Page 58 of Toxic Vengeance

His eyes flipped open, met hers for a single heart-stopping moment. They slid closed again, his ragged groan filling the silence as he drove deep and shuddered over and over, helpless in her embrace as she’d been mere moments before.

Breathing hard, he came down on his elbows, his head dropping to her shoulder. Eden gathered him to her and closed her eyes, her body warm and melted like chocolate left in the sun. She stroked his broad back as the silence settled around them, her mind allowing her a few seconds more peace before reality intruded into the perfection of the moment.

The sting of tears made her keep her eyes shut. This couldn’t last, because she didn’t believe he could ever be hers. And if they never got to the point where they could be together and make it work, at least she would remember this moment for the rest of her life.

His weight lifted, and she sensed him looking down at her. “Hey,” he murmured, cradling her cheek in his hand.

Eden turned her face away, afraid the tears would leak out. The soft, tender kisses he scattered across her face made it even worse.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, forced the welling emotions back through sheer force of will and curled into him when he withdrew gently and rolled them onto their sides. If he tried to talk about them or their future, she couldn’t take it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, smoothing his hand up and down her bare back.

“Nothing.” Just that he was tearing her heart apart, making her wish for a future that might not be possible. She couldn’t let herself dwell on fanciful dreams while they were dealing with everything else.

Eden cuddled closer, shutting off her brain, refusing to think about anything but right now. It was all she could handle for the moment.

Zack gave a low, contented groan, reached back to switch off the bedside lamp, then gathered her tight to him. “You feel so damn amazing.”

She kissed his chest in response, not trusting herself to speak, unwilling to spoil this with words better left unsaid. Instead she drank it all in: his protective embrace, his delicious scent, the warmth and feel of his naked skin against hers.

In the darkness she lay listening to his breathing change, first evening out, then deepening. He twitched twice as he drifted off, his arms loosening around her.

Only when she was sure he was fast asleep did she carefully extricate herself from his arms and leave the room.

Chapter Sixteen

Zack stirred, his brain waking up before his body did. He rolled over and reached for Eden as his eyes opened in the dimness, but his hand met empty covers.

He jerked up onto his elbow and looked around, dread and disappointment flooding him. The bedroom door was closed and faint gray light coming through the edges of the blind told him it was still early, before seven at least. She’d been cuddled up against him when he’d fallen asleep last night. He hadn’t even noticed when she’d left the bed.

He sat up and reached for his jeans, willing his heart to slow down, memories of the last time she’d ghosted on him swirling through his head. What if she left again?

No. If she’d left him, she still wouldn’t have gone far. There was no way she would walk away from this mission and the others, even if she regretted last night. He sure as hell didn’t, other than not noticing when she’d snuck out on him. It was rare for him to sleep so hard. He must have been more exhausted than he’d realized.

All caught up in his head, he hurried into the hallway, checking the other rooms. He stopped short in the kitchen doorway, relief sluicing through him. Eden stood at the stove with her back to him, cracking eggs into a pan.

She was still here. He could breathe again. God, he wanted to go up and wrap his arms around her from behind, nuzzle the side of her neck, but now he wasn’t sure if it would be welcome or not.

“Morning,” he said.

She looked back at him, her expression guarded, and gave a little smile. “Morning.” She went back to cooking the eggs. “I just put the coffee on before I started on the eggs. I was going to bring you a plate.”

He melted a little. “As in breakfast in bed?”

“Yes.” Her cheeks flushed a bit as she stirred the eggs. Scrambled. Because she remembered that’s how he liked them? “We didn’t have any bread, though.” She turned off the burner and slid the pan aside.

“Coffee and scrambled eggs is fantastic.” The sweet gesture surprised him. They’d never stayed anywhere but hotels together, so he’d never seen her cook before. “Do you like to cook?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes. But not every day.”

“Me neither.” Encouraged that she wasn’t trying to avoid him, Zack approached her, watching for any telltale stiffening of her spine. She tensed slightly, stopped him by turning around to face him, spatula still in hand.

Her gaze traveled over him, taking in his bare chest, then back up. Just having her eyes on him had blood shunting south.

She studied his face a moment. “You thought I left.” A statement, not an accusation. There was a touch of disappointment in her eyes, though.

Yeah, he had. And now he felt bad. “Well, it’s not the first time you’ve snuck out on me,” he teased, adding a grin to lighten the mood. “But hey, at least you didn’t drug me this time.”

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