The Art of You

Shit, shit. I jumped up from my seat as hot coffee managed to burn right through my jeans.

“Damn, I’m sorry.” My new comms partner, Keith, could pass for a younger Luke Perry, but not quite Beverly Hills 90210 young. Probably my age. Give or take a year. “Not a klutz, I swear.” He offered me paper as a napkin to try and dab the wet spot.

That’s not going to work. Since removing my jeans wasn’t currently an option, I applied the paper to my lap, keeping my head bowed forward so I didn’t whack it on the ceiling of the van that’d been outfitted as our temporary command center. “You like your coffee scorched-earth hot, huh?”

“That I do.” Keith gave me an awkward smile before returning the lid of the Yeti thermos, positioning the coffee on the other side of our work station.

Good call.

Dropping back in my seat, I ignored the uncomfortable peed-in-my-pants feeling and focused on what I’d been doing before I was shocked to my feet. We finally had eyes on the terrorists’ safe house via the drone footage, and I wanted to ensure we’d have multiple angles of the property covered before they rolled out.

I did a quick radio check with the guys standing outside the van as they prepared for the op. “You hear me okay?” My voice was meek from nerves, and it pissed me off.

“I hear you. Lima charlie,” Alessandro responded. “Loud and clear.”

He must’ve kept his finger on the button, because I heard Hudson ask someone, “What’s your call sign?”

My stomach squeezed at the Echo Four as a response from who I was pretty sure was Roman.

“That, uh, was mine back on the Teams,” Hudson answered, obvious hesitation in his voice that even I could detect over the radio.

The connection ended a second later, and I sat back in my seat, worried about Hudson all over again. Would Roman’s call sign draw Hudson back to the past? Working alongside Alfie already had to be doing a number on him as it was.

Keith shifted on his seat. “What made a billionaire get into this line of work, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Keith was the new guy on Alfie’s team, tasked with staying back with me because he’d been shot on Friday.

I was too in my head for small talk, but I also didn’t want to be rude. Especially since he was shot with Hudson’s gun essentially while his team saved our lives. “I’m not a billionaire just because my parents are. Not really.” I shrugged, hoping he wouldn’t prod. “What about you, why are you in private security?”

“I come from a long line of people who serve and protect. Only natural for me to do the same. Right the wrongs in life. Seek justice for those who can’t do it themselves.” His tone was almost somber, and I had a feeling he’d lost someone, too. Maybe he would understand after all.

“Military background?” I asked him.

“Army, yeah,” he answered as the back doors opened.

We both twisted around to see Hudson standing there.

“We’re about to leave,” Hudson informed us, his eyes locked in on Keith. I could tell he didn’t feel comfortable leaving me in a van with a man he didn’t know, even if we had two of our operators standing guard outside as another layer of protection.

The last thing I wanted was Hudson to be worried about me and get distracted while being shot at. I’d need to ease his concerns before he left to guarantee he’d keep his word and come back to me safe and sound.

Keith stood. “I’ll go talk to Alfie and the others.”

Hudson stepped aside so he could exit, then he climbed in and shut the two doors behind him.

Dropping into Keith’s seat, Hudson turned to face me, shifting my chair around so my knees went between his open legs. The man didn’t miss a thing, noticing the stain on my jeans. “You wet your pants, darlin’?”

The light chuckle escaping my lips was a welcome change to the constant hard beats of concern occupying my chest, drumming up into my ears. “Coffee accident.”

“You get burned? You okay?” He arched his brow. “Maybe I should lower your jeans and kiss you. Make you feel better.” He raced his tongue along the line of his mouth, effectively kicking to the curb any last lingering worry.

So, so good at distracting me. People could take a masterclass from this man on how to get your target comfortable. Then again, I was pretty sure I had the same effect on him.

I smiled, sliding into my sexy, feminine-husky voice as I assured him, “As much as I’d enjoy your mouth between my legs again, I think you have a world to save from bad guys. Rain check?”

Holding the arms of my chair, he scooted me even closer and bent forward. “Absolutely,” he said before kissing me with a soft open-mouthed caress that managed to make me dizzy.

And when his tongue met mine, I officially forgot where we were and why. One hand cupped my face, shifting up into my hair, as he deepened the connection and swallowed my achy moan of need.

“I’ll come back to you, I promise,” he rasped again.

I slowly blinked my eyes open, battling the lightheaded feeling he’d given me. We went from making love to fighting terrorists, and I was struggling to wrap my head around it all. So much had happened since Friday. How was it only Tuesday?

“I know you will,” I said after nervously swallowing my lingering fears.

“I don’t like leaving you.” He sat tall again, lowering his hand from my face to the top of his tactical camo pants. He had a 9mm strapped to the outside of his upper right thigh, and surely more weapons hidden elsewhere.

“I’ll never enjoy these moments. The dangerous part of our work.” Since I couldn’t pull off a poker face with him, why bother lying? “But it’s who you are, and what you do is important. I’ll put my big-girl panties on and wait for you every time.”

“I suppose that’s better than you sitting in here pantyless since you love to be the death of me when going without them,” he teased, his voice almost hoarse.

Oh, shit.

His poker face was failing him right now. He was worried.

“What’s wrong?” I reached for his hand, his gloves not on yet. “You have a bad gut feeling, don’t you?” Worry lodged in my throat and found a spot back in my stomach yet again, ramping up into a sense of dread and nausea.

The wince from him didn’t sell me on his confidence. “Something feels off. What if this is what Green wants? Us to be apart?”

“We have no choice. Not unless you want me rolling with you?” We were boxed into this decision now and I was determined to make sure his head was on straight before he went out there. “He wants the terrorists dead, and I’m fairly certain he won’t make a move on us until tomorrow.”

Tomorrow was day 365, the anniversary of his wife’s death.

“So, one problem at a time. Remember?” I kept my voice as soft and convincing as possible so he didn’t get in his head and then wind up losing it out there. Not a freaking option.

“Maybe I should stay here with you?” he suggested, frowning while closing his eyes. “Roman’s an excellent sniper. He could take my place.”

As much as I liked the idea of being next to him instead of a stranger, I also knew he’d never forgive himself if something happened to my brothers or the team because he hadn’t been with them. “I have three people here to watch over me. No one knows where we’re at. Alfie said he didn’t tell Green our current location, and Constantine swept every square inch of this van and surrounding property for trackers. He’s paranoid like you.”

He stretched his neck out, chin pointed to the ceiling.

“You didn’t spin up with your team in 2010, and you’ve never been able to let that go. I think you need to do this. I feel like this might truly be what helps you let go of what happened and move forward.” I kept my voice as calm as possible, hoping I got through to him, believing in my heart I was right.

He finally gave me his beautiful blues and laced his fingers with mine, bringing our clasped hands between us, kissing my knuckles.

I dug deep into my stubbornness and went on. “I don’t want any obstacles standing in our way of being together after this. I don’t want you picking me over the mission, either. I have your six, and I need you to have theirs. Got it?”

“God, I love you so fucking much.” He lowered our hands and kissed me again, even more passionately this time than before, stealing my breath and my worries along with it.

I just had to trust everything would be okay, and that his bad gut feeling was nerves. It was hard not to be worried when we still didn’t know how we fit into Green’s vengeance equation.

After our kiss, Hudson reached around his back and produced a Glock.

“For protection.” He handed it to me. “Put it at your back beneath your jacket.”

I held the heavy piece of metal in my hand, recalling the lessons given to me. “If this makes you feel better, then okay.”

“It does.” He nodded, waiting for me to follow his order, so I positioned it at my back and hid it with my jacket as instructed. “I also need to hear your voice every two minutes while we’re gone. I need reassurance you’re okay if you want me to stay focused. Can you do that for me?”

“Keith and I will be relaying information from the drone. But I don’t want to pop over the radio if I have nothing to share just so you hear my voice. That might distract you.”

“Not knowing you’re okay will be much more distracting. I’ll also turn my ass around and sprint the mile back here if I don’t hear from you.” He took hold of my chin in his big hand, commanding my attention.

The guys would be sneaking up on the safe house on foot from here, and I didn’t doubt for a second Hudson wouldn’t act like an Olympic runner to get back to me if he didn’t hear my voice.

“I’m waiting for confirmation, sweetheart. If you want me to leave you, I need you to say you understand. Your safety is in my hands, remember?” A dark smile cut across his lips as if remembering the other thing he controlled—my orgasms.

Distracting me again. “Yes, sir,” I finally surrendered.

The side of his lip lifted and he set his mouth to mine for one more kiss before we joined the others outside.

My brothers were decked out in military gear and Constantine handed Hudson his skeleton-looking mask before offering him his rifle.

They all looked lethal and intimidating as fuck. Just the way I wanted them to be.

“You’ve got this,” I promised before hugging Alessandro first, then moved on to Constantine. “Bring him back to me, okay?” I whispered. “I can’t live without him.”

Constantine pulled back, only his eyes visible with the mask on. “You have my word, sis.”