At the sound of the last snip, I held my breath. The ticking should’ve have stopped. It continued.

“How it is going down there?”

It was a stupid question to ask. Nothing else came to mind.

Zane’s reply was a quick snap. “Peachy.” His voice was strained.

The shakiness of his response didn’t leave me feeling comfortable about us getting out of this alive. I heard the clipping of the wire cutters again. I held my breath, waiting for the explosion. The clicking stopped and it was quiet.

Zane was still crouched down beside the car. I could hear him release the breath he had been holding. He hadn’t had much faith he could disarm the bomb, from the sound of his relief.

“Can I get out?”

I reached over to unbuckle my seatbelt, wanting to get as far away from my car as possible. I never wanted to see the thing again. From this moment on, I pledged to ride a bike for the rest of my life. It only rained in Florida around three o’clock. If I planned my days right, I would be fine riding a bike.

“No.”

What does he mean by “no?” I want to get the fuck out of the car. Does that mean there is another bomb?

“I don’t understand. The ticking stopped.”

Zane looked me in the eyes and ran his hand through his hair. He had a sheen of sweat running down the side of his face. “There could be a second trigger. Brock has the Ft. Lauderdale bomb squad on the way. They should be here any second.”

I could hear the sirens in the distance. They were getting closer. When they pulled into the parking lot, it caused a commotion, and people stopped to stare. The SWAT team that showed up had Bomb Squad printed on the side of the truck. Didn’t these people understand the danger they were in? Why weren’t they running for their lives?

A man dressed from head to toe in body armor showed up next to the car.

“I need you to step away from the car, sir.” His voice came out sounding like Darth Vader.

Zane took two steps back. He gave the armored man enough room to look at the bomb and do his job.

When the bomb guy reached for his kit, he noticed Zane was still standing close by.

“Sir, you need to get back.”

“I’m not moving. Just do your job, dude. When Sophie is safe, I will move.” Zane’s jaw was locked tight. There was no room for argument.

When the guy went to protest again, I put a stop to the nonsense. “Bomb dude, that is the most stubborn man around. He’s not going to leave. Can we get this bomb removed so I can get out?”

“Dave.”

“Sorry, what was that.”

This man needed to do his job and stop chit-chatting. I’m glad he wasn’t around while the bomb was ticking down. He sure was taking his sweet time disarming the fucker from the bottom of my seat.

“My name is Dave. Not Bomb Dude or Dude. It's Dave.”

“Okay, Dave, can we get a move on? I want to get out.”

He pulled out a mirror and, for the next five minutes, poked around my seat. When he rose and whispered to Zane, I knew it wasn’t good.

“Bomb’s under my seat, not his. Time to tell me what is going on.”

When Dave turned to face me, his eyes held sympathy. “There is another trigger. To deactivate the trigger, I’m going to have to reactivate the bomb and short the other circuit.”

Zane had walked over and was having a conversation with Antonio and Brock. They both looked upset by the information.

“How about option two? You pull me out of here as fast as you can?”

He shook his head. “Won’t work. I think I can do this.”

No fucking way. What person trying to save your life says, “I think I can do this?” No, you say, “I can do this,” and hope you don’t blow yourself up along the way.

“Really? You think you can do this? You need to work on your bomb-side manners. Repeat after me. ‘I can disarm this bomb with no issues.’”

“Red, I will be right here the whole time.” Zane had come back while I was giving the bomb tech a pep talk on talking to people trapped with bombs.

If I made it out of this stupid bomb predicament, I would spend the rest of my life making it up to Zane for walking out on him when he was in the hospital.

“No. Please go, seriously. Just go.”

“Not going to happen. This bomb expert will finish disarming the bomb, and then I will pull you into my arms, take you home, and make love to you all night long.”

“I can’t stand thinking that, if this goes off, I will lose you.”

It was too much. A sob escaped me. I looked at Dave, hoping he would agree with me. “Please make him leave. I don’t want him to die.”

Dave disappeared below my seat. For a brief second, the ticking started all over again. Zane was still here. The ticking was counting down the seconds of my life. And then everything stopped. I finally let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

When Dave backed away with a smile on his face, Zane rushed in and pulled me from the car. He leaned in, and I met him halfway. When his lips crushed mine, the world faded away. The only person who mattered was the man who had his arms wrapped around me. When Zane pulled back and released my lips, we were both panting.

“Zane?”

“Yes, Red?”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

I slapped his chest. The man was too arrogant for his own good. “Aren’t you going to say it back?”

“You're my little red firecracker and will have to wait to find out.”

I settled into the leather seats of Zane’s Range Rover. I was glad to see him again. My heart picked up at the thought of the kiss. I shouldn’t have waited three weeks to contact him. I didn’t understand why he was already in Ft. Lauderdale. Was he working a job down here?

We had defused the bomb, but who set it? We still hadn’t tracked down Sanchez. He would be the only person left wanting to take me out. Kat and I had made it so that he lost everything. Over the past few weeks, we had worked to track down all of his bank accounts and drain the money. The government was on the search for him.

“I’m moving in with you.”

Zane’s words threw me for a loop. “You can’t demand to live with me. You can ask, and I can decide.”

“Clearly, you can’t. You need to have someone at your side until we find Sanchez and take him down. You aren’t safe alone.”

My excitement at his words fell. I was giving him a hard time for demanding, not asking. He didn’t really want to move in with me. He was doing it to protect me. Then he would be on his way again, and me and my little peanut would be left to figure out our life alone.

Zane hit his hands against the steering wheel. “You took my words wrong. I want to live with you. I can’t think about you not being safe. After we find Sanchez, I want to continue living with you, if you want.”

We made it back to the house in record time. I was still pondering Zane’s words about wanting to live with me. I knew in my heart it was the right thing to do. But I was having a difficult time with the reality.

Zane was at my door before I had time to unbuckle my seat belt. When the door opened, he pulled me into his arms.

“I can walk.”

“Stop fighting me for once. I almost lost you today. I need you in my arms. Please let me have this.”

I leaned my head forward and gave him a kiss on the lips. When we walked into Betty’s apartment to let her know we were back, she was rocking in her chair with a grin on her lips. When the door to my apartment opened, I was stunned.

Rose petals lined the floor. Unlit candles lined every shelf in the house. The kitchen looked like a flour bomb had exploded. Here was the answer to my question earlier today—what had Zane been doing in Ft. Lauderdale? He had come for me before I called.

The tears leaked from my eyes. I couldn’t hold them back.

“What’s wrong.”

“You did this for me?”

A blush crept across Zane’s face. “I had planned to cook dinner and have the kitchen cleaned before you came back, but when you called, I stopped everything and came to you.”

I cried harder. No one had ever done anything like this for me before.

“I’m sorry.” His voice sounded like I had taken away his new gun.

“You don’t understand. I love it. Take me to bed.”

“But you're crying.”

I stretched forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Happy tears. Now, are you going to take me to bed?”

Zane didn’t need to be asked twice. He headed down the hallway in three giant strides. My bedroom seemed so small with his presence in it.

The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. My back hit the bed with a couple of bounces. The hunger in Zane’s eyes was mesmerizing. He crawled up the bed and wrapped his fingers in my hair, pulling my mouth to his.

He swiped his tongue across my lips, demanding entry. The kiss was full of passion and need. He deepened the kiss, taking my breath away. When Zane pulled back, a whimper left my mouth. I peeled my eyes open to find his blue eyes swimming with emotion.

* * *

Zane

Easing away from Sophie’s mouth was a struggle. When the whimper left her lips, I wanted to continue. The need to be inside her was overwhelming. I wanted to possess her to prove she needed me as much as I needed her in my life.

I worked at pulling Sophie’s shirt up her body. Her perfect breast and nipples called to me. While I got her bra off, my mouth was watering to taste her skin. I lowered my head and captured her nipple in my mouth. Her whimpers made me suck harder.

I licked my way over to her other breast. When my lips touched her nipple, she arched off the bed, encouraging me to continue. Needing to taste her everywhere, I worked my way down her body, loosening her jeans and pulling them off her body.

I couldn’t hold back a groan when I noticed she didn’t have underwear on. She was dripping with need. I spread her legs open and slowly licked her.

“Beautiful. So, beautiful,” I murmured against the inside of her thigh. When I looked up, Sophie’s head was thrown back. Her back was arched in pure bliss. Moans of passion were escaping her mouth. Her eyes were tightly closed. “Open your eyes. I want you to watch me lick this sweet pussy.”

Her eyes flew open, and I could see the need to come was pressing on her. I leaned in and sucked on her clit, working two fingers in and out of her velvety folds. She lost it and came. It was the most beautiful thing, watching the woman I love get lost in the passion.

I couldn’t hold back any longer. I needed to be inside Sophie. Throwing my pants to the side, I worked my way up her body, stopping to suck on her round, perk nipples. I could listen to the sounds pouring out her mouth for days.

“Please.”

Running my fingers through her hair, I pulled her to my mouth for a kiss. With a thrust, I was buried inside of her. I could feel her folds clenching against me. The feeling was so intense that I had to stop and wait for a moment.

“Move. I need you to move.” Her words came out in moans.

I slowly worked myself in and out. I wanted this feeling to last forever. Sophie met each of my thrusts with intensity. I couldn’t hold on much longer.

“Come with me now.” At my demand, her body let loose and squeezed me. The feeling of her milking my cock made me lose it. With the last thrust, I was buried inside her.

We were both out of breath. I could feel her heart beating against my chest. I slowly worked myself out. At the loss of our connection, she whimpered.

Needing to take care of Sophie, I ran to the bathroom and got a wet rag. Her face blushed when I went to clean her.

“I can do that,” she whispered.

“Don’t be embarrassed. I spent a half hour down here, licking you. Why is it embarrassing that I want to take care of you?”

When I was done, I reached up and pulled her into my arms. “See, if I lived with you, I could do that every day.”

Sophie was quiet for a while. She bit her bottom lip. “In about eight months, things will change though.”

I didn’t understand what would happen in eight months. “What are you talking about? Are you going to let me move in?”

“Yes, and in eight months, we will have our baby.”

Baby? What? Can it be possible? She had said she couldn’t get pregnant. It was all moving so fast. But, I knew the first time I saw Sophie, that she was it. I hoped what she said was true.

“Are you pregnant? You said it wasn’t possible.”

When Sophie went to shy away, I pulled her farther into my arms.

“The doctor said it was near impossible. I had somewhere around a five-percent chance. Are you mad?”

“No. I’m happy. Tomorrow, we will find a more secure place to live. I will be by your side at all times until Sanchez is found.”

When Sophie went to protest, I held my finger up to her lips.

“I love you, Sophie. Let me protect you.”

“I love you, too, my super spy.”