” he murmured.
“Absolutely not,” I said firmly. “You don’t get to check out when things get hard.”
His jaw tightened, but he nodded once.
“I’ve always accepted your job,” I said, my fingers still tangled in his hair. “And you’ve accepted mine. So we’re even.”
Sure, mine wasn’t supposed to be dangerous, but that hadn’t exactly worked out so far. I’d been shot at, chased, nearly blown up, and had my share of bruises to show for it. “I know it’s difficult,” I said. “But remember who you are. Remember that you have me to come home to, and you’ll make it through.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. “You’re tougher than you look.”
“I’m exactly as tough as I look,” I said. “And smarter.”
That got a faint smile. It didn’t reach his eyes.
I could have asked why it had to be him. Why not Saber or one of the others on his task force? Why Aiden, who had already given enough blood and time to the job to fill a book? But I didn’t ask. It was his decision, his mission. The man lived by the job, and no matter how much I hated it, I had to respect it.
“Any news on your cases here?” I asked, partly to change the subject, partly to keep him grounded in something normal. “Specifically, the dynamite case.”
He shook his head. “Nothing yet. The lab back east is at least a week out on the dynamite. The Washington State lab’s the same with the prints and DNA from your grandmother’s shop. Could be two weeks before we get anything.”
“So we’re stuck,” I said.
“For now,” he agreed. His voice was calm, but there was frustration under it. Aiden hated waiting. Hated being powerless more than anything.
So I tried to keep him grounded. “Will you still follow the case from wherever you are?”
“I will,” he said. Then he looked at me, eyes steady and too clear. “But I need to know you’re really okay with this.”
I swallowed hard. No. I wasn’t okay with it. I hated that he kept putting himself in danger, and I hated that he might not come home. “Of course,” I said. “I trust you’ll make it home.”
He leaned down, his lips ghosting over mine.
Then I kissed him because there were no words that could fix what was coming, no promises that could make the time apart easier. There was only this. The warmth, the weight, the heartbeat under my hands. The reminder that he was still here, for now.
His control snapped, and I felt the shift like a live wire in the air between us. He took over the kiss, deepening it until my pulse thudded in my ears. His hand tightened in my hair, anchoring me to him, his mouth commanding and certain. The world narrowed to his breath, his taste, the heat building between us.
I matched him, hungry and reckless, the rest of the world fading away. My hands slid over the hard planes of his back, over the tension and muscle that marked every hour of his job and the danger that came with it. Aiden Devlin was strength and chaos wrapped in control, and when that control broke, it was like being caught in a storm that knew my name.
He kissed me again, slower this time, with a kind of reverence that stole my breath. When his mouth left mine, it traced the line of my neck, finding the spot that made my spine go liquid. I could barely think, and maybe that was the point.
Every touch of his hands reminded me how fragile time could be. He was leaving again, and soon the space beside me would be cold, the scent of him only a memory clinging to the pillow. I wanted to hold on, to memorize everything about him—the roughness of his jaw, the sound he made when I whispered his name, the way he looked at me like I was the only anchor he had left.
I bit his lip.
He paused and then took over the kiss, going deep, tightening his fingers in my hair and holding me still for him. He kissed me hard and completely until my ears were ringing, my breath gasping as I kissed him back, lighting completely on fire.
There was nobody in the world like Aiden Devlin, and I’m sure nobody could kiss like this. He kissed down my neck and along my collarbone, then up my jaw to bite into my earlobe, his hands already roaming my body. He pulled off my shirt and reached my breasts.