She realized that she’d been staring at the floor, lost in thought, but his question made her gaze rise to him. He was studying her, standing less than two feet away.
“You seem comfortable with Lancaster.” The words had a hollow feel. “Why not go with him?”
Why, indeed? She shifted nervously. “Look, if you don’t want the assignment—”
He eliminated that two feet of distance in less than a second. “Let’s get one thing clear. I don’t think of you as an assignment.”
Oh. That was good. It sounded good, anyway. Her heartbeat had sure picked up plenty at that news as it raced in her chest. “How do you think of me?”
She and Cale were finally away from the other agents and any prying eyes. The rest of the world was locked out. The stillness of the night surrounded them.
Cale’s gaze darkened as he stood before her. “I’m starting to think of you as...mine.”
The words were rough, possessive. And they were the last things that she’d expected him to say.
Her drumming heartbeat seemed to stop for a moment.
“I don’t know how it happened, I just know it did.” His hand rose, and his warm fingers curled under her chin. “I see you, and I want.”
She licked lips gone dry. He was voicing her own thoughts. “Cale...”
His head bent, and he kissed her. Adrenaline had held her body tight. Adrenaline, fear, anger... But with the press of his mouth to her, all of her feelings seemed to erupt in an instant.
Her hands rose, curled around his shoulders. She pulled him closer as her nails dug into his shirt. The shirt was in the way. She needed him—
Closer.
He wanted her.
She was desperate for him.
And, for however short of a time it might be, she had him. No interruptions. No distractions. Just Cale and her.
His mouth seduced. It caressed, it tempted. His fingers slid down her body, coming to rest right over the curve of her hips, and she could feel the heat of his touch scorching her right through her clothing.
Cassidy wanted all of their clothing gone. She wanted him.
Two lovers. In twenty-seven years, she’d had two lovers. One had been in college, when she’d enjoyed her brief taste of freedom. She’d thought she loved him.
She’d been wrong.
Lover number two had been another EOD agent. She’d thought the strength he offered was what she wanted.
She’d been wrong.
This need... Cale... Wanting him had nothing to do with strength. It had everything do with passion. With a consuming desire that grew stronger and stronger in her with his every touch.
And he was touching her. Pushing up her shirt and tossing it away. Then his fingers—those rough, calloused fingers—were sliding over her flesh, and Cassidy arched into his touch.
The killer after her—the fear—faded away.
Only Cale remained.
Only Cale.
He yanked off his own shirt. When she saw his bandage, a gasp broke from her. They had to be careful...they—
He lifted her into his arms, acting like he didn’t even feel the wound.
Okay, so maybe they didn’t need to be so careful.
Tough guy.
She loved that about him.
They kept kissing. He carried her, moving down the darkened hallway and entering the first bedroom on the right.
It was dark in there, too. But she liked the darkness. You could hide in the dark. Almost pretend that you were someone else.
She wanted to keep hiding and pretend that her reality wasn’t a lifetime of guards and secrets.
His fingers were at the snap of her jeans.
But he was hesitating.
Why?
“If you don’t want this,” Cale growled, his voice rough and wonderful in the dark, “tell me now.”
She smiled, but she knew he couldn’t see the movement in the darkness. Her hands rose again. Slid over the muscled expanse of his chest. The man’s abs... Wow. “I want you.”
He jerked open that snap. Slid down the zipper. She’d already kicked her shoes away while he was carrying her.
Cool air whispered over skin. No, that wasn’t just air. That was his breath. He’d bent, pressing his mouth over the curve of her stomach. And he was kissing her flesh. Caressing her so carefully.
Like she was something fragile to him, delicate.
She didn’t want delicacy. She wanted his passion. Every bit of it.
So her hands wrapped around his arms. She arched her hips against him. “Cale!”
His head lifted.
His eyes glittered in the darkness, blazing with need and lust. Then his hands were rising over her. He unhooked her bra and tossed it—heck, she didn’t even care where, right then.
She only cared about—
His mouth was on her breast. He licked, kissed, sucked, and her legs rose and locked around his hips. His arousal pressed against her. Long and hard and straining, and she didn’t want to wait. It had never been like this, the need a fire in her blood. She couldn’t catch her breath. She could only feel him. All along her body. She wanted him inside her. Was desperate to feel the thrust of his body into hers.
“Easy...” His whisper.
Forget easy. She wanted hard and fast and she wanted pleasure. Him. Now.
He reached around her, sliding his hand into the wallet he’d yanked from his pocket and pulling out—wait, what? Protection? Had to be. The guy was always so prepared.
Maybe too prepared. But the thought was fleeting. Vanishing quickly in the haze of need that surrounded her.
Then he was coming back to her, pulling down her panties. Ripping open that foil packet and, after just a moment, pushing his aroused flesh right against her.
His fingers threaded through hers. His hands pushed hers back against the mattress. His gaze held hers.
And he thrust into her.
One long, hard thrust that sent him deep into her core.
She cried out, lost in the intensity of the moment. Then he withdrew and thrust again, pushing his flesh right over the sensitive button of her desire.
Her legs tightened around his hips. She met him eagerly, thrust for thrust, and the bed rocked beneath them.
Every fear that she’d had vanished. There was no room for fear. There was no room for anything but the passion between them. The fierce movements of his body, the thrust and withdrawal of his flesh, again and again.
Harder.
Deeper.
Making her lose her mind.
Her body tightened. The pleasure was so close, just out of her reach, but every glide of his body, every thrust of his hips, and that pleasure seemed—
Cassidy cried out as the release hit her. Pleasure rocked through her body and she shuddered, caught up in the maelstrom of release as she’d never been before.