Page 16 of Enticing Kane

He hesitated, then reached out, gently touching her arm. “You were incredible today, Maggie. You kept your head when most people would have panicked.”

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and vulnerable in a way he hadn’t seen before. “I was scared out of my mind, Kane. But I couldn’t let that stop me. We had to get out of there.”

Kane nodded, his thumb unconsciously brushing against her skin in a soothing gesture. “And you did it. We made it out because of you.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke, the silence between them charged with unspoken emotions. Kane could feel the tension easing, the walls they had both built beginning to crumble in the face of what they had just been through. There was a rawness, an honesty in Maggie’s eyes that drew him in, making him want to close the distance between them.

“Maggie...” he began, his voice thick with something he couldn’t quite name.

But she didn’t let him finish. Instead, she stepped closer, her hand coming to rest on his chest, just over his heart. The touch was gentle, tentative, but it sent a jolt of electricity through him. He could feel her warmth, her pulse quickening under his hand.

“I’m glad you were with me today,” Maggie whispered, her voice barely audible. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Kane’s heart ached at her words; at the vulnerability she was showing him. He wanted to tell her that he felt the same, that being with her had made him feel alive in a way he hadn’t in years. But the words stuck in his throat, caught between the desire to protect her and the fear of getting too close.

Instead, he did the only thing he could think of. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead, a tender gesture that spoke of the feelings he couldn’t put into words. Maggie closed her eyes, leaning into him, her body relaxing against his.

For a long moment, they stood there, wrapped in each other’s presence, the world outside fading into the background. Kane could feel the steady beat of her heart, the rise and fall of her breath, and it grounded him in a way nothing else could.

He pulled back slightly, just enough to look into her eyes. The fear, the tension, the walls—they were all gone now, replaced by something softer, something more real. Kane knew, in that moment, that whatever was happening between them, it was more than just a passing connection.

It was something worth holding onto.

Chapter Eight

Maggie

Maggie was in her tent, getting ready for bed when Kane tapped the canvas before stepping inside. “You okay? You’ve been extremely quiet since we got back.”

She nodded. “I’m fine; it was just a bit intense. I’m sure that sounds silly to you after all you must have gone through as a Marine.”

Kane shrugged. “I don’t know that it ever changes, and as a sniper, I wasn’t in the middle of a firefight.”

“Do you ever… I mean does it ever affect you in ways that seem weird?”

He grinned. “Do you mean do those who experience something like what we went through today ever find themselves really horny?” She could feel the heat and color suffusing her face. He closed the distance between them and ran his finger down her cheek, “The answer is yes. It’s called battle lust. But for the most part, as a sniper, you’re set apart from a lot of the violence. Mostly I remember how alone I felt with only the surrounding environment as my companion.”

“That sounds lonely.”

He shrugged. “It was, but I think it’s easier than always being in the thick of things.”

“Were you… I mean did you feel it today?”

Kane barked a laugh, shaking his head. “Let me put it to you this way, if I could have found a secluded spot on the way back to the dig, I’d have had you naked with your legs wrapped around me while I fucked you so hard, I’d have had to carry you to your tent as you wouldn’t have been able to walk.”

Maggie laughed nervously, aroused by the imagery his words had conjured. “I think people might have noticed.”

“Not necessarily,” he said. “I probably wouldn’t have let you up until long after it was dark.”

“Kane, do you ever think about me that way?”

“Only every single night since I got here.”

“Why?”

“You have these habits that make it hard to ignore you,” he said, sliding his hand under her shirt and running his fingers back and forth over her belly.

“I don’t.”

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