Page 49 of Over the Edge

Her brain hit full stop. Sure, she was used to seeing all of the Reapers in various states of undress, but that was work, and she didn’t let herself see the guys inthatway when they were operating.

But here and now, outlined in romantic lamplight, just the two of them in an exotic land, it was impossible not to see Trevor inthatway.

“If you want to properly check me for wounds, let me do this.” He reached for the back neck of his T-shirt and hauled it over his head.

Ohmigosh. She tried to look away. Honestly. She tried. But it was hopeless. No way could she tear her hungry gaze away from all those acres of bronzed skin and muscle as he washed his hands in the basin. The play of long, lean muscles in his forearms was mesmerizing.

He continued to speak, apparently unaware of the effect his stripping had on her. “I recognized both of our attackers from the arms market. It’s a safe bet the merchants fingered me to their associates. The thugs probably would have gotten to keep the rest of my cash, and the arms dealers would get their gear back.”

Must speak. Must not look like a staring fool.

It was a struggle, but she managed to reply, “That would explain why you got such reasonable prices on the weapons.”

“Exactly. As soon as they were willing to sell the weapons to me for about what the U.S. military pays to buy them, I thought they might be planning to steal them back.”

He dried off his arms and knelt at her feet.

She stared as he unlaced her lightweight hiking boots and thick wool socks. “Did you step in any blood?” he asked.

“I don’t think so.”

He carried the boots over to the lamp and inspected them. He set them down and returned to her. “How about the rest of your clothes? Any of your own blood?”

“No, and no. He never saw my knife coming—“ Her voiced cracked.

He moved swiftly to her, gathering her in his arms. “Don’t overthink it,” he muttered. “You did as you were trained to do—jumped in and saved my neck. For which I am exceedingly grateful.”

“I was happy to help you. Well, not happy. But I’m glad I knew what to do.”

He held her in the deep silence of the night for a long moment. “I’m sorry, Anna.”

“For what?”

“For that being your first kill. You’re supposed to start off with something distant and antiseptic, like a rifle shot. Something that isn’t up close and personal. Not to mention, your first few kills would normally be buddy kills.”

In a buddy kill, both of them would shoot at the exact same instant at the same hostile target. She wouldn’t know if it was her shot or his that killed the target.

“It’s not like I had any choice. They would have killed you if I hadn’t jumped in.”

“Agreed,” he breathed against her ear. His lips slid along her jaw lightly.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” she mumbled as his mouth neared hers.

“Me, too,” he murmured. And then his lips touched hers, and the whole world fell away, leaving the two of them floating alone on a warm, soft cloud of safety.

Trevor was careful, kissing her as if she was a fragile creature that might shatter any minute. A shiver of delight passed through her. She kissed him back, loving the warm resilience of his mouth against hers. He took his time, gradually kissing her more firmly, as if he wanted to experience all the ways it was possible to kiss her.

His mouth drifted across hers as he murmured, “You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve imagined doing this.”

She smiled against the warm welcome of his lips. “I might, since I’ve spent a lot of time imagining it, too.”

He lifted his head to look gaze down at her. In the dim light, his eyes were black. Mysterious. “When’s the first time you imagined kissing me?”

He kissed her temple and worked his way down her face while she considered. She answered, “The first time we all shared the shower room with that stupid partition built down the middle. Girls on one side, guys on the other. I spent that whole shower imagining going around the end of it to soap you up and get to know, uhh, more of you.”

A silent chuckle shook his chest. “Yeah, being able to see over that partition was a mean trick on Cal’s part. He told me he built it short enough to force us all to acknowledge the ever-present potential of sex if women joined the team.”

“That man is diabolical.”

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