Page 13 of Obsession

His head rested on her chest as her breathing returned to normal, the heat of his face adding to her odd feeling of serenity. There was nothing normal about what had just happened, nothing sane about captivity or being held down while pleasured by a virtual stranger. Some distant part of Ella suspected she should be disgusted, and perhaps she was, yet she couldn’t muster the energy to be concerned.

Finally, after hours of turmoil and angst, there was peace and calm.

She needed that, almost as much as she’d wanted the hedonistic release.

For the longest time, they stayed in stillness. Quiet and satiated, she gave in to the longing for more sleep as he listened to the sound of her heart beating.

Two strangers who hardly knew each other.

Two people pretending there could be solace in the dirty gloom, but for that one moment, it didn’t matter.

The last thing Ella heard before the slumber came to claim her was the contented noise of his deep and regular breaths.

Chapter Five

Echoes of the Past

Tucker

The shadowy heat of sleep overtook him, pushing Tucker down until his face was pressed into the cold grime of somewhere that had once been familiar.

Peering up from the mud, Tucker blinked into the darkness. He’d known the dark before, but not like this. The blackness of his misspent youth had been warmer and infinitely more tempting. The current expanse of shadow was something else. Something more sinister, as though evil itself lurked just beyond his grasp.

It wasn’t far from the truth. Somewhere, not far from where he was sprawled, was his target—the man he was there to kill. Although whether he or the ill-fated destination for his bullet was the true malignant energy of that night remained to be seen.

The target had a name—an identity Tucker had been ordered to scrub out—but slithering forward, he chose not to recall it. It didn’t matter who the guy was or why the assassination order had been given. Tucker’s only focus was carrying out the instruction.

‘Getting the job done.’ The words of his commanding officer rang in his head as the sludge shifted beneath him. ‘That’s what we do, Bowman. The public and its elected officials don’t care how or why we execute the plan. We’re the instruments of policy. That’s all.’

Inhaling the smell of wet earth, Tucker was only inclined to correct him on one point. It was never ‘we.’ As far as he could remember, the C.O. had never joined on a single mission.

“Bowman!”

The hissed whisper came from the reeds to his left, and freezing in the cold mud, Tucker turned toward the sound.

What?

He shot the query back with his eyes, imagining how he must have looked to the man flanking him. His blue gaze was stark against the backdrop of filth and gloom.

What are you doing? No communication this close to the target!

Collins was only there as a back-up. The last resort option sent in to confirm the kill should Tucker fail. But that wasn’t going to happen. Tucker didn’t fail.

Long seconds intervened with thankfully no reply from Collins. Only the sound of Tucker’s racing heart filled that period, his senses heightened, as his attention shifted from the man camouflaging behind the tree and back in the direction of his target.

Hopefully, Collins had got the message.

No more mistakes.

Frankly, the man wasn’t a rookie, and he should have known better than to call out this close to the mission objective.

But then Collins’ wasn’t the first error.

The operation had been littered with silly blunders. The target had been mysteriously absent on the original day the mission had been planned, then he and Collins had been dropped in the wrong position, causing the imminent action to be delayed several hours.

It was little wonder Tucker had made it at all.

Focus. His jaw tightened at the thought. I can do this.

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