Page 33 of Synnr's Ride

"What? No!" The denial was immediate and absolute.

"I need in his office and in his safe," Hanna continued, as if Jori hadn't objected. "The map is suggestive, but hardly damning. This could have been a legitimate misprint."

"That's doubtful," he muttered.

"Of course it's doubtful." Energy thrummed in Hanna and she wanted to move, but Jori was right there. If she got close, she might do something crazy, like touch him. "We're here for a reason. We need to do the job."

"We got caught yesterday." His breath hitched and his eyes darkened.

Hanna had to look away. She could remember the taste of him, the feel of him inside of her. It was an echo in her skin. But she couldn't react. Jori already didn't trust her. If he accused her of using sex to manipulate him, she didn't want to contemplate what she would do. Or how it would shatter her heart.

"We played it off," Jori continued, his voice rough. "But getting caught two days in a row will arouse suspicion we can't brush off."

"Yeah, you might have to fuck me up against the bar to prove we're just sneaking away for quickies." She regretted the words as soon as she said them. She'd been a spy for months and she'd been okay at it. She had the kind of training most people would dream of.

And here she was, running her mouth like a person who said the first thing that came to mind every time.

Jori turned away from the projection and finally looked at her. "We should talk about that."

"I think we covered things last night." Her spine was as stiff as stone, and Hanna had to fight the compulsion to summon her wings and wrap them tight around herself.

"We really didn't." His voice had gone soft, almost gentle.

Torturous.

"We were riding an emotional high," Hanna forced out. "We got a bit carried away. We're both adults. It happened.Braz, I've heard that you've gotten carried away with plenty of people. No reason to make a big deal about it." She couldn't think about the way he'd made her gasp his name, the way it had felt like he reached deep inside of her and grabbed hold of her heart.

It was just sex. It had to be.

"We can keep things professional from now on." If Hanna said it out loud, maybe it would somehow become true.

"And if Kark summons us to one of his parties? What do you propose then?" he asked, arms crossed and foot tapping.

An avalanche of want threatened to consume Hanna. The perfect excuse for more. She was tempted to voice a wicked proposal, to claim that she and Jori had to keep sleeping together to sell the job.

As if one night together hadn't already torn her to shreds.

"We'll do our job," Hanna said. "If I have to suck your cock again to keep either of us from getting blasted into oblivion, I'll do it. But even if we're at one of Kark's parties, I'm sure we can play along to a certain point. We don't have to cross any lines."

"Care to define those lines?" His eyebrows were raised in challenge.

"I need to get into Kark's office." What she really needed was to get this conversation back on track. "Maybe you're right and today is a bad idea, but it has to happen soon. Our handler is going to want information."

"Or I can take a run at the office," Jori offered.

Hanna's immediate instinct was to quash the proposal. She forced that thought aside and nodded. "If you get the opportunity. The chance could come to either of us. Can you crack the safe?"

He opened his mouth and then closed it with a shake of his head. "Not an area of my expertise."

"I only have one set of safe cracking tools with me, and I didn’t think to bring them to work. I can stash them there. The liquor storage room isn't locked. I'll hide the tools on the shelf just inside the door. There's a small first aid kit, it’ll be right next to that." She hated to let the tool out of her possession, but if either of them got the chance, they had to take it.

"And if someone finds it?" he asked.

"It looks like a communicator. I'll have to add you to the ID scanner, otherwise the thing won't work. You just need to press it beside the lock and engage the cracking code. It takes anywhere from a few seconds to two minutes."

"Is this normal spy gear?"

"What? Do you think I was some kind of jewel thief before?" She laughed, but Jori had a contemplative look on his face. "Seriously? I would be living in a mansion with a dozen servants if I had jewel thief money. Not... this."

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