Page 36 of Strike Fast

“No, a rental.” She fished the keys from her pocket and hit the keyfob to unlock it, blinking the lights on the SUV’s mirrors and taillights. “Want me to drop you back at base, or where you’re staying?” It was after two in the morning and he looked exhausted.

Reid turned her to face him and backed her gently up against the driver’s side door, taking her face in his hands. He held her gaze for a moment, but before she could ask him what had happened and whether he was okay, his mouth was on hers. Slow. Firm. Shockingly tender. Her insides melted and she slid her hands up his chest to his shoulders, savoring the hard planes of muscle before easing upward to slide into his short hair.

All too soon he stopped and lifted his head, leaving her heart reeling and her body heavy with arousal.

Tess licked her lips, tasting him. “So what happened out there?”

He stroked the fingers of one hand through her hair, seemed to hesitate before answering. “Ruiz wasn’t there. HRT took out three of his guys and arrested another. They found two female hostages. Then Khan and I found another one on our way back to our vehicle.”

The way he said the last part had her insides tensing.

“They’d…” He stopped, looked away.

“You can tell me.”

He exhaled a breath, focused on his fingers as he drew them through her hair. “Do you remember the story about a female reporter who was kidnapped a while back? Her family was killed during Sunday dinner, and she was taken.”

She remembered. “Victoria something.”

He nodded. “It was her.”

“Oh! Was she alright?”

“No, not even close. They’d chained her to the floor of a shed out back. When we found her in the woods, she was naked, with just this rusted metal collar and chain hanging from her neck. They fucking chained her there so she couldn’t get away, Tess.”

She winced, horrified. “Oh my God.”

He shook his head, almost in disbelief. “They beat the hell out of her, all over. So bad I didn’t recognize her. The damn collar had rubbed the skin off her neck, and her wrists and ankles were raw from where they’d tied her.”

Tess narrowed her eyes and shook her head in silent disgust. Animals.

“I don’t know what else they did to her, but I can imagine.” He drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly. “At least I got the collar off her before the paramedics took over.”

She reached up to curl her fingers around his wrist, stroked her thumb over the inside of it. “You freed her.”

Reid’s gaze slid to hers, full of torment. “She freed herself, somehow.” He traced his fingers along her cheek, her jaw. “Hamilton stayed with her in the ambulance and while the medical team worked on her. The agency and FBI are hoping she’ll be able to give them something that will help them capture Ruiz. She said he was there a week or so ago. Apparently, they were getting ready to ship her to him in New Orleans so he could do what he wanted with her before selling her to a skin trafficker.”

God, it made Tess sick to think of what would have happened to her. “But she’s safe now.”

“Yeah.” His gaze dropped to where his fingers stroked over her chin. “I’ve never seen anything like that before. Not that bad, and definitely not that up close. I kept thinking about you, and Autumn, and what I’d do if any man who…” He stopped, a muscle bunching in his jaw.

Tess turned her face to press a kiss into the center of his palm. “I understand.” That had to have been so hard, to see a woman treated with such sickening cruelty. TheVenenocartel and others like it were a cancer, metastasizing at a faster rate than the DEA or any other government agency could kill the diseased cells. Something more had to be done to end them and their reign of terror.

He dropped another gentle kiss on her mouth and eased back. “It’s late. You must be tired.”

Not as tired as him, she bet. “I’m okay. What time do you have to report back at base?”

“Oh-seven-hundred. Taggart decided to give us a few hours off before the post-action briefing. Hopefully by then we’ll have more intel and maybe a lead on Ruiz.”

She pulled the driver’s side door open. “Come on. I’ll drive you back.”

Reid slid into the front passenger seat and shut the door. Tess started the engine and reached for the gearshift to put it in reverse, but Reid grabbed her hand, making her look over at him questioningly. In the parking lot lights streaming through the windshield, his expression was somber. “I want to go back to your hotel with you.”

The emotion in his eyes wrenched her heart. “Okay.”

Thirteen minutes later they stepped out of the elevator on her floor. Twenty seconds after that, they were at her room. This time her hand was completely steady as she slipped the key card into the slot and unlocked the door. She knew what she wanted, and it was Reid.

She kicked off her shoes and turned to face him as he finished unlacing his last boot. Anticipation buzzed in the pit of her stomach, but she wasn’t afraid that this might be a mistake. She wanted him, and they had something special she intended to explore.

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