Page 86 of Wicked Suspicion

She rested her forehead against his. “I wish I didn’t have to go. I wish we could both stay here in this room and pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist.”

“Yeah, at least for a few days,” he agreed. “Although you’re already sore from last night.”

“Achy, not sore.”

“Bullshit. I was there with you, remember?” Case gave her another quick kiss. “Let me finish getting dressed. We have another hour or so before we need to head to the airport.”

Case put the breakfast cart into the hall, locked the door, and double-checked to make sure it was secure. As secure as he could make it, at least. Nyx sat at the table near the window, finishing her coffee and he took the seat opposite hers.

She reached to return her empty mug to the table, and he caught sight of his chain around her neck. He liked seeing that. He liked that she wanted him to visit her in Los Angeles when he was finished down here. Case wondered how long her invitation would last. The op had barely gotten started, and his team could easily be down here for another six or eight months or longer.

If he could explain who he was, and what he really did, she’d get it. Her dad had been Special Forces. She knew the drill. But he had to let her keep thinking he was a mercenary and a gunrunner. The danger to the op, the danger to his teammates was too great to take any chances. Torres killed people for a lot less than this.

Yeah. It was only a matter of time before she began to wonder if money and thrills were more important to him than she was.

But maybe he’d be lucky. She understood how much the necklace meant to him. Would she grasp that his giving it to her was a promise? A way to tell her he loved her without scaring the shit out of her?

Part of him didn’t want her to leave. Everything would change once they were apart. She’d be back home. Maybe Nyx would decide what they had wasn’t real, that she didn’t want anything more to do with him. That it was circumstances and not something monumental between them. Case pushed the doubts aside.

“Do you have everything ready to go?” he asked, even though he knew she did. He’d watched her check the room to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything and the messenger bag rested against her duffle bag.

“I’m ready. When are we leaving?”

He checked the time. “We have a few more minutes.” But not many.

“Case?”

“What?”

“What’s your full name? Can you tell me?”

He shouldn’t. “Can you keep it to yourself?”

Nyx gave him her are-you-kidding-me look and Case grinned. He’d never been much of a smiler, not even as a kid, but this woman made him happy.

“That’s right,” he said. “You were aware of the importance of keeping secrets from the time you were small.” Case debated, but he wanted her to know who he was. He still couldn’t tell her he was Army Special Forces on a covert op. He wouldn’t risk his team, not even for her. But he could give her his real name. “It’s Case Lundquist.”

“I like that better than Charlie Case. It’s a more fitting name for a Viking warrior.”

She had him fighting off the urge to grin again, and he really wasn’t a smiler. But maybe he could get used to being one. With Nyx. “You’re getting mouthy again.”

“What’s mouthy about saying you’re a Viking warrior? You’re Swedish and you are a warrior. I saw you and your friends at work in that camp yesterday.” Nyx shrugged. “But we’re not being held hostage by assholes, so I can let my sass flag fly. It’ll grow on you.”

“It already has.” But her mentioning what happened yesterday raised another question. “You’re taking the battle in stride.”

“What am I supposed to do? Mourn the deaths of men who would have raped and killed me if you hadn’t come back? Fuck them. They’re in hell where they deserve to be.”

Case nodded. “Exactly.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off her, drinking her in. They hadn’t had enough time together. Not nearly enough.

“Case?”

He shook his head. She was full of questions. “What, Fireball?”

“How did you get your handle? Lurch doesn’t seem appropriate, not as athletic as you are.”

He laughed. He couldn’t help it. She was incredible, everything he didn’t believe existed. “You haven’t seen me dance. That’s how I earned the handle.”

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