Page 65 of Stealthy Seduction
“What do a bunch of financial nerds have to do with Cipher?” Steele asked.
Dante cleared his throat, shredding through the last vestiges of sleep. “He likes hurting people. There are a lot of people out there willing to pay for his expertise. He’s gotta get money to finance his own agenda.”
“Chopper arrives in five. We’ll be on it.” Con’s words sent everyone rushing to the kitchen to grab last-minute drinks or food.
But food was the furthest thing from Steele’s mind. He sprinted up the stairs to his room.
Being quiet in full battle gear in silence wasn’t easy. Part of him hoped that Izzy woke so he could look into her eyes before he walked out that door.
He edged close to the mattress and leaned over her. The scent of her shampoo filled his head, and he let his eyes slip shut, locking the aroma into his memory.
Not only would Izzy wake for the first time to find him gone…but he would be separated from her. The base was the safest place for her—no one could penetrate these walls. But that didn’t slow the wave of worry overtaking him.
He brushed his lips lightly over her brow, and she started awake.
“Hudson.” Her voice was raspy with sleep. She opened her eyes and took in his appearance. Body armor under hisperformance shirt and every strap of his vest pulled tight. He didn’t have his weapons on him—not yet—and he was glad he had left his helmet rigged with night vision and his comms headset downstairs.
Alarm lit her eyes, dark with fear. “What’s going on?”
“We’re deploying.”
She jolted upright and grabbed him, clinging to the straps of his vest, her hair a wild tousle of curls. “For how long?”
“I can’t say. But I’ll be back as soon as possible. Just promise me you’ll stay here with the other women. Don’t leave the base.” He emphasized every word to impress the importance on her.
“Where are you going?”
He gave her a long look that told her he couldn’t share that information. She gulped with understanding.
“Oh, Hudson!” She flung her arms around his neck and buried her face against the plates on his chest. “Come back to me safe!”
His heart flexed at her words, each one slipping past the armor. He cupped her head and kissed the top of her head, then her forehead, her nose and her lips. “I’ll be home soon.”
With that, he released her, turning for the door. Before he crossed the threshold, she cried out.
“Wait!” She scrambled out of bed, all toned, honeyed legs in tiny sleep shorts and flashing a sliver of skin where her top rode up at her waist. She lunged for an object on the nightstand.
“Izzy, I have to go. I can hear the chopper.”
She let out a small cry and thrust something into his hand. “My crystal. I’ve been wearing it since Costa Rica. It’s a grounding thing, and they say it’s lucky. When I’m anxious, I touch it and it calms me.”
He closed his fingers around the small crystal on a leather cord that she only took off to sleep. Leaning in, he stamped her lips with his—hard, claiming.
Then he was gone, boots thumping down the stairs. From all over the base, more boots echoed in response—teammates emerging.
Answering a call to arms.
* * * * *
The spacious, airy kitchen felt smaller than usual when Izzy entered, the familiar warmth replaced by an undercurrent of anxiety that seemed to vibrate in the air itself.
The women were gathered around the island, but their usual morning chatter was absent, as if they were all moving with the careful precision of people trying not to break under pressure.
Kennedy stood at the coffeemaker, looking like she hardly slept, her complexion wan and her movements mechanical as she filled a mug and handed it to Alyssa. “Here. You need the caffeine.”
Alyssa accepted the cup with a grateful nod, but when she lifted it to her lips, her face went pale. She set it down quickly, pushing it away with a grimace.
“Can’t stomach it this morning,” she muttered.
