Page 54 of The Knight

But here with Abe, she was hidden away. Protected.

Abe gave a hushed groan as his fingers continued their exploration, sliding poetry against her heated skin. Each stroke, each caress, drove her higher, toward a precipice.

Nothing had ever felt so exquisite.

In the past, she’d always felt like a detached observer, her mind cataloging sensations rather than experiencing them. But this was mind-blowing. She never wanted him to stop. Pleasure licked through her body like wildfire, threatening to consume her.

Thick fingers pressed inside her, filling her.

God.

Her chest heaved with panting breaths and soft, pleading sounds she’d never made before, barely audible over the engines.

He pushed deeper, his fingers curling inside her, stretching her in a way she’d never imagined possible. She arched into him, reaching to lock her hand around his neck, desperate to hold him close. Beneath her fingertips, the tendons in his neck were rigid with tension.

A calloused finger skimmed her clit, the smooth surface of his nail coasting across the sensitive bud. Pleasure speared through her core, electric and all-consuming. She widened her legs, offering herself up to him. A small, mewling sound of pleasure escaped her lips—desperate, uninhibited. She sounded like a wild animal, and to her surprise, she loved it.

“I knew you were in there somewhere, buried under all the science.” His gruff voice was against her ear. “That I could touch you and make you feel so much. All you needed was some time.”

She couldn’t help herself. She lifted her hips, bucking to meet the play of his fingers. White-hot fire coiled low in her belly, tightening with each expert stroke. This wasn’t just want anymore—it was need, breathing life back into parts of herself she’d long believed dead.

She dug her nails into his neck, his name on her lips. “Abe.”

“Feel me Freya.” His voice was coarse with desire. “Feel how much I want you, how beautiful you are.”

The coiled heat within her unleashed, sending her careening down a hill of sensation with no hope of stopping. White-hot fire exploded outward, expanding in relentless waves of pleasure that consumed her. Her body trembled as Abe caught her chin, claiming her mouth in a searing kiss that swallowed her cries of pleasure.

Sensation ebbed, and she drifted back down to earth. Abe’s arms cradled her. He tucked his face in the crook of her neck, his fingers still buried deep inside her. The two of them momentarily joined as one.

“Abe.” His name was a soft murmur on her lips.

“Hmm.” He shifted, his fingers leaving her body and she was bereft, but then his arms wrapped around her once more, pulling her close. He breathed her in, as if trying to memorize her scent. “Mine,” he whispered, his words a conviction branded against her skin.

She knew then. Even if their paths diverged, if they proved too different for a lasting connection, it didn’t matter.

This moment had irrevocably changed her.

A part of her would always belong to Abe.

29

The marble floorsof the Georgian house echoed under Leonid Bychkov’s rapid stride as his brother Zak matched his pace.

As owner of Guardsmen Security, he was used to setting a demanding tempo. He cast an appreciative eye over the ornate cornices and elaborate plasterwork. MI6 had commandeered the mansion, a masterpiece of Georgian architecture with its symmetrical façade and large sash windows. Its grand rooms, once host to lavish soirées and political intrigues of a bygone era, now buzzed with a very different activity.

As they passed open doorways, Leo caught snatches of the soft click of keyboards and the murmur of urgent conversations. Stern-faced nobility gazed down from gilt-framed portraits, their expressions disapproving at the modern intrusion.

“Quite the setup they’ve got,” Zak observed, just loud enough for Leo to hear.

Leo nodded, but his mind was elsewhere.

Kat’s here.Somewhere.

“You good?” Zak’s eyes narrowed, sensing a shift.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Leo fired him a sharp glance.

“Because… Kat.” Zak tugged at the tie he’d bothered to wear for the occasion.

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