Page 55 of Synnr's Ride

"Ask Lena. I've been moving crates." There was still plenty to do, but Hanna couldn't figure out what was most important. "Does it feel..."

"Unfinished?" he prompted when she trailed off.

"Something like that." All of her emotions were jumbled up. She wanted to launch herself at Jori and cling to him until everything made sense, so, only a decade or thereabouts.

She hadn't finished many missions for the Apsyns before everything went tobrazand she'd never been stuck on a cleanup crew like this. But she didn't know how to walk away from this one, especially with everything half done.

She yawned. Then she groaned.

Jori stepped in close and wrapped an arm around her. Hanna leaned into him, soaking up his warmth and falling into the feeling of him. "We've been up since early and it's getting late. You missed lunch. Want to get out of here?"

Hanna wasn't hungry. Spending the day deep in the aftermath of Morn Kark's misdeeds had a way of banishing hunger. But she didn't want to walk away. When she walked away, this whole thing would be over.

And what about her and Jori?

She found his hand and took it in her own, giving it a squeeze. "If that's what you want."

The bikes had been impounded and they'd come in a large van with the rest of Solan's squad. But her own bike was still hidden at the bus stop down the street, and they found it waiting for them.

It might have been her bike, but Jori took the controls. She held on tight as he powered it up and pulled them away from the warehouse and all the responsibilities that would be waiting for them tomorrow.

She didn't tell him where to take her, and she wasn't surprised when she realized where they were going.

Their place.

It probably wasn't safe. Then again, Kark couldn't know they were the ones to betray him. She hadn't seen any cameras or other surveillance in the warehouse. Rexx and Jursor were dead, they couldn't say who killed them.

And Kark was on the run. Chasing them down would put his own freedom at stake.

When Jori pulled into the driveway, he gave Hanna a questioning look. He knew the risks just as well as she did.

This was their place. It wasn't real. They'd need to move out in a day or so anyway. But it was where they were together. She didn't know how they could exist as a pair outside in the real world.

Jori was still a soldier. She was still a disgraced ex-spy. They hadn't said a word to each other about their Match. And she wasn't going to break that silence tonight.

But she needed another stolen moment with him.

Hanna nodded.

Jori stored the bike in the shed and they both headed inside, sparks at the ready in case the place was compromised and they'd need to fight.

It was as silent as ever. Clean, too. They'd both been diligent about hiding any incriminating evidence or papers whenever they weren't using them.

Hanna took Jori's hand and led him up the stairs to their bedroom for one last time.

* * *

Jori thought he should say something. The heavy weight of the future, of the road they'd need to choose, sat on his shoulders.

Then Hanna pulled her top off and he forgot every language he'd ever tried to learn.

His mouth went dry. His blood heated. And his cock perked up, ready to take control.

She smiled at him, something sweet and sultry that made him want to get on his knees and beg. Instead he surged forward and captured her lips with his own.

Hanna took his kiss and moaned for more, her heat and passion wrapping around him like a blanket. There was a gentleness here, a vulnerability she'd never let him see before, and Jori cherished it.

His fingers brushed over the exposed skin of her neck, and she shivered under his touch, tilting her chin up and silently begging for more. The kiss shifted, deepened, and his arms snaked around her waist to pull her even closer. He savored the taste of her, savored the hot press of her body in his embrace.

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