Page 18 of Locked In Ice

Her pulse raced beneath his fingers.Too fast.Yes.Some of the tension eased from him.She was not nearly as controlled as she pretended to be.

“Don’t throw me into the deep end again,” he warned her.“I could sink.Or drag you under with me.”

Her head tilted.That thick, dark hair drifted over her shoulder as she pursed her lips.

“Don’t leave me in the dark,” Lane added.

“I won’t.That’s the whole reason I’m here.”

Her words seemed to wrap around him.

He swallowed.“I meant, don’t spring cases on me.”

“Sure, that’s what I meant, too.”

Her words felt like a lie.“I need…” Lane floundered.

She just watched him with her pale blue eyes.Ghostly eyes.He had a feeling those eyes could see every sin he’d ever committed.Every sin he’d thought of committing.Lane let her wrist go.He saw her fingers stretch and flex, but he knew he hadn’t hurt her.

I wouldn’t.Not her.

“What do you need?”Ophelia asked softly.

You.The response that wanted to spring instantly to his lips.But this wasn’t some partners-with-benefits situation.Ophelia wasn’t looking to fuck him, even if she had told the guy at the front desk that they were lovers.

Except…

Exceptback at the club, before she’d set her trap for a predator, she’d stared straight into Lane’s eyes and told him…You are absolutely right.I do want you.

Her words had blasted through him.Then she’d casually said they were benching the discussion.Like they were chatting about a movie and would pick up the talk later.

“I can practically see your thoughts spinning.”A soft sigh escaped her.“Too much for one day, hmm?Go inside, Lane.Sleep off the adrenaline crash.Have good dreams.And we’ll pick up in the morning.”She turned away from him and pulled her own key card from her pocket.

“My dreams are never good.”Rough.Rumbling.

A nod.She didn’t look his way.“Neither are mine.”No flashing smile.No casual tone.Just soft.A little sad.“Maybe one day, we can compare nightmares.”

Was he seeing the real Ophelia?The light flashed green near her lock, and she pushed the door open.But she stopped before going fully inside.“We’re going to need to trust each other completely in order for this to work.You understand that, don’t you?”

He didn’t really trust anyone completely.His twin sister, yes.He’d live and die for Lark.Anyone else?No.“Trust isn’t easy.”

“Tell me about it.But it has to start somewhere.I started trusting you tonight.I knew if anything went wrong, you’d have my back in the alley.I was scared out there.I get scared, just like everyone else.Ihatedfor him to touch me, but I knew he had to be stopped.My fear was the price I paid to stop him.”Now she turned her head.“You had my back.Thank you.”

Sincere words.He could feel it.See her sincerity in her eyes.

There is so much more to Ophelia than I realized.

Her head tilted to the right as she studied him.“You need to understand that I’ll have your back, too.You can count on me.”

“You’re…just doing this for the money.”This—working with him.Guiding him.He was paying her for the training.This wasn’t some goodness-of-her-heart BS or bonding experience.

“Sure.The big bucks.Doesn’t mean you can’t trust me, though.Good night, Lane.”She crossed the threshold of her room.“Oh, wait.One quick question.It’s been nagging at me for hours and hours.”She dropped her overnight bag inside and turned to stand in the open doorway.One hand pushed against the door, to keep it open, and the other hand gripped the wooden doorframe.“What was it that you said to Thomas Bass?Right at the end?Before he went into panic-and-confess mode, you whispered something to him.What was it?”

He edged closer to her.Her scent drew him in.How could she still smell so good after the day—and night—they’d had?But she did.And he wanted to drink her in.Every bit of her.“I’ll tell you, but you have to answer a question for me in return.”

“That seems completely fair.In the interest of showing that Itrustyou, I’ll even go first,” Ophelia offered with a roll of one shoulder.“That way, you can get my answer, and I’ll just trust that you’ll hold up your end of the deal.”

He could not look away from her eyes.He was in front of her now, towering over Ophelia.“You trained at Quantico.”

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