Page 20 of Skull

The challenge was to kiss her like he meant it. He had no choice, and that goaded him because he knew that somewhere along the way things could get more complicated if he let his heart get involved. What she said in the bar hadn’t been prompted by her trying to get him into bed, and it was the one thing she could say that would make him want to go.

She blinked a few times. “And then some,” she murmured softly. “My first name is Walker.”

He narrowed his gaze, scrutinizing her. “So, do I have to fuck you for your last name?”

“No. I was totally pressing your buttons on purpose. Trading sex is unsavory, and I’d prefer that you’dwantto engage with me on a naked level.” She smiled softly. “My last name is Adams. Like that grizzly guy.”

Every muscle in his body went taut with that ongoing awareness. She was sublime, with her soft, tousled platinum blonde hair, her fearless blue eyes, and that daunting, delicate, but determined chin. Her petite body was compact, toned, and supple. “You’re far from grizzly,” he murmured, and her eyes lit up.

“Yeah?” That little vulnerability threw him, something she masked way too quickly, making him question whether he’d seen it. Did she doubt her beauty, or how he would perceive her deeper than her skin? Real and candid feelings were more important than vulnerability, and if she wanted, again, to entice him into bed, this worked too damn well. Fuck. He was halfway there, and his dick was happy to push him the rest of the way. But he suspected that, when it came to any mission, that was the grizzly part of her. Nevermind she was an infuriatingly smart-mouthed witch who had the ability to frustrate the hell out of him with her bold and brash ways. Despite all the reasons he was being cautious, she claimed his attention whenever she was anywhere near him.

He snorted, not used to giving anyone quarter, but her response in the bar last night during his low point with his worry for his dad made him want to cut her some slack, and to soothe her instead of calling her out. “You know you’re beautiful, Walker.It was how you got the drop on me in Milan, so your partner could clean my clock.”

She winced and at the same time was moved by the use of her real first name…if it was real. Her eyes widened a fraction, and her breath hitched. He wouldn’t put it past her to scam him again.

“That gave me no pleasure. It never does…unless the person I’m dealing with is all kinds of evil. Then I might get some satisfaction from killing them.” She caressed her hand along his jaw, her touch soft, running her thumb over his bottom lip as her gaze roamed over his face. There was something in her eyes, some vague expression touching on…tenderness. There was much more to this woman than met the eye. His instincts told him she was worth the effort it took to delve deeper, push her for…what? He wasn’t sure. On some innate level, she scared him, threatened his formidable control, but instead of anger, he was just cautious. She blinked a couple of times, and shifted against him, her eyes dropping as if she was reinforcing herself in some way. When she met his eyes again, they were twinkling and carefree. She smiled seamlessly, falling back to her husky, teasing tone. “Show me your boo boos, and I’ll kiss them for you.”

He’d seen enough of deflection, and with that sexy remark, she brushed off the building tension between them. Hell, he used it himself, but there was a sense of disappointment that Hummingbird—Walker was hiding herself from him. There were plenty of reasons people did that, and damn if he didn’t want to know every reasonshedid it. He let her have her secrets because forcing someone to divulge them wasn’t productive or effective. If a person didn’t want to open up, that was their business.

They barely knew each other, and in his book, it was even easier to maintain that illusion physically. Walker was a closed, guarded, isolated woman, and he suspected that hurt her deeply, but that pain didn’t seem enough to overcome what she was more afraid of. He let her keep her armor, so grateful for his relationship with his parents and the brotherhood he enjoyed with his fellow teammates. “SEALs are much too macho for boo boos. We either get injuries or wounds,” he said, his tone low and rough, though he felt like he was missing an opportunity here. Maybe he was acting like a coward too.

He dismissed that thought. She wasn’t the right woman for him in the long run. Why would he invest way too much of himself in a losing battle?

There was an undercurrent of relief in her tone and her eyes that were quickly masked with her Hummingbird seduction. She smiled softly. “Well, I’ll kiss anything you want me to.”

He released a breath. He might be treading water, but he was drowning. She was reckless, frustrating, and trouble just waiting to happen. Yet Skull couldn’t get past the unguarded, unplanned glimpse into a woman he would want to get to know if she would allow herself that luxury. But maybe in her line of work, she kept that hard, impenetrable outer shell to protect herself. He could fully understand that reasoning, but he got the feeling that wasn’t the case, and her camouflage was all about something else entirely. He wanted to dissipate all this sexual tension so Boomer wouldn’t be looking at him like there was glitter all over his body. “So, they give you fake FBI badges, huh?”

She shot him a sly side-eye as she swam beside him. “It’s not fake. It’s just another layer of deception and cover for us shadowy types. We like to be in plain sight sometimes. It makes for a level playing field, and technically, I’m not allowed to operate on US soil.”

“You don’t say? But level playing field. You? Ha,” he snorted.

Skull had to keep his mind on what was at stake. Hazard and Leigh’s lives were on the line and the text from his mom this morning that his dad had to put on a ventilator was a blow he hadn’t seen coming. It churned up all the guilt in his push/pull between his family and duty. Anger surged hot and fast through his veins, and he fought to keep it in check. For a brief, weak moment, he thought about Archer, about how devastating it would be to lose him, and how hard Leigh had fought for her life, battling PTSD and never backing down from a challenge. The thought of his dad so deserted and ill in a hospital bed all tore him up, but he forced himself not to let fear or helplessness in, even for a moment. He had been a rock for his dad, and he would be a rock for his teammate and the woman he loved. They were a package deal.

Through Walker’s sheer guts and brains, she had figured out where the van had been headed. Unfortunately, they were too late to stop the people who had flown Hazard and Leigh out of the country. From the little intel they got from the asshole Walker had wounded, Skull suspected she was right. They hadn’t dismantled the Alzate Cartel. They had just battered and bruised them, and now the cartel was out for blood.

That suited him and the team just fine. The cartel had killed two of their valuable members, and as the cartel had learned with Angel, payback was a bitch.

She chuckled, and the sweet sound of it made him want to find somewhere with a bed. Anywhere that was private and comfortable…fuck it didn’t even have to be comfortable. Most of him wanted that, but there was a part of him that was still reluctant. He wasn’t quite sure why, but he’d hopefully figure it out before he did get naked with her. It might be an inevitability.

Where the hell was his parachute? He was falling fast at thirty thousand, and the landing was going to be hard.

“You can start,”GQ said, offering up the white ball. Walker had to pull her attention away from Skull to look at him. The concession made her realize that GQ thought they were outgunned. She chuckled. “We don’t need to be coddled,” she said in a sugar-sweet tone. “We’re going to kick ass and not even bother taking names.”

“Oooh,” the foursome chorused, as if she’d just issued the ultimate challenge to their fighting spirits.

GQ glowered. “Don’t expect us to go easy on you because you’re a girl.”

She tossed her head back and laughed. “And don’t whine like little boys when you lose. No offense, Eva.”

“None taken. I never whine.”

Preacher looked worried—and he should. His wife was a former Shadowguard.

“Geezus,” Skull said. “Trash-talking is in your blood, lady, but do you have a death wish?”

She laughed. “I’m gonna eat their lunch.”

“Let’s go then,” Skull said, catching her completely off guard with a warped little smile. The bottom dropped out of her stomach. Was that admiration in his eyes? It felt so good. Standing on thin ice, she looked at Eva, who shook her head as if to say,I-told-you-so. She held Eva’s gaze for a moment before refocusing on the game. A shaky feeling slid through her.Dammit. Why did he have to do that to me?

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