Page 49 of Hostile Extraction

“Dusty, I was thinking, what if we…?” She broke off and swallowed, then looked at the bed. The bed he was hyper aware of not two feet away.

“What if we what?”

“Spent the night together.”

His head pulled to the side because he wasn’t sure she meant what he hoped she meant. “If you mean you want me to stay in here with you and hold you while the storm rages—”

“That’s not what I mean.” Her hand settled on his chest, and he stared down at it, his heart pounding beneath her palm. She had to feel it; she had to know what her touch did to him.

“Tell me?” He swallowed, needing to hear her say the words.

“I’ve thought about you, and you’ve thought about me, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then we should stop fighting it, and do something about it. Just get it out of our system.”

“Sweetheart, I’m not the same man I was six years ago. The war changed things. I don’t have anything to give you. At least, not the kind of life you deserve. I’m too broken.”

Her face turned sad. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s true.”

She swallowed and cupped his cheek.

His eyes slid closed, loving the feel of her caress. Needing it, even though the pain inside him insisted he didn’t.

“You were right. I am naïve. I don’t want to be anymore. I want to know.”

“I’m broken on the inside, emotionally. I have nothing to give anyone.”

“It’s just sex. No strings attached. Neither of us wants a relationship out of this.”

“It’s not just sex, and it would never be just sex with you, Asia.”

“Please. I’m twenty-four, and I want to know what it’s like to be a woman. What if Nico’s men find us?”

“That’s not going to happen. I won’t let it.”

“You can’t promise me that. No one can promise that. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. For either of us. I understand that. You know it’s true. Please. Just tonight. I swear I won’t ask you for more. You’ll be free to go on your way.”

“So, what, we just spend one night together and then we move on?”

“Something like that.”

One night with Asia. Could he do it? Would one night ever be enough? How big a fool would he be if he passed on this chance with her?

“Asia, are you sure? You’re a virgin. That’s a big thing.”

“There’s no man I’d rather have be my first. You were the first boy I crushed on.” She grinned, and he couldn’t help but return it.

The room had dimmed as the storm moved in, and the space felt extremely intimate as the rain pelted the glass.

“Let me build a fire,” he said, stalling, perhaps. Wanting to give her time to change her mind, because once he started, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop. He’d wanted this woman for so long. She’s been a part of his life for a good majority of it. Perhaps something inside him always felt they were destined someday be together. If this was all they could ever have, damn him to hell, he’d take it. Perhaps that made him selfish. But here, tonight, with the longing and need in her eyes, he’d be damned for her. He wanted to give her what she’d asked for, what she yearned for—to know what it was like to be a woman. He couldn’t imagine letting another man touch what he’d always felt belonged to him. D eep down in some hidden part of his soul, she’d always been his.

There was already a stack of logs waiting, and he snapped some kindling in half and tossed them on, building a teepee like he’d learned in the military. When he stuffed a wadded-up piece of paper inside and lit it, the fire blazed to life. He knew it would burn for hours.

Good.

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