Evie

I hadn’t been this nervous since my first mission. It wasn’t as though Alex and I weren’t prepared. We were. We’d stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, making sure we had our plan set in stone. We were on the same page for timing, access points, exit strategies, weapons to bring. Pretty much everything with one exception—what we were going to do with Heron once we got him.

I’d never questioned the orders I’d received. Not once in all these years. But listening to the quiet confidence when Alex spoke about his role in the agency made me wonder if it wouldn’t be better to let Heron live just long enough for Justice to question him. My faith in my husband was unshakeable. I knew he wouldn’t betray me or our country with the information he would be able to get from Heron, if given the chance to interrogate him. My superiors didn’t know Alex the way I did. They weren’t able to factor him into the equation in the same manner I could. Plus, if there was someone in our agency gunning for me while also going after the noc list, I needed to find them. There might be something we could learn about that person’s identity from our target.

Dead men couldn’t talk, which is exactly what my boss wanted—Heron’s lips sealed. Even after I’d updated him on the information Martin had uncovered about me being a target of a wet work team, he hadn’t lifted the kill order on Heron. National security took precedence over one operative. Always had and always would for him. It had to be that way or he’d never be able to do his job. It was a fact I’d accepted when it was only my life at risk. Having Alex with me on this mission changed my perspective, though. If his boss treated him like he was expendable, I’d burn the whole agency down. My father’s murder had filled me with a need for vengeance, but it was nothing compared to what would happen if Alex was harmed. And his reaction to me being in the line of fire at the safe house made it clear he felt the same way about me.

It was an eye-opening moment for me. One which I’d pondered these last few days as I struggled with what I was supposed to do, versus what I was starting to think was the right thing to do. A struggle I hid from Alex. Until I knew for sure what I was going to do about Heron, I didn’t want to give him ideas. Sex worked well to avoid the subject. A distraction technique I’d used often over the last few days.

As I woke up from the five hours of sleep we’d managed to get after we’d fallen into an exhausted, tangled heap on our bed, my body bore the marks and aches from the hard fucking he’d given me yesterday. Sex should have been the last thing on my mind between the urgency of the mission ahead and how satisfied he’d left me last time around, but it didn’t seem to make a difference to my body. I wanted to feel him moving inside me again, and I wasn’t willing to wait until after the dust settled to get what I wanted from him.

The morning of the meet, I tugged the sheet away from Alex’s body, and his cock sprang free, jutting toward me. A quick glance up confirmed he was still sleeping, but the head of his cock was already glistening with moisture. Wrapping my hand around his hardened length, I stroked him slowly from root to tip while I kept my eyes locked on his face. It only took a few strokes before his eyes blinked open, hazy from sleep, but also filled with desire and need.

“You sure do know how to wake me up in the best ways, baby.”

“It’s not like I could let this morning wood go to waste, could I?”

“Definitely not,” he chuckled, sliding his hands up my back to tangle them in my hair. “That would be a damn shame.”

I gave him a few more slow tugs before leaning forward to wrap my lips around the head of his cock. My tongue flicked out and swiped the bead of moisture from his tip, making him groan. I loved when he made sounds like that so I licked at the same spot, over and over again, until he was writhing underneath me with his fingers digging into my scalp. When I parted my lips and took all of him inside my mouth, his hips jerked up and sent his cock deeper.

“Who’s in control here, stud?” I mumbled around his shaft. He didn’t bother answering with words, choosing to show me that even though I was the one sucking him off, he thought he was the one in charge. I felt a slight stinging sensation at my scalp as he pulled my hair tighter, his hips thrusting forward. He’d turned the tables on me, fucking my mouth and using it for his pleasure.

“Fuck, baby. You suck me so damn good. Feel free to wake me up like this anytime you want.”

His words spurred me on, making me suck him harder. I tilted my head, giving him a better angle so I could take more of his length into my mouth until it bumped against the back of my throat. More pre-come seeped from his tip, and I hummed in approval at the flavor on my tongue. His cock swelled, and I whimpered when he pulled out of my mouth.

“Gonna come deep in your pussy this time around, baby.”

Before I had the chance to agree, he shredded the panties I’d slid on last night and flipped me around. I landed on the mattress, flat on my back, his body over mine as he plunged into me. Wrapping my legs around his waist, my hips rose and fell in rhythm with his thrusts. My nails bit hard enough into his shoulders I was certain they’d leave marks, but it only made him thrust harder. His hand slid between our bodies, seeking out my clit and my pleasure sky rocketed, throwing me over the edge.

“Yes,” he hissed, his body jerking with his own orgasm, his hands tightening around my hips while he emptied himself inside me. My legs were still tight around his hips as he briefly dropped his weight onto me before rolling us over. Resting my head on his chest, I hugged him tight while I caught my breath.

“It’s going to be okay, Evie,” he murmured, dropping a kiss on my hair and rubbing my back in slow circles.

My frantic need wasn’t fooling him. It probably hadn’t been the whole time and he’d just gone along with it because he knew it was what I needed. My hubby knew me better than I wanted to admit to myself. Either that, or my nerves were showing when they never had before.

“I know it will be.” My answer was soft. Hesitant. It sounded nothing like the usual confidence with which I spoke, but anxiety had taken flight in my belly and I couldn’t shake it. Even a mind-blowing orgasm hadn’t helped. I allowed myself to enjoy the comfort of his embrace for as long as I could. Too quickly, time ran out and we needed to get moving.

There were no lingering glances as we dressed.

No words exchanged as we double-checked and packed all our gear.

Not a single smile shared when we left the room and exited the hotel, hand in hand.

We were both mission ready and focused on the task at hand, but it was more than that. A dark cloud hung over our heads as we drove over roads we’d traveled before, heading to the warehouse we’d successfully infiltrated only a few nights earlier. Tension built as we arrived an hour before the meeting we were hoping to crash. We exited the car at the same time, meeting at the trunk to unload our gear.

“You ready to do this?”

Alex’s question broke the silence. I glanced up at him to find his worried gaze locked on my face. Using every inch of willpower in my body, I forced myself to relax and offered him a smile. “Of course I am, stud. I was born ready.”

He rewarded me for my effort with a chuckle and a quick but hard kiss. I felt it seep into my bones, warming me—but doing nothing to lessen the tension I was feeling.

“Then let’s get this over with, once and for all.”

Hefting my bag over my shoulder, I followed behind him. My head swiveled as I studied our surroundings, looking for any changes since we were last here. The warehouse district was quiet at this time of night, and nobody was around. I spotted one light out over the door of the building across from our destination, but the bulb was intact. It hadn’t been shot out, most likely just needing to be replaced by the owner. I scanned the windows and roof anyway, searching for signs that we had unwanted company. Reaching a hand out to touch Alex’s shoulder briefly, he paused and glanced back at me. He caught where my gaze was aimed and joined me in my perusal. After a couple minutes, he squeezed my hand.

“Spot anything?”

“No,” I answered. Nothing except the darkened light bulb was different, but it was enough to put me further on edge. I figured part of it was that I was hyper-sensitive to danger after the close call at the safe house, and because Alex was with me. If it had only been me, I probably would have set-up on the same roof I’d just stared at, but I couldn’t bring myself to be that far from him, in case we needed to make a quick retreat. If that wasn’t a sign I needed to seriously reevaluate my role with the agency, then I didn’t know what was. Letting emotion impact my decisions was a sure fire way to get myself killed, but I couldn’t shake my gut feeling that I needed to stick close to Alex. “I think we’re good.”

We moved on and rounded the building to approach the rear door of the warehouse. Alex kneeled down to pick the lock, his back to mine as I kept watch. I’d never worked a mission this closely with another operative, and I felt the weight of my responsibility for his safety heavy on my shoulders. He made quick work of the lock, and we entered the building swiftly and quietly, softly closing the door behind us so we didn’t alert anyone to our presence.

Heading to the east side of the building to the large stack of crates where we’d dropped our bug. Nearing them, I noticed the lid of one was slightly off center. I was certain we hadn’t left it that way, and we hadn’t heard anyone open them while we’d listened in. I stopped dead in my tracks, gripping Alex’s arm so he halted with me. It was then I heard it. Clapping. Motherfucking clapping.

“Well done, Scarlett.”

I swiveled around, pulling a Glock from each shoulder holster mid-turn, and found our target standing about ten feet away from us. He had four beefy bodyguard types with him, each with a gun aimed our way. I raised my arms and aimed mine right back at them.

“I have to admit I was hoping you were the one they’d send after me,” Heron announced, his eyes raking my body before he turned his attention to Alex. “But I’m a bit disappointed, since I’d heard you always worked alone.”

“Maybe you were too big a target to risk losing with only one agent,” Alex interjected, presumably in an attempt to play on Heron’s ego.

“Ah, but Scarlett isn’t really an agent, is she?” Heron replied. “You might be, but she’s a bit more than that. Or less, depending on how you look at it since your government would be content to let her die while denying her existence. All of which means she could be quite valuable to me.”

At that, the guards shifted their stances so all four guns opposite us were aimed Alex’s way. And my husband, the stubborn ass, took several steps away, drawing their aim farther away from me and more firmly on him.

“How interesting,” Heron murmured, his gaze darting between us with a calculating gleam. “Looks like I’m not the only one who thinks the infamous Scarlett is valuable.”

I tapped my left foot, hoping like hell Alex would catch the signal. Between the two of us, we could take four of them out fairly easily, but five would be pushing it—especially since Alex was hell bent on taking Heron in alive. This situation called for kill shots if we wanted to improve our odds of getting out of here alive. With the bodyguards, I didn’t have to worry about Alex hesitating. If Alex understood what I meant and started from the left, we had a good chance to take them all out, leaving Heron as the only one standing.

“I can think of at least four people who would agree with you.” I stressed the number as I spoke, and followed it up with three light taps of my foot. As soon as my sole hit the ground the third time, I fired in rapid sequence. Three shots from my two guns and one from Alex’s pistol. Four shots, straight between the eyes of each bodyguard. It would have been perfect, except Heron had used that time to reach behind his back to pull out a weapon. A gun he had aimed straight at my husband.

“You were just a name on a list to me up until a few days ago, Scarlett. One of many who I’d sell to the highest bidder without thinking twice. Then I heard rumblings about a dark ops assassin who was hunting me, with a male special agent at her side.”

“Fuck,” Alex hissed.

“An assassin so good at her job that a kill team had been sent for her but failed when she blew the safe house where she’d been staying,” Heron continued. “Someone on your side wants you dead, and they’re willing to pay a lot of money to make that happen. I’m curious to see how much you’d be worth to others, alive.”

“You’ll never find out because there’s no way in hell you’re gonna walk out of here with her,” Alex growled.

“Are you sure about that?” Heron chuckled. “It’s not like you can kill me since you’re supposed to bring me in alive for questioning.”

“The only way she leaves here with you is over my dead body.”

“If you insist,” Heron replied.

In those brief seconds as I watched Heron take aim at my husband, I better understood why he’d been so angry about what I’d done at the safe house in Rome. His fury merely masked his fear of losing me. A nightmare I shared, as images of our life together raced before my eyes. I couldn’t just stand here and watch it happen, not when Alex’s life was on the line. I leapt into action, diving in front of Alex just as Heron’s finger pressed down on the trigger of his gun.

Shit! I was hit. I’d never taken a bullet before, but I knew what the flare of heat and stinging pain in my upper arm meant. Luckily, I’d already gotten both of my shots off and it looked like my aim had been true, one to his hand to knock the gun out of it and another to his knee so he couldn’t run. Mid-leap, I twisted my body to avoid landing on my injured arm. I went down hard. Damn hard. I managed to miss my arm, but I took the brunt of the landing on my upper back. My head snapped backwards, smashing against the concrete once, before bouncing up and slamming down again.

Fuck! The pain in my head overshadowed my arm. Darkness crept around the edges of my vision. I wasn’t sure how much time, if any, had passed since I went down. I heard Alex yelling, but his voice was muffled as though he was in a tunnel far, far away from me. I tried to lift my hand and reach out to him, to reassure him that I was okay, but my body wouldn’t cooperate.

“I don’t care what the fuck it takes, get an ambulance to our location and make sure a medevac is on standby at the hospital for her, Martin!”

Was it bad enough that I needed a medevac?

“I know her personnel file is buried deep, but you’re going to have to figure out a way to unearth it because her medical records had damn well better be at Moron when we get there.”

Martin was good, but there was no way he could get me onto a military base for treatment.

“You’ve got plenty of time to find a way to make it happen between however long we’re at the hospital and the almost two hours we’ll be in the air.”

Even if he managed to get an operative who technically didn’t exist onto the base, he couldn’t get his hands on my info. Not that quickly anyway.

“Yeah, we need medical care for two.”

My breath froze in my lungs. No. Please don’t tell me it was all for nothing.

“Damn fool woman leapt in front of a bullet for me, and she still managed to fire two rounds at Heron with a precision most operatives don’t even have at the gun range. He took one in the hand and one in the knee.”

He meant Heron and me. Alex was unharmed. Comforted by the knowledge that he had escaped the confrontation unscathed, my eyes slid closed and I stopped fighting the darkness, letting it swallow me whole.