Page 33 of Protecting Her

"How long was I out?"

"Three hours, seventeen minutes." Carmen set aside her papers, and even in the blue-tinted darkness, Jude caught the hint of affection in her smile. "And yes, I counted."

The admission made something warm bloom in Jude's chest. She sat up, running a hand through her short hair, hyperaware of Carmen watching the movement. "Anything from the teams?"

"All clear. Sarah has the perimeter, Kate's monitoring communications, and Marcus is coordinating with our local contacts." Carmen's voice carried that particular tone that meant she was leading up to something. "The State Department sent updated intelligence while you slept."

Jude was fully awake now. "Show me."

Carmen handed her a tablet displaying surveillance photos. The corporate contractors they'd escaped earlier had spread out through the city in a precise search pattern. Their movements suggested military training, too coordinated to be random patrols.

"They're being methodical," Jude noted, studying their coverage zones. "Working outward from the last confirmed sighting."

"Like you would, if you were hunting someone."

The observation hit closer to home than Carmen probably intended. Jude had run similar operations during her SEALs days, tracking high-value targets through urban environments. She recognized the search protocols because she had helped write some of them.

A soft sound drew her attention to the monitors. Carmen had moved closer while she studied the intelligence, near enough now that Jude caught the subtle notes of her perfume beneath the room's filtered air.

"You're worried," Carmen said quietly.

"They know our procedures." Jude switched between surveillance feeds, tracking patrol patterns. "They're using our own protocols against us."

"Which means they have someone with intimate knowledge of your operations." Carmen's analytical mind never stopped working, even at this hour. "Someone who knows how you think."

The implications hung heavy in the darkness. Jude started to stand, needing to check the perimeter herself, but Carmen's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Don't." The single word carried layers of meaning. "You've barely rested."

"I need to verify?—"

"What your extremely competent team is already monitoring?" Carmen's fingers traced patterns on Jude's arm that made it hard to focus. "For once in your life, let someone else carry the weight."

The gentle command in her voice struck deeper Jude had expected. Jude found herself studying Carmen in the monitors' blue light, noting how silver threaded through her dark hair, how her reading glasses had left small indents on the bridge of her nose, how her eyes held equal parts strength and tenderness.

"If they find us?—"

"They'll face a fortress designed by arms dealers, defended by one of the best tactical teams in the world." Carmen moved closer, until Jude could see flecks of gold in her dark eyes. "And protected by a woman who's already saved my life more times than I can count."

The space between them seemed to shrink with each breath. Jude's combat-heightened senses cataloged unnecessary details: the soft silk of Carmen's blouse over her beautiful breasts, thewarmth radiating from her body, how her pulse visibly raced at the base of her throat.

"I can't lose you." The words slipped out before Jude could catch them.

Carmen's hand came up to trace the cut on her cheek. "Then trust that I'm not going anywhere."

Carmen leaned in and her lips crashed against Jude’s. Jude felt the need in her that came harder and harder as her mouth opened to Jude’s tongue and she moaned deeply. It was a moan that begged for more. Carmen tasted of coffee and conviction and everything Jude had been fighting since that first night on the hotel terrace. Her hands found Carmen's hips as if drawn there by magnetic force, pulling her closer until there was no space left between them.

When they finally broke apart, Carmen's smile held equal parts heat and certainty. "Come to bed with me.” Her voice dropped lower, intimate in the darkness. "Let me remind you what we're really fighting for."

The words struck home with unerring accuracy. Jude felt her remaining resistance crumble under the weight of exhaustion and need and everything they'd become to each other.

"Sarah," she said into her radio, "maintain perimeter watch. I'm going off comms for a few hours."

"Copy that, boss." Sarah's voice carried knowing approval. "We've got this covered."

Carmen's smile was worth every protocol they were breaking. She drew Jude up from the couch by their joined hands, leading her from the security room's blue shadows toward something warmer and more vital than any tactical objective.

They had survived pursuit and betrayal, found sanctuary in a fortress meant for arms dealers, and established defenses against inevitable attack. But as Carmen guided her down thehall, Jude accepted that some surrenders were more powerful than any victory could be.

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