Page 52 of Between Love and Honor

As his words sank in, relief surged through her stiff limbs and she relaxed against the mattress. Taking advantage, he delved into her mouth with a deep, drugging kiss that almost wiped her mind clean.

Almost.

“What other card?” she asked.

Her question came out as more of a sigh when his fingers somehow sneaked their way beneath her shirt and began teasing her nipples with the same expert finesse that nearly had her orgasming earlier.

His teeth grazed her collarbone when his mouth began traveling south. “The one containing my AI I’ve been working on for over ten years. It was on a micro card in my cabin. I still can’t figure out how he knew it was there. Only four people knew it existed until the night I used it at the White House.”

She bit back a moan when his teeth grazed her nipple through her clothing. “That might have been my fault.”

He stopped what he was doing and slowly lifted his gaze to meet hers. His expression demanded the truth.

“How so?”

“It was an accident really.” She exhaled wearily.

“Someone was supposed to hand off the card to Alexi just as we arrived at the White House dinner. I was there to intercept it. Except the lights went out.”

“Tsk, tsk, Brit. Only a poor spy blames the elements,” he teased.

She tugged at his hair. He flicked a nipple with his thumb in retaliation. Her back arched at the pain and pleasure of it.

“You thought I had it.”

His quietly uttered words felt chilly against her flushed skin. She could only imagine the assumptions he was jumping to.

“You were right beside us when the power went out.”

“So, yesterday when you came to the marina, it wasn’t to talk things out. You were looking for the micro card.”

Her belly quivered for a different reason now. Ben didn’t bother hiding the disappointment from his words.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I didn’t realize Alexi would put things together so quickly. I thought I could grab it and disappear.”

“Disappear?” He dipped his chin and rested his head on her belly.

They were quiet for several long heartbeats before she gently threaded her fingers through his hair and began massaging his scalp.

“I had to protect you. I didn’t want to hurt you any more than I already have,” she whispered. “I’m sorry he stole your AI.”

He jerked his head up. His face contorted with anger.

“Sorry he stole my AI?! He tried to kill you, Quinn. Throw you away like you were garbage.” He pushed up with his good arm and loomed over her. “Do you have any idea what it was like to almost lose you a second time? Can you even conceive what it did to me?”

“Ben—”

“No!” he said. “Don’t say another word. It doesn’t matter how I felt. Because all the time, you were going to grab the damn card and vanish. Again.”

With a grunt, he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

“That’s not fair.” She pushed the words out past the lump in her throat shame had lodged there. “I had no control the first time. My mother had to move quickly to avoid being discovered with the evidence against Alexi’s father. She wasn’t expecting to get her hands on it for another week. I would have stayed if I could have. I wanted nothing more than to go to prom with you. And if you don’t believe that, then you don’t really know me as well as I thought you did.”

She studied his profile as he seemed to ponder her words. One of the things she loved most about him was his fairness and his ability to see all sides of an equation.

“That doesn’t explain this time.” His jaw was clenched so tightly, she was surprised he could get the words out.

“I didn’t want you to find out who I am,” she admitted quietly. “What I’ve become.”

---