Page 29 of Hidden Attraction

He paused, breathing hard. “I’ve got protection—”

“My bag’s closer. Side pocket.”

He kissed her again before climbing off the bed to grab a condom. She watched him, chest rising, already trembling with the anticipation of him inside her.

When he returned, he kissed her with a reverence that made her eyes sting.

“You sure?” he asked again, eyes locked on hers.

She nodded. “I’ve never been more sure.”

And then he was inside her—slow, deep, stretching her in the best way—and the world narrowed to the space between their bodies. The tension broke on a low moan that echoed in the quiet.

He moved slowly at first, giving her time, watching her face like it was the map to everything he’d lost.

The exhaustion stemming from her previous whirlwind of a day, followed by a transatlantic flight and stumbling bleary-eyed into a safehouse, must be affecting her more than she thought.

She rocked up to meet him, nails biting into his shoulders. “Harder.”

His breath caught. “You feel so good. So damn good…”

He thrust deeper, harder, a rhythm building between them to a cataclysmic end. The creak of the mattress, the sound of skin on skin, the ragged noises she made—it filled the room like music.

When she came, the release hit her like a wave—hot, sharp, stars behind her eyes. She cried out his name, and Julian held her through it, murmuring against her skin, kissing her like he couldn’t get close enough.

He followed her over the edge moments later, face buried in her neck, her name grit on his lips. The safehouse was still, only the wild gallop of her heart filling her ears.

They lay tangled together afterward, sweat cooling on their skin, breath slowly settling.

Never in a million years could she have guessed she would land in bed with a special operative with the body of a god.

He stroked her arm absently, fingers light.

She traced the line of the scar on his shoulder that she felt earlier. “Was that…?”

“Sniper round. Afghanistan.”

“Jesus.”

He chuckled, low and rough. “Told you. Getting shot—zero stars.”

She tossed his words back at him. “You’re still standing—or lying down.”

He leaned in and kissed her again. Slow. Honest. Real.

And for the first time in a long time, Alyssa let herself believe she wasn’t all alone in this world. Someone else understood the stress, the commitment…the weight of making the world a better, safer place.

SEVEN

Chase leaned forward on the edge of the sofa, forearms braced on his thighs and his boots planted wide on the dusty wooden floor.

Steel had been coiled around his spine since this whole thing began, but after visiting the military base, that tension yanked even tighter. Not even the sex was helping this stress, even if itwasmind-blowing.

Alyssa perched on a wood chair. She shook her head. “Things don’t add up. Not about the crash, not about the aftermath. And definitely not about the commander.”

“Let’s go over it again,” he said almost to himself.

“Okay. Start with the crash.”

---