Page 62 of Rescuing Rebel

I turn around, and there he is, standing in the shadows like a ghost.

“Ethan?” My pulse spikes. My breath hitches. “You can’t be here.”

His eyes blaze with fierce intensity, and the heat of his gaze scorches my skin. I’m frozen in place, barely able to move or speak. Then he steps forward, hand outstretched. Like a moth drawn to a flame, my feet move of their own volition. My hand lifts. Our fingers touch.

The connection is electric, sending pulses of desire coursing through my body. I want him more than anything in the world, but I can’t have him. Not now, not ever.

Certainly not with Kaufman watching my every move, waiting for me to slip up. “You have to leave.” I pull away.

“I’m not leaving until we talk.”

Storms brew in his blazing blue eyes, radiating fury. His cedar scent assaults me, unlocking memories I tried hard to bury. We spent weeks tempting, teasing, flirting, and connecting.

Something like thatshouldbe easy to walk away from. One night of passion shouldn’t leave this kind of ache behind. I thought I was over him. Convinced myself a thousand times that I made the right decision to leave. Buried his memory and told myself I didn’t care.

“You don’t understand. You can’t be here.” I grab his arm and try to push him toward the door.

“I’m not leaving until we talk.” His voice grates down my spine.

“Are you insane? Kaufman’s guards could have seen you come in here.” I peek out to scan the empty hallway.

Ethan grabs my wrist, spinning me back around. He places his palm on the door and slams it shut. “I don’t give a damn about Kaufman. You owe me an explanation.”

His fingers dig into my wrist, firm and unyielding. He’s so close his earthy scent threatens to unravel me. I harden my voice, though it trembles. “You don’t understand. Kaufman will kill you if he catches you in my room.”

“Why? Are you fucking him?”

“Does it matter?” I rip out of his grip and point to the door. “You have to leave. Being here puts everything at risk.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what you’re doing here. Out of all the places on Earth, why are you at Haven? Why are you working for him? Tell the truth, Rebel, because I’ll know if it’s a lie.”

His eyes pin me as effectively as his hands, twin blue flames searing away my defenses. I want to cling to him and confess everything—how much our night together meant, how it broke me to walk away.

The impossible situation that forced my hand.

But I stay silent. He can never know my burden and the lives hanging in the balance.

“You need to leave. Please. Before it’s too late...” My voice cracks on the last word.

He crowds me against the back of the door, broad shoulders caging me in. His carotid artery pulses with rage. Worst of all, the heat radiating off his body makes me want to fall into his arms and bury myself in his embrace.

“Why are you here?” His breath heats my cheek, sending traitorous shivers racing through me. “In bed with Kaufman?”

I shove back, my own anger rising. “Don’t judge me. You need to back off.”

He slams his palm against the door right next to my head. I flinch before I can stop myself, pulse jackhammering.

“You played me for a fool that night on the beach. Made me think you wanted me, all while you fucked me, mining me for intel.” His eyes bore into mine, sparking with betrayal. “Is my team safe? Or have you already revealed who we really are?”

My cheeks flame with shame. “If I’d done that, you’d already be dead.”

“Explain this to me.” He grips my shoulders, giving me a shake. “Explain why you seduced me. Why you disappeared the next morning after everything we shared? And how it is that I find you in bed with a human trafficker?”

I squeeze my eyes shut as memories of that night flood through me. The balmy ocean breeze caressed my skin as we stripped under the stars. The surf crashed against the rocks as our bodies came together. The way the moon gave just enough light was ethereal. The way his rough hands explored with reverence, wringing gasps of pleasure from my lips, is something I’ll never forget.

I never felt anything like the tenderness in his eyes when he gazed down at me, or the exquisite care he took pleasuring my body. He worshipped me until I was breathless, lost to everything but his touch, his taste—his love.

Afterward, we lay spent in each other’s arms, legs intertwined. I rested my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, more content than I’d ever felt in my life. Nothing in my chaotic existence ever felt as right as that night.

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