Page 9 of State of Retribution

“That was for the best.The kids needed me.I wouldn’t have felt right leaving them.”

“I felt terrible about being pulled away from all of you.”

“We understood.”

“Still… All I wanted was to be with you guys.”

“We know that, babe.”She placed her hand on his face and gave a gentle tug to turn him to receive her kiss.“I know this is another awful situation after a string of them, but you’ll handle this the same way you’ve handled the others.I have faith in you.We have faith in you.”

Because her lips were warm and soft and sweet, he kept his pressed against them, breathing her in and wallowing in the comfort he drew from her.

For the longest time, they only kissed, his lips sliding over hers and nothing more, nothing demanding.This was all about relief that everyone was safe after a frightening day.It was never far from either of their minds that they could be taken from each other in an instant of madness, as both their jobs came with risks that could be deadly at any time.If they thought too much about those possibilities, neither would be able to function.

Today’s events had been a reminder of how quickly everything could change.

“The thought of someone wanting to harm you…” Her voice was thick with tears and emotion.“It takes my breath away.”

He wiped the tears from her face.“I’m right here.I’m not going anywhere.”

Though he said what she wanted to hear, they were both painfully aware that his assurances were just words.Yes, he was surrounded by world-class security and intelligence that’d worked as designed that day—and hopefully would in the future, too.But it was nerve-racking to know that if someone wanted him dead badly enough, all it would take for them to succeed was one mistake by the human beings responsible for his security.

There were no guarantees.

She wrapped herself around him and held on tight.“It’s unbearable.All of it.”

“Welcome to my world, love.Every time you walk out the door, I’m terrified you won’t come back.”

“With Vernon and Jimmy looking out for me, I’m safer than ever.”

“Still…”

She tightened her arms around him.“I know.It’s a terrible way to live.I go days without actively worrying about it, and then something like this happens, and it’s just a huge reminder of how you walk around with a target on your back all because of the position you hold.At least if it were to happen to me, it’d be because I arrested someone or something like that.You’re just showing up to do a job that someone has to do.”

“We should change the subject so we have a prayer of sleeping tonight.”

The phone on the bedside table rang.He released her to pick up the call from Brant.

“Mr.President, in consultation with Director Pierce and the details for FLOTUS and the children, it’s been determined that we’ll proceed with normal operations tomorrow.”

“Thank you for the update.”

“We’ll see you in the morning, sir.”

“See you then.”He replaced the receiver on the base of the phone.“Did you hear that?”

“Yes, and it’s a relief.It’ll be good to get back to normal.”

“I think so, too.”

She smoothed her hand over his hair and down to caress his face.“Do you think you can sleep?”

“You’ve got parts of me awake that have no interest whatsoever in sleep.”

“What parts would those be?”

He pressed his hard cock against her soft belly.

“Oh, I see.What should be done about that?”

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