Page 32 of Shadow's Edge

“Jagger!” she screamed, her nails digging into my shoulders.

Her orgasm hit me like afucking freight train, and Ilost it. With one last, deep thrust, I came so fucking hard I saw white, every nerve in my body igniting. I barely registered the spots dancing in front of my vision, barely processed the way my bodyshookwith the force of it.

All I knew washer. The feel of her wrapped around me. The way she moaned my name. The way sheowned mein a way no one ever had.

Kyle shuddered against me, her body melting into mine. Using the last bit of strength I had, I carried us both to the bed, keeping her wrapped around me. I laid us down, her on top of me, still connected, still breathing as one. Her body was boneless, her head resting against my chest.

“I’m not ready to lose you,” she murmured, sounding half-asleep.

I pressed a kiss to her hair. “I’m not ready to leave you.”

She rubbed her nose against my chest, getting comfortable. Seconds later, she was out, like someone had flicked a switch. Inthe few nights that we’d spent together, she’d never fallen asleep this easily.

But tonight wasdifferent. We had turned a corner. But there was stillonething standing between us, and I knew that I couldn’t keep it from her much longer.

Tomorrow was going to be abigday. Once Bo sent over the final piece of intel we needed, we’d be setting the plan into motion.

Piper would be coming home. And after that, Preacher would finally tell Kyle the truth. As much as I wanted that to happen for her, that part had me on edge. I didn’t know how she’d react—if she’dexplodeor shut down completely. But one thing was for damn sure: it waslong overdue. She had spenttoo many yearsdrowning in a lie, chasing ghosts, hating a man who had never given her the full story.

But once it was out, once she knew everything, that was when I’dreallyget to focus on the next step.

The thing was, I hadneverbeen in a real relationship before. I had no clue what “the next step” evenwas, but I’d figure it out because Iwantedall of the steps with Kyle. Every fucking one of them.

I wanted to learn what made her laughwhen she wasn’t guarded. I wanted to know what her favorite song was and if she’d let me catch her singing off-key in the car. I wanted to see the way her face lit up when she let herself behappy—not just content, not just in control, butcarefree. I wanted to learn every curve of her body, not just in moments of heat but in the softness of waking up beside her. I wanted to learn how tobewith her in ways that weren’t just sex, war, and chaos.

Because Kyle wasn’t just another woman in my life, she was the first one who hadever mattered. And that changed everything.

Chapter 8

Kyle

Iscanned the room, taking in the expressions of my team as the words left my mouth.

“Jared is coming.”

A ripple of reactions moved through the Ghosts, some subtle, some not. A muscle ticked in Noah’s jaw, Mace let out a slow exhale, his eyes narrowing slightly. Duke’s fingers tapped a steady rhythm against the table, his version of restless energy. No one spoke right away, though, because weallknew.

Jared had been my number three back on our military contracts. At one time, I’d trusted him with my life, same as I did with the men in this room. He was sharp, reliable, one of the best, but then something changed. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was because there were no major incidents, and no obvious betrayals. I’d just a feeling, a slow-growing unease when it came to him. A gut instinct that told me he wasn’t the same man I used to trust. And my gut had neveroncesteered me wrong.

Judging by the way the rest of my team reacted, they felt it too.

There were three reasons I’d invited him here today. First, I needed to see if that uneasy feeling remained when we were back on home ground, working together. Would thatitchstill be there, the one that told me something was off? Second, he was bringing me my newTAC-50 rifle—a custom setup from a friend in the Canadian Special Forces. That rifle was going to be crucial when we went in for Piper.

And third, I had spoken to Cookie earlier that morning. Cookie was one of Wolf’s men—his wife had been a victim of human trafficking, and because of that, he never stopped tracking the industry, never stopped looking for information. He had a network unlike anyone else, and when I’d mentioned my concerns about Jared, he’d only given me one piece of advice—keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer.

I knew—deep down—Jared was up to something.

Maybe he was skimming off the top of military contracts. Maybe he was cutting corners, putting us in danger while keeping himself out of harm’s way. Maybe he was feeding intel to someone heshouldn’tbe. There were amillionpossibilities, and I needed to figure it out, because I knew I’d be getting called back to the pits soon.

And thelastthing I needed was to be watching my own back for the wrong reasons.

JAGGER

I sat, my muscles coiled tight, watching Preacher struggle to process what I had just told him. He wasn’t a man who lost control easily, but right now, his whole world wasshattering.

“She…” His voice cracked, and he swallowed hard. “My baby…”

The next second, hesnapped. With a roar, he flipped his desk. Thesolidwood behemoth that normally took two guys to move went crashing over with an ear-splittingboom, papers were flying through the air, and a bottle of whiskey shattered on the floor.

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