Page 59 of Covert Vengeance

“Hey.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Come here.”

Before she could protest he gently eased out of her warmth, quickly dealt with the condom and shushed her as he pulled her jeans back up. After tugging his own over his hips, he eased to the floor and pulled her into his lap as he leaned back against the side of the car and gathered her close to his chest, her head tucked beneath his chin.

He kept one arm locked tight around her and stroked his free hand over her hair, the soft, smooth skin of her bare back. The slightly puckered scar at the left side of her waist, maybe from a bullet graze. Then her Valkyrie mark on her hip below it.

A circular brand containing the image of a crow with its wings spread, a sword in its talons, and below it a scroll containing the wordValkyrja. Each operative received it when they graduated from the program. Harsh, but badass, and on her, insanely sexy.

After a moment Amber relaxed and leaned into him with a contented sigh that filled him with satisfaction. “Warm enough?” he murmured, more fulfilled than he could ever remember being.

“Mmhmm.” She ran her fingertips over his shoulder and the pad of his pec. There was something uncharacteristically tentative about it that tugged at his heart. As though she couldn’t stop touching him, but had never experienced this kind of intimacy before and she wasn’t sure what to do with it.

Enjoying the closeness, and most of all, her willingness to stay here with him like this, he kept stroking her back and trailed kisses over her hair, the side of her face. With every passing second he could feel the connection between them strengthening.

“God, Jesse, what are you doing to me?” she groaned, and buried her face in his throat.

He cradled the back of her head with one hand and smiled into her hair, pleased by the adorable bewilderment in her tone. “Holding you. Enjoying you. Is that so bad?”

“Yes.”

He chuckled softly. “Well,Ilike it.”

Almost in defeat she sighed and wound her arms around his back, laying her cheek in the hollow of his shoulder. “Well, I shouldn’t.”

But she did. It made him damn happy. And hopeful that there was a chance she might let him all the way in eventually. “Do you think the others are still waiting on us?”

A silent laugh shook her. “Doubtful.”

“Good, because I’m not ready to share you with anyone else yet, not even your sister.”

She peered up at him through those pretty green eyes. “I’ll let that slide this time, because I like you, and because you just rocked my world.”

“You rocked mine too, if that helps.”

“A little.”

He tucked her head back down to kiss the top of it, his heart squeezing at the way she snuggled into him.Ah, damn. I can’t let you go.He might only have known her for a little while, but he knew this kind of softness from her was rare, and he reveled in being the one to receive it.

Sensing she was on the verge of retreating, he changed the subject. “So you got the green light to deal with Stanislav?”

“Yes. You planning on sticking around for it?”

He snorted. There was no damn way he was leaving her. “I’ll be there to watch your six.”

Amber lifted her head to search his face, seeming surprised by the ferocity of his answer. “You don’t have to stay.”

She still didn’t trust his commitment. Considering her background, he could forgive her that. “I’m staying. Because I want to.”

A little smile tugged at her mouth. “Okay, then. I’ll let you.”

He chuckled and kissed the end of her nose, enjoying the small victory. That’s how wars were won—one battle at a time—and it’s how he planned to win her heart. “Thank you.”

“You said before that you wanted to see where things went with us. What did you mean?”

Was she considering it? “Just that. I want to spend time together where we’re not chasing someone or dodging bullets. I want to have fun together. Relax together. Get to know each other better. Two weeks at least.”

She arched an eyebrow, a saucy look on her face. “What are we going to do together for two weeks?”

He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Whatever we want.”

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