Chapter 84 Raine
Raine
The room still smelled like Adam’s skin, like sweat and sleep and the faint trace of motel soap. My body ached in ways that had nothing to do with bruises, and for one selfish second, I wanted to sink back into the sheets, pull him down with me, and shut the world out.
But the world wasn’t waiting.
Boone’s voice was still echoing in my head: San Antonio. Accelerating.
I sat on the edge of the bed, lacing my boots tight, each tug yanking me further from the softness of last night. My ribs throbbed, but I ignored it. Pain was nothing new. What mattered was being ready.
In the bathroom mirror, I caught a glimpse of myself—hair tangled, eyes shadowed, lips swollen from Adam’s kiss. Not the scared girl from the ridge. Not the broken woman who once walked away. A soldier. A fighter.
Captain Raine Carter.
I strapped the holster to my thigh, the weight of the pistol familiar and steady.
Adam came up behind me, already geared, his gray eyes sharp again. The commander was back. But when his hand brushed down my arm, there was softness in the touch, a whisper of the man who’d held me through the night.
“You don’t have to keep proving yourself,” he murmured.
I met his eyes in the mirror. “I’m not proving anything, Adam. I’m doing it. Same as you.”
His mouth curved, just faintly, and he nodded once. That was all I needed.
Outside, the team was already moving. Hawk and Blade double-checked their weapons with that wolfish ease.
Russ spread maps across the hood of the SUV, his neat handwriting filling every inch.
Boone’s eyes were glued to the screen. Logan leaned against the wall, arms crossed, scowling like he hated this but already locked in.
When Adam and I stepped out, all eyes shifted.
The air tightened.
“Alright, boys,” I said, squaring my shoulders. “Let’s go ruin someone’s day.”
Hawk barked a laugh. Blade smirked faintly. Even Russ’s lips twitched like he was trying not to smile.
Adam just shook his head, muttering under his breath. “Trouble. Pure trouble.”
But when his hand brushed mine as we walked toward the SUVs, I knew he wouldn’t have it any other way.