Page 43 of Mountain Hero

In that same rough, needy tone, he asks, “Are you sure? There’s no rush.”

“I know.” And I close the last few inches between us, hesitating a breath away from his lips. “I want this. I want to kiss you.”

“Ah, hun. I want that, too.”

Breathlessly, pulse thundering, I bring my mouth to his.

It’s soft. A tender caress.

Enzo nips at my lower lip before stroking the small sting away.

I trail my tongue along the seam of his lips.

He tugs me closer to him, one hand still cupping the back of my head, the other at the middle of my back. But it’s not demanding. It’s tender and comforting.

This isn’t a passionate kiss. It’s a gentle promise of more to come.

And as our connection continues, I feel my heart opening for him.

Desires I’ve locked away come alive again.

When we finally draw apart, Enzo gazes at me with a depth of emotion in his eyes. He brushes his thumb across my kiss-swollen lips. “That was…”

“It was perfect.”

As his arms come around me, pulling me into his arms, his lips press against the top of my head. His breath feathers across my hair. “Yes. It was.”

CHAPTER 12

ENZO

Just for today, I’m going to pretend everything is normal.

All this shit with Thomas will still be waiting tomorrow.

For today, I’m going to trust my friends to have my six.

I talked to the guys about it the other day, after we met to discuss plans for protecting Winter and apprehending Thomas. It was Alec, Knox, Ronan, and Gage—who left his cabin up north after months of seclusion once he learned we needed his help.

“I might have my own shit going on,” he replied when I asked him, “but I’ll never leave a brother in need. Especially not if his woman’s in danger.”

I’m glad to have Gage on our makeshift team. A former Night Stalker, he was stationed at Fort Campbell with me, and he saved my ass on exfils more times than I could count. While it’s true he’s dealing with his own struggles, Gage is smart and skilled and loyal and someone you definitely want in your corner.

As we sat around the dining room table, going over tactics and intel and assigning duties, I was reminded of the strategic meetings we used to have in the Army. It was almost like slipping right back into it—everyone’s posture straightening, casual banter put aside, all of us focused solely on the mission.

Protecting Winter and stopping Thomas.

The first is easier. With Winter here and the property under twenty-four-seven surveillance, it would be almost impossible for Thomas to get close to the house undetected. Plus, we have two people on the night shift now; me, of course, and either Ronan, Alec, or Knox rotating on backup.

As for Gage? He’s on the road, following up on a lead Alec discovered yesterday. While Thomas has been off the grid for the last few weeks, Alec finally got a hit. He spotted Thomas on some surveillance footage from a gas station up near Westfield, about forty miles from here.

It’s not much to go on, but at this point, we’ll take anything.

Winter’s suggestion for using herself as bait is still on the table, but I’m really hoping we don’t get to that point. I’m hoping Gage will have luck on his trip, or Alec or Leo will find something more definitive, or Thomas will finally slip up and give us the clue we need.

It’s crazy, really. All this technology—satellite imagery and CCTV and tracking GPS on phones and cars, plus all this technical stuff Alec tries to explain but sounds like gibberish—and we can’t find this asshole anywhere.

“It’s tough, being in Vermont,” Alec explained in apology. “So much of it is rural. There are so many places to hide. So many ways to stay off the grid. But we’ll find him.”

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