Chapter 17
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RADLEY’S EYES GLITTERED with mischief as she crawled across the bed toward Boone an hour later, swiping his button-down shirt from the tousled bedsheets. She sat up and slid it on, looking awfully proud of herself for snatching it from him.
“Shame to cover those up,” Boone joked, watching as she pulled his shirt closed across her bare breasts.
“But now I can admire you naked,” she teased. “Stealing your shirt was all part of my plan.”
“Ain’t nothing wrong with that,” Boone said with a smirk.
He playfully grabbed at her, chuckling, then pinned Radley to the mattress as she giggled.
He kissed her thoroughly, his body hovering over hers, then lowered his head to kiss each full breast before finally helping her button up.
He helped her to sit up and nibbled on her neck, teasing.
Radley’s soft sigh of pleasure made him smile.
Fuck he loved being with this woman.
Boone had taken her once more after she’d rode atop him earlier.
He’d stretched Radley out beneath him so he could explore every inch of her, loving her soft, warm skin and beautiful curves.
He’d feasted on her, spreading her legs wide and making her come again and again.
Her pink pussy had been swollen and glistening, Radley aroused beyond all reason.
Then they’d made love again after that, Boone taking his time as she whimpered and gasped beneath him. Clung to him like she’d never let go. She was as sweet as he’d imagined. Sensual. Sexy. And despite her usual need for being in control, she’d submitted to him beautifully.
“Let’s go have some of that pizza, kitten. I’m starving.”
“I can’t imagine why,” she said, glancing at the clock on her nightstand and then back at Boone. Hell. They’d been in bed for hours, and Boone had done as she’d wanted—made her forget everything.
As they moved down the hallway, however, flashbacks from earlier rolled through his mind.
The sirens.
The emergency vehicles.
Blood on the stairwell.
His gaze darted to her front door, knowing she’d locked it, but needing to check once more.
Would that fucker be back later on? Boone had been so lost in Radley, he wasn’t sure he’d have heard a damn freight train crashing into her building.
He didn’t regret it. If anyone had dared come into her condo, finding them together in bed, Boone would’ve gladly killed them with his bare hands.
He hated that a man had attacked her when she was alone, and Boone sure as hell wasn’t going to let that happen again.
Letting out a pent-up breath of his frustration, he sauntered into her kitchen, wearing only his cargo pants. Radley’s eyes were hungry as they raked over his naked torso, and he shot her a knowing look. “Let’s eat some real food, first, Rad. Then I’ll be happy to feed you something...hard.”
She playfully swatted at him, and Boone grabbed her hand, bringing it to his mouth. He pressed a kiss to the palm of it, giving her a little swipe of his tongue.
Radley flushed, and he chuckled. “Every once in a while, I get a blush out of you. It’s fascinating,” he said, his voice husky and eyes dancing with mischief.
“Don’t tell anyone,” she told him, shooting him a mock-annoyed look.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. Those little blushes and cries of pleasure are mine alone.” His eyes grew hot as he looked at her, but he tugged her toward the fridge. “Now let’s get some food, woman. You wore me out.”
Radley pulled open the refrigerator door, handing him the leftover pizza, then turned to get plates from the cupboard.
As she reached up, he caged her in against the counter, lightly swatting her ass.
“Nuh-huh,” he said, grabbing the plates she was reaching for, his front to her back.
“If that shirt rises up and I see that sexy ass of yours once again, we’ll never get dinner. ”
“So bossy,” she teased, but Radley was smiling as he pulled away, plates in hand.
His chest filled with something akin to happiness.
Contentment. Boone couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept with a woman then happily raided her fridge, both of them content to simply be together.
He couldn’t explain what was happening between Radley and him, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
All he knew was that being with her felt right.
He hadn’t even realized he’d been missing anything in his life, and now that she was in it, he couldn’t imagine letting her go.
Radley grabbed her phone from the counter, scrolling, as he helped himself to some cold pizza. “Shit. I’ve got a ton of messages.”
Boone turned toward her, reading over one that she showed him. “The police have already started their investigation. And look at this one from Holt,” she said.
He scanned over it, appreciation filling his chest. Holt hadn’t waited for the Seattle PD to get camera footage of the crime scene and incident earlier.
He’d had IT hack into the surveillance systems of Radley’s building—and they were already running the man’s face through their systems. While the jackass had a mask on when he’d attacked Radley, he’d entered the building bare-faced.
And that had been his mistake.
She clicked on another button, gasping as she saw the still shot Holt had sent her.
“You know him?” Boone asked, his body stiffening.
Radley looked at him, her eyes wide with a mix of fear and anger. “Know him? He worked with Schultz and me for years at the agency.”
***
THIRTY MINUTES LATER, they were racing back to Shadow Security.
They’d scarfed down cold pizza, taken a quick shower together to clean up, and dressed in record time.
Boone’s hands tightly clenched the steering wheel, his thoughts churning.
While he’d been making love to Radley, the boss had already set things in motion. The search for her attacker had begun.
And for Radley to know the man who’d come after her?
Icy cold dread snaked down his spine.
“I didn’t even recognize his voice,” Radley said in surprise, looking toward Boone. “I was in so much shock when he grabbed me—” She cut off, shaking her head. “I should’ve been thinking clearly, recalling every damn detail, not begging you to take me to bed.”
“Shhh,” Boone said, reaching over to grab her hand. “You were scared out of your mind. You deserved a chance to recover and feel something good.”
She burst into laughter, wiping away a stray tear.
Boone frowned, but she assured him she was okay. “I promise you, I felt good. Maybe even the best I’ve ever felt before,” she said lightly, sneaking another peek in his direction.
He relaxed slightly. “The best ever, huh?”
“Something like that,” she said.
“Tonight—” He cut off, shaking his head. “There are literally no words for it. Any of it. I was scared out of my mind when I got your text and thought something had happened to you. And then when I saw you—hell. I couldn’t stay away.”
“We work together,” she said quietly, still holding onto his hand with both of her own.
“Don’t I know it.”
“This is going to complicate things.”
“I don’t see how it should as long as we’re getting the job done. There’s something between us, Rad. It doesn’t make sense, but I think I knew since the moment you held me at gunpoint.”
She gasped, laughing and trying to pull away. “Boone.” He clutched her hands more tightly.
“Nah. I knew it the moment you walked by the conference room, my very first day on the job. You were, right then and there, the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. I knew I was fucked.”
“How romantic.”
Boone licked his lips, flashing her a hot look.
“I behaved—until I didn’t. What can I say?
Showing up at your condo with the police there made me realize I couldn’t ignore what I was feeling.
I care about you. I feel protective as hell of you, but it’s something more than that, too.
I like spending time together. I like that you’re not afraid to speak your mind when you’re around me. ”
“You are a touch bossy.”
He took his eyes off the road for a beat. “You weren’t complaining earlier,” he said, his voice husky and low.
“Damn straight I wasn’t,” she agreed.
Boone chuckled, giving her hands a squeeze. “I’m just saying that I care about you. When I joined Bravo Team, I knew what I was getting into with my old teammates. You were the last thing I expected and the exact thing that I needed.”
Radley smiled, slow and seductive. They might be heading back into the office, driving down the road in his truck, with a hundred different problems, but that look was for him. Boone. Whatever was happening around them, they’d started something together that was undeniable.
“You were right with what you said earlier.”
“Of course, but which part specifically.”
Radley laughed. “I feel safe with you.”
“You are safe with me,” he assured her.
Radley checked the side mirror, causing Boone to do the same.
He needed to focus on the issues at hand, not the beautiful woman in his truck, but hell if she wasn’t too damn tempting.
She grabbed the leather backpack she always carried, digging into it and swiping on some lipstick.
Radley had changed again, just into dark jeans and a snug top.
She was covered up, but he could still one-hundred-percent recall her sexy curves beneath.
“Stop eye-fucking me, Langford,” she joked.
Boone’s lips quirked. “I can’t help it. You look good in everything, Rad. I especially liked you in my shirt earlier,” he told her, his voice deepening.
Radley turned toward him and smirked. “Funny, I thought men preferred women to be naked.”
He chuckled. “Maybe it’s a caveman mentality, but something about you in my clothes felt all sorts of right. It felt like you were mine.”
“Something about you inside me felt all sorts of right, too,” she countered.
Boone’s dick twitched, and he cursed.
“Sorry,” she said, not looking sorry in the least.
Boone cleared his throat. “We’ll be there in ten minutes. Tell me about the asshole who attacked you. Holt wants to hear everything, but give me the abbreviated version before we get there.”
Radley quickly filled him in, telling Boone how they’d all worked together during her time as a Fed.
“Mike Cameron and I worked together overseas. He was directly under Schultz, a little bit of an ass, but so are a lot of men. I never had a problem with him. Whereas Schultz had come on to me, Cameron wasn’t a problem. ”
“You think his career got derailed when Schultz was arrested?”
“It must have. And now I wonder what else Cameron was involved in. Was he drugging women, too? Why the vendetta against me?”
“Maybe you ruined it all,” Boone mused. “Their careers, their sick game of drugging and assaulting innocent women. Maybe they had plans that you ruined when Schultz ended up in jail.”
“I’m not even sure if Mike Cameron is still with the agency. But this? This is beyond. I almost felt like with Schultz, it was a crime of opportunity. It didn’t matter what woman he drugged, as long as she was a warm body.”
Boone swore, and Radley placed her hand on his arm, trying to soothe him.
“This feels worse,” she continued. “It’s premeditated. It’s calculated. I don’t know if he was the man sending the text messages or the guy that set the cabin on fire, but I’d be damn surprised if he wasn’t. It’s escalating, and that bothers me.”
Boone flashed his badge to the guards at Shadow Security, Radley holding up her badge as well. The gates opened, and they pulled in, the building looking ominous in the dark night. “If I have my way with him, he’ll never touch you or another woman ever again.”