Page 74 of Extracted

His fingers sought the silken strands of her hair, and his nose immediately inhaled her scent, which would be branded on his senses till the day he died. “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to go. That’s why I’m so angry. Even more mad that I messed this up so badly that I can’t even protect you.”

She lifted her chin and brought her hands to rest on his jaw. “All you’ve done is protect me. From the moment the bombs went off you’ve been on a mission to ensure my safety. I’m alive right now because of you.”

He chuckled. “We’re both hanging on by a thread.”

“And the odds have been stacked against us.” She dipped her gaze then lifted it again. The yellow striations in her blue irises stilled his heart. “Just please be careful. Don’t do anything that won’t bring you back to me.”

He swept his thumb under her eye, catching a tear. “Never.”

She kissed him, her lips soft and moist. Before he could deepen the kiss, she peeled away. “Let’s just get this over with so we can get back to whatever we had before this mess started. Okay?”

He meshed his forehead with hers. “That sounds damn good.”

Who was he kidding? He couldn’t go back to that. Couldn’t act like the last several days hadn’t happened. Like they weren’t forever changed and bound on a soul level. This morning, he’d been ready to say goodbye to her forever. To not put his stupid, misled heart back into her little game. Turned out he had even less control where Gemma was concerned than he’d thought.

When it came to having Gemma, he’d take whatever crumbs she gave.

* * *

“It’s right up here,” she said, pointing to the airstrip looming ahead of them on her side. The big freaking plane was explanation enough, but her jittery nerves made her blurt out the obvious.

Dallas slowed and turned into the gravel driveway. Her heart rate picked up, matching the rhythm that pulsed in her head along with a constant chant: Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.

If their last brush with death had done one thing, though, it’d given her the push she needed. Dallas had almost died, yet again, because of her.

She needed to fix her own mistakes. For him. So he could continue his life without wearing the bull’s-eye that was seared to the back of her head.

The private plane sat on the runway, a white Cadillac SUV beside it. A woman stood next to the SUV, her stylish blond bob and white silk dress shirt tucked into navy dress pants screamed law enforcement.

“That her?”

“Yeah.”

Dallas slowed to a crawl then pulled a U-turn so the SUV was pointed away from the plane and Charlene.

“What are you—”

“Hold on.” Hitting reverse, he backed up closer to her destination. He shifted into park a good eighty feet away from the SUV. “I don’t want to give them a chance to get photos of me. Or run my face. Though I’m sure they’ve already got me locked down in the system.”

Gemma grimaced. Not much got by Charlene. From the moment Gemma had given her Dallas’s name, she’d put him on the woman’s radar.

Smart, Gemma. Really fricking smart.

“I’m sorry I screwed this up so badly.” She unclipped her seatbelt and turned to face him.

At least when they’d last stopped, he’d let her clean up the blood on his face. The wound near his temple was still angry—blood oozed a bit, but at least it wasn’t rolling down the side of his head. She moved her gaze over his features, taking in the chiseled jaw, perfectly shaped nose, and hazel eyes that bore into her soul. Regret flashed in his hues, and the pit of her stomach dropped several inches.

One day she’d make things right. But today, she had to do what was best for both of them. “Promise you’ll clean that properly?”

He touched the spot and winced, and then his face fell back into its grim expression. “When I get the chance, yeah.”

She reached out and touched his cheek. “And don’t do anything stupid. I’m going to call you once I’m settled, remember?”

His mouth softened into a sad smile, as if that were wishful thinking. “’Course.”

“You can still come with me. You haven’t heard from Cole. Maybe he got called away to work and—”

Dallas shook his head. “I’ve gotta deal with Silas. It’s the only way either of us is getting out of this alive. He’ll find you. Even if you’re owned by the CIA. They can’t hide you.”

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