Alex

I jerked the van to the side of the road, ignoring Heron when he was thrown up against the side door. His restraints kept him from righting himself, and I didn’t care. The asshole shouldn’t have been making comments about my wife.

Speaking of my wife... I jumped out of the driver’s seat, out onto the sidewalk and glared at the car screeching to a stop behind my vehicle. Sure enough, Evie sat behind the wheel and I was caught up in a tumble of emotions. The most prevalent being fear for her safety, but anger was a damn close second. I heard a thump and a grunt of pain from inside the van, and since I was irrationally blaming Heron for this whole situation, I was inordinately pleased at the thought of him trying to shift around inside and injuring himself in the process.

While I waited for her to turn off the engine and exit the car, I ripped my ear bud out and stuffed it in a pocket so I didn’t have to listen to Martin ramble on. He was trying to figure out what was happening, and I didn’t have the slightest fucking clue, nor did I want anyone to be privy to the situation at hand. I stood there taking deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart and cool my ire before I absolutely lost it on her.

She stepped from the car, her long, lithe body encased in form fitting black pants, a long-sleeved thermal, and boots laced up to her knees. Her long mahogany hair was pulled back into a slick ponytail, the red highlights showing up in the sun. Her face was devoid of makeup, giving her a natural look so she wouldn’t stand out. But, it didn’t matter what Evie did to try and blend in, she drew every eye around her. It was about the worst timing ever to be sporting a hard on, but my wife looked so fucking sexy I almost forgot what I was mad about. All I wanted to do was drag her to the nearest bed and fuck her hard.

Shaking my head a little, I tried to clear away the lust-filled haze. I tucked my gun into the back waistband of my pants and covered it with my shirt. I felt like one of those idiots in movies, but at the moment, it was the best way to keep it hidden. She stopped near the rear of the van and peeked into the window, an irritated expression materializing on her face at whatever it was she saw. She turned and leaned against the side of the vehicle, crossing her arms over her chest and stared at me.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Evie?” I growled.

Her eyes narrowed and her chin lifted stubbornly. “I could ask you the same question, Justice.”

It wasn’t like I’d had much time to process all of this, but I didn’t realize how much I was hoping this was all some kind of fucked-up coincidence until she used my code name.

“And by the way,” she snarled, “you need to watch your back more carefully, Alex. Another sniper might have shot you, and I’d rather you didn’t make me a widow.”

I staggered back a half step, she couldn’t possibly mean… No. Could she? “It was you shooting the spray of bullets through the window?” As shocked as I was that Evie was clearly a sniper, and holy fuck was I shocked to learn my sweet wife was a fucking assassin, I had a hard time believing it had been her. She was a perfectionist, and I couldn’t see her being so careless.

“how She scowled, clearly offended. “Of course it wasn’t me,” she snapped. “I only fired the warning shot. I’m not an amateur.”

Not an amateur. How long had this been going on? “Exactly how long have you been experienced at this, Evie?” I asked through clenched teeth.

Her face fell and sadness crept into her dark brown eyes. “You mean how long have I been lying to you? Probably as long as you’ve been doing so to me.”

Was our whole life one big charade? A painful thought began to creep into my head, no matter how much I tried to keep it out. Had she married me to establish her cover? I pushed back the insistent doubt. No. I knew she loved me as much as I loved her.

However, this shit ended right now. I wasn’t going to let my wife constantly put herself in danger. It would tear me up inside, and I couldn’t live with the worry and pain. What if something had happened to her? How could she continue going on missions, knowing she was endangering my whole reason for living?

I closed the distance between us and gripped her biceps firmly, but gentle enough so I wouldn’t hurt her. “We are going to have a long ass discussion about this, but I haven’t got the time right now. I need to get my target to a safe house.”

Evie shuffled, looking slightly uncomfortable. “About that…” she trailed off, glancing at the van before meeting my eyes again. Her usually warm brown eyes were filled with steely determination. “I’m going to need you to remand him into my custody. I’ve got orders too.”

“Why don’t we take him in together? We’ll both get our chance to interoga—” I broke off when Evie’s face turned wary.

Her eyes strayed to the van once again, then she sighed as she looked back at me. “I’m not here to talk to him, Justice.”

I bristled at her us of my code name. I didn’t like hearing it from her lips. But she was obviously using it for a reason and when it sunk in, I wanted to put my fist through a wall. Or through the face of the motherfucker who recruited Evie.

She was sent to kill Heron, which meant—my head was about to explode with the amount of shit being heaped onto me in such a short period of time.

“You’re Scarlett.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes.”

Holy fuck. My wife had one of the highest kill records at the agency. Well, she would if they actually acknowledged her as an operative. I had to admit, there was some pride blooming in my chest because my wife was the shit. Although, no one would know. Evie was beyond black ops. Her division, if you could call it that, wasn’t on any official records. Not even top secret, redacted files. Which meant, if she was ever captured, there was no paper trail to connect her to the CIA. She would be out in the cold, which is an ironic expression considering she would become a burned spy.

The fear previously masked under my anger shot to the surface. I didn’t care how good she was at her job, nobody was perfect. If she ever made a mistake—I couldn’t even think about it. And, I would never know what happened to her. She would simply disappear. Before I could drown in my terrifying thoughts, I called on every bit of my training and focused on the mission.

“I can’t let you have him, Scarlett.” I saw the tiniest wince in her features when I used her field name. She didn’t seem to like it either. But, we were suddenly in operation mode, and it was clear we both felt the separation from our home life and our job.

“I don’t think you’re grasping the situation, Justice. I don’t have the luxury of even one do-over. Failure is not an option for me.”

I grunted in frustration. “You’re asking me to voluntarily blow this op. I can’t do it. I’m sorry, but Heron is more valuable alive than dead.”

“Not according to my superiors. They believe he poses too big of a threat and needs to be eliminated.”

Before I could respond, the double doors at the back of the van flew off with a loud bang. One of them smashed into the car Evie had been driving, one corner embedding itself in the driver’s seat. I’m sure that would haunt me later but my training kicked in, and I immediately started assessing everything around me. I darted to the van, wondering how a bomb got planted and whether Heron could have survived the blast. I glanced back at Evie, searching her reaction, wondering if she’d been able to complete her mission after all. Had I missed her setting the charge? I was trained to be hyper-observant, I couldn’t imagine I wouldn’t have seen it.

A sliver of hurt slashed through my heart at the thought of Evie choosing her assignment over me, killing the target before we even had a chance to talk. Her eyes widened at my accusatory frown, hurt that mirrored my own showing through as she shook her head. I couldn’t consider any alternative, even knowing she’d been lying to me for year, at that moment; I instinctively trusted her.

Darting over to the smoldering opening, I looked inside and didn’t see a body. I did however, see bloody zip ties lying on the floor near the sliding panel door on the left side of the van that opened out to the street. Blowing the back doors had been a decoy so he could get out another way, unnoticed. I took off down the street, running like a bat out of hell. I didn’t see him anywhere, but I knew the most likely routes he would take. After about thirty minutes, I slowed to a stop in an alley, I wasn’t going to catch up with him this way. I was up shit creek without a paddle, the bastard had escaped.

The rumble of an engine drew my attention, and I looked up to see Evie driving the battered van in my direction. She parked and hopped out.

“The cops were going to be there any second, so I figured it best to move the van.”

I nodded, walking toward the back of the van. “Your car?”

“Rental. I didn’t pick it up and the alias used is thorough. It can’t be traced to me.”

I studied the blown doors, trying to figure out how Heron had gotten out of the restraints, and even worse, how the fuck he got a bomb in the van.

“Your glove compartment.”

“What?” I shifted my attention to Evie as she rounded the corner of the van.

“He raided your glove box. Why the hell did you leave chemicals in there?” She held up a bottle of brake fluid (Polyethylene glycol) and a jar of what looked like chlorine dioxide mixed with some other stuff.

“Shit.” I scrubbed my hands over my face. “I didn’t have a chance to sweep the van before I took it out. The last jackass who used it must have left them in there.”

She pointed to a melted piece of clear plastic. It looked like he put tiny amounts of each into the empty water bottles up front and tossed them at the back door. The explosion was small enough to blow the back off the van, covering the sound of the opening side door and him running away.

Then it hit me, the thump I heard after I got out of the car. If Heron had hit hard enough to break a thumb, he might have been able to work his hands out of the binding. It looked like he’d taken a lot of skin off with them.

The injury would hamper him a little, but not much. A quick check of my watch confirmed the sun was about to set completely. I knew it was more likely the target would travel at night, but he would have to take care of his injury first. We could get some rest and pick up his trail in the morning, hopefully catching up to him before he slipped away the next night.

Evie pulled a backpack from the passenger seat and slung it over a shoulder. To most people, it didn’t look like anything special, but in reality, it was a tactical backpack.

“Valkyrie?” I guessed.

She shook her head as she pulled out another smaller bag, and slammed the door shut. “Vanquish. It’s my personal weapon, so I don’t need the ambidextrous feature. I saw no reason to switch, the precision is equally good on either.”

It was her personal weapon? I pictured my own little armory at home and wondered. “The safe in your office?”

She cocked her head to the side, studying me. “SCIF and weapons. You?”

“Same.” The conversation was taking on a surreal quality, and I wasn’t ready to get into everything right then. So, I changed the subject. “Let’s find a room and we’ll figure things out tomorrow,” I suggested wearily.

“Sure.” Evie gestured for me to lead the way out of the alley. Before we left, I quickly retrieved my briefcase and go-bag. Then, I dumped the rest of the brake fluid around the van and as we walked away, I tossed in a lighter.

* * *

“I’m going to grab a shower,” Evie said before disappearing into the bathroom.

We’d checked into The Waldorf, figuring it was a better choice than our villa. Neither of us wanted to draw attention to our vacation home while in the thick of an assignment. After tossing her bug out bag on the bed, she slid her rifle underneath. She immediately moved to the mini-fridge and opened it to stare longingly at the small bottles of alcohol. She sighed and grabbed a water.

I almost smiled at how damn cute she was, but I was too tense to really be amused. I wasn’t, however, too occupied to miss the sight of her heart-shaped ass sticking in the air as she bent down to peer into the appliance. She always had the power to make me want her, no matter what. My body and heart recognized my soul mate. The love of my life.

Turning away, I strode to the phone and ordered room service. When it arrived, we ate in relative silence, neither of us knowing what to say. I hated the awkward tension. It had always been easy with us, even when we got angry with each other. Knowing there were always lies between us actually made me realize how strong our relationship was. We were sure of our love for each other and despite holding our own secrets, we still had complete trust in one another. A rarity for people who lived their lives in a world of espionage. I wondered if we’d ever be able to get back to that place.

I cleaned up once she closed the bathroom door, trying not to think about what was on the other side. I didn’t know why I was even trying. Resisting Evie wasn’t possible, even with the “what ifs” hanging over us. She was mine, she would always be mine.

I stripped on my way to join her in the shower, entering the room naked and hard as a fucking rock. The sight of her in the big, glass shower, her head back to rinse her hair, thrusting her amazing tits in the air, her flat stomach, the flare of her hips, her beautifully bare pussy, had my muscles clenching and all the blood in my head rushing straight to my groin.

Pulling the door open, steam billowed out and made rivulets of condensation roll down my already overheated body. The draft of cold air creeping in blew over Evie, causing her nipples to tighten into hard little peaks.

I tore my eyes away from the dusky tips, dragging my gaze up to meet her eyes. Only, they were glued to my cock, standing up against my stomach, already begging to be inside her. As I slowly approached, she finally lifted her gaze and the burning want in those chocolate depths made any hesitancy I’d been harboring dissipate.

My hand slid easily over her wet skin, grasping her around the waist and slamming her body into mine as my mouth sealed over hers. It had been over four days since I’d tasted her lips, and just like every time I was away from her, it felt like I hadn’t seen her in forever. I licked the seam of her mouth and she immediately opened for me, our tongues twisting and tangling, matching desperation in our kiss.

I loved her so fucking much and I needed her more than my next breath. My hands traveled up her torso to palm her full tits, their size making them spill out of my hands. Massaging them to the rhythm of our kiss, I felt a shiver rip through her and I wanted more. Shifting so I was cupping her, exposing her hard little nubs, I trailed kisses down until I took one peak into my mouth. I was rewarded with another shiver. Her hands delved into my hair, sending tingles straight down to my cock. I switched to her other tit until I’d had my fill, then let it go with a little pop before sinking to my knees.

With my hands on her hips, I encouraged her to turn and face the shower seat. “Bend down, baby. Widen your legs so I can see your pretty, pink pussy.”

She bent and opened her legs, but it wasn’t enough and she knew it. I slapped a palm down onto the creamy skin of one ass cheek, enjoying the sight of my mark on her and the deep moan ripping from her chest. “Tilt your pussy, and get those legs open, or I’ll eat until I’m full and won’t let you come.”

Her ass angled higher and her legs moved open wide, exposing her lower lips. Even though she was wet from the shower, I could see the slightly thicker wetness of her arousal on the insides of her thighs, and I couldn’t wait any longer. “Always so wet for me, aren’t you, baby? You’re fucking soaked.” I pushed her ass a little higher until she was on her tip toes, then I spread her pussy lips and licked her with the flat of my tongue, from bottom to top. She moaned again, but as I began to eat her in earnest, her sounds became cries of passion, spurring me on.

“I love your taste, baby. I want it to fill my mouth. Come on my face, Evie. Do it now.” I slid two fingers inside her incredibly tight pussy and sucked her clit so hard, my cheeks hollowed out. She exploded, screaming my name as her body wracked with shudders, her juices flooding my mouth, the sweetest taste in the world.

Surging to my feet, I flipped us around so I could sit on the shower bench. “Sit on my cock, baby,” I commanded. “I want you to ride me.”

She straddled my legs, giving me the perfect opportunity to bite her ass, causing her to give a little squeak. The next thing I knew, she dropped down onto my dick, impaling herself all the way, and I shouted, “Fuck! You’re so damn tight.”

Rocking back and forth a little, she let herself adjust to my size. I put my hands under her elbows and brought her arms up to circle my neck, behind her head. “Keep them there, baby,” I whispered before nibbling on her ear. Her skin was slick as my hands slid the rest of the way up her arms, then back down and over clavicle, falling to squeeze her tits and play with her nipples, plucking and twisting them. She squirmed on my cock, and I groaned at the way her pussy walls were clenching around me.

Her rocking slowly turned to bouncing, until she was wildly lifting and dropping as my hips thrust up to meet her.

“Oh! Oh! Yes, Alex!” Her cries fanned the fire inside until I was no longer satisfied with our position.

“I need to fuck you, baby. Hard. I know you can take it, right?”

She mumbled an agreement, still panting and moaning from her orgasm. I lifted her off my cock with a tortured groan and spun her around to face me. Backing her up the wall, I grasped her ass and raised her high enough for me to drive home. She immediately came, screaming my name.

“The feeling of you coming around my cock is unbelievable, Evie. Give me more of it.” I increased the power of my thrusts, my hands gripping her ass hard enough to bruise. Her legs encircled my waist and her head fell back against the wall with a soft thump.

“I can’t,” she whined. “Just finish, Alex. I can’t come again.”

Smirking, I leaned in close so my face was a breath away from hers. “You know better than to give me a challenge like that, baby,” I growled.

My hips moved back and forth with power, driving deep each time. When she was writhing once again, I used my thumb to press down on her clit. She went off like a fucking rocket, her screams music to my ears. But, I was an over achiever, so winning the challenge just once wasn’t my style. I sucked up all of my restraint and slowed down while her racing heart calmed.

“Alex,” she whimpered. “Please.”

“One more, baby. Then I’ll let you rest. I know you can give me another. Your body is already tingling with need, isn’t it? I can see the beautiful blush on your skin, your hard little nipples, and your pussy is holding me so tight I can barely move in and out. Fuck! The feel of your pussy—Oh fuck! Come on, baby. Do it.”

I put everything I had into my movements, driving her higher and higher, and going right along with her.

“Yes! Yes! Oh, Alex! Yes!” she was shouting the fucking walls down.

“Keep it down, baby. I love to hear you screaming my name, but it’s for me only. Nobody else gets to hear you come.” I decided to help her out and crashed my mouth down over hers. My balls drew up, and I knew I was about to fall over the edge so I took two fingers this time and pinched her clit, swallowing her screams as she gave me the orgasm I demanded.

I let go and sensation after sensation washed over me as I came. Long, hot jets of semen shot from my cock in spurts. I filled her to the brim, my come leaking out of her pussy.

Eventually, our breathing slowed and our hearts returned to a steady beat. I hastily washed myself, then took my time gently cleansing her from head to toe. After we were done and dry, I lifted her naked body into my arms and strode to the bed. Using one hand to pull the covers away, I helped her slip between the sheets. I quickly checked the bolts on the door and windows, then shut off the light and got into bed with my wife.

I wrapped myself around her from behind, throwing a leg over hers, one arm under her head, and the other splayed over her belly.

“Alex,” she called softly.

Kissing her temple, I rested my cheek on her silky hair. “What, baby?”

“What do we do now?”

That was a loaded fucking question and I didn’t know the answer. The best I had was to focus on the mission.

“I guess we’ll team up and find the son of a bitch.”

“And then?”

I sighed, having no solution. Only one of us could succeed in our assignment.

“I don’t know, baby. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

We lay in silence awhile, and I thought maybe she’d fallen asleep until she shifted her head to look up at me. “I love you.”

My heart burst with the same warmth it always did when she professed her love.

“I love you too, my Evie. Until death do we part. And forever after.”