Page 34 of Dangerous Devotion

Again, he shrugged. “Used to. Now I like to think of my family occasionally, with fondness.”

She shook her head. Her dark, glossy hair slid over her shoulder, making his fingers twitch to touch the strands again.

“I don’t know how you do it. Break ties. Go without any special people in your life.”

He studied May’s face. He liked how her features seemed to battle to be seen despite her natural reserve about displaying strong emotions.

But after that kiss she’d let down her guard, and he’d watched turmoil flicker in her onyx eyes like flames touching dry kindling.

The curve of her cheek and her lips—still swollen from their heated kisses—tempted him to dive back in. In that moment as he searched her face for some trace of how she felt after what they briefly shared, he realized that somewhere between the small dangers they’d faced and their stolen moment, they were more than partners.

In a day, they’d achieved a level of trust it often took the men on Blackout Charlie years to build.

* * * * *

May tapped her fingertips on her thighs. In the driver’s seat next to her, AJ drummed the steering wheel.

In front of them stood the entrance of Fort Leonard Wood. They’d followed the military truck right up to the gate and watched the kids—and the bomb—disappear. AJ continued down the road for half a mile or so before he pulled off.

“What are we doing?” She shattered the quiet.

He swung his head to pierce her in his gaze. He looked tired, and no wonder. Neither of them had caught more than a cat nap while the other drove the long distance between the port in Virginia and the fort in Missouri.

“This,” he responded with emphasis, “is what the military calls getting our shit together.”

For some reason that made her giggle, but when she released it, the sound carried a note of hysteria. “Is that an official term?”

Now she was the one making wisecracks to lessen the tension thrumming in the air. AJ shot her a look of veiled amusement, but it was barely visible behind his solemn and stern countenance.

From here the fort sprawled in a series of buildings, a mixture of small and humble to large and imposing. Inside all of those walls, thousands of personnel lived and worked. Funny to think that rather than a home, the place was more of a fortress.

Yet a bomb had gotten through its gates.

“How do we get inside?”

“That’s what I’m trying to work out. We both have the clearances, but we need a good reason that will allow us the freedom to search for the bomb.” He turned his attention back to the road they were parked along, allowing her to study the sharp lines of his profile.

She could still feel how he felt when he kissed her. Rough cheeks and soft lips. When he delved his tongue inside her mouth, it was scorching hot.

She curled her fingers into her thighs to keep from reaching out and stroking her knuckles over his beard stubble. If she did, they would end up making out in front of the very base they were supposed to be finding a way into.

When he looked at her again, she saw that he wasn’t really seeing her. Behind those blue eyes was a computer that was analyzing, figuring out the next move.

Finally, they cleared, and AJ came back to the here and now. Back to her.

“This is as far as we go without some help. I’m going to call Con.”

She nodded. “I think it’s the only answer.”

He put the vehicle in gear and signaled to enter the roadway once more. Evening was falling fast, turning everything to muted grays. The sky was softening around the edges, darker in the eastern half than the western. Unfamiliar buildings and trees melted into one big dark shape, indiscernible until the headlights panned over them.

AJ’s call to Con went to voicemail.

“What now?” May asked.

“We’ll go to a hotel.”

“We still don’t have any clothes or even a toothbrush.”

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