Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Finn momentarily lost focus of everything they’d learned an hour ago as Julia stood across from him in their bedroom and began removing her Wonder Woman costume.
“You were saying?” She bent forward and unbuckled the strap of one gold high heel, drawing his gaze to her long, tan legs. What he wouldn’t give to have those legs wrapped around him right now.
“What?” He reached up to remove the fedora, forgetting he’d already tossed it earlier, then ruffled his hair instead before losing his leather jacket.
“You were talking about Carter. You think he’ll get Tariq to spill everything?”
Oh. Carter. Right. Carter had surprisingly turned into their saving grace tonight since Tariq was still on their No-Go List. “Carter will get Tariq to tell him everything at his off-site location.”
“You mean, torture him?” She discarded the shoe and switched to unbuckle the other one.
“Hopefully, it won’t be anything more than a friendly chat since his sister says he’s on Team Good Guy. Jury is still out on whether I believe that, but we’ll see.”
“We don’t have much time before Oliver is transferred, so unless you really want to plan a prison break, we need—”
“I know.” He knelt before her and stilled her wrist before undoing the buckle and removing her shoe, his hand lingering on her delicate ankle for just a moment.
She startled at his touch and looked up, and Finn’s first thought was that the Mediterranean Sea had nothing on the blue of her eyes. “We’ll find out what Amin is up to and stop him.”
“How can you be so sure?” she whispered.
“Because we always stop the bad guys.” He smiled, hoping that was enough to ease her nerves for now.
Would he like to be at the safe house while Carter was questioning Tariq? Yes, but the guy was an addict, and his brother was planning on flooding the western world with drugs. Allegedly. So this op was torture on his ability to focus for many reasons, one of which had her eyes on him now.
Carter had intercepted Tariq an hour ago when he’d been searching for his sister and took him to an off-site location for questioning.
“Tariq didn’t put up too much of a fight.
I guess that’s promising.” When she looked down to where his hand still held her ankle, he fought the urge to move his gaze to her cleavage, which was on full display in her outfit.
Tonight had been one for the record books titled “Strange,” but despite all that had gone down, he couldn’t seem to turn off his feelings, both physical and emotional, when it came to Julia.
And with her literally in arm’s reach, how could he not want to spend one more night with her in case she decided a future with him was impossible?
Who was he kidding? Losing her, regardless of the reason, would hurt like hell no matter how much time they’d spent together.
“Where are you at? You don’t seem to be with me now.”
“I’m here.” Finn cleared his throat. “Very much here,” he added, his voice rough.
When she shifted onto her knees, Finn released her ankle and did the same.
“You want me.” Her silky voice went straight to his heart before traveling south. Was that a question or a statement?
She skated her hands up the sides of his biceps and over the short sleeves of his black tee, then rested her forearms on his shoulders and drew herself closer to him.
“I do,” he confessed. He had so much to seek forgiveness for, but wanting this woman didn’t feel like a sin. Not even with so much on the line.
There was an entire team outside their room working the op, and for the first time in his life, he didn’t want to be out there. He was right where he wanted and needed to be.
“I want you, too.” She wet her lips, the little tease, letting her tongue linger on that pouty bottom lip he wanted to pull between his teeth. “But I’m scared. And I’m not used to being scared.”
He leaned back a little to try and get a better read on her. “Why? Because of Tariq? Oliver?”
She shook her head and closed her eyes. “Us.”
Us.
“Finn, the last thing I want to do is hurt you, and I don’t want to get hurt either. But I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or the next day. You of all people know there are no guarantees in life.” The lip he’d wanted to suck wobbled, and was she on the verge of tears?
“I do know that.” He drew a hand gently down her cheek and brought a fist beneath her chin, hoping she’d open her eyes.
“And that’s why I’ve stuck to being an operator.
With the job, I know the risks, and I accept them.
But in my personal life, the idea of the unknown is terrifying.
I don’t know how to bring those two worlds together because I’ve spent the last nine years living inside this one as Echo Five.
In there, I’m not Dalton, and I’m not a failure as a son and brother.
” He had no clue if she was looking at him yet because his eyes had fallen shut as the truth escaped.
He’d never shared those words with anyone, including the therapist they’d all been seeing.
What was it about Julia that had him spilling his secrets and sharing every part of himself?
She’d blown into his world like a storm and turned the life he’d locked himself into for years upside down.
And he’d given her the truth last night when he declared that he wanted her and everything she brought with her—rain, thunder, lightning.
Julia was his storm. He was caught right in the middle, and it was a place he found himself never wanting to leave.
“Dalton,” Julia softly cried out and caressed his face between her palms. “You’re not a failure. I’ve come to know you these last few weeks, and you’re the most amazing man I’ve ever met. Someone I have no idea how I’ll . . .”
“Say goodbye to?” Finn opened his eyes, wondering how they’d gone from nearly making love to heavy emotional stuff. But sex with Julia wasn’t merely sex, was it? His emotions were involved and had been from the moment she joined him in that shower.
“You were shot.” Was that her answer to his question?
Probably. “You could have died in Egypt. What might happen on your next mission? I-I can’t lose you forever-forever.
” She sniffled and released his cheeks, her hands settling firm on his shoulders as she held on to him like a lifeline she was afraid to use or lose.
“I’ll, um, still be gone forever-forever whether we’re together or not if that were to happen.
You get that, right?” He was stumbling through this, but he was in uncharted territory, and this woman was the curveball he’d never anticipated.
“Why don’t we take it one moment at a time?
” Was he really willing to put his heart out there like this, knowing she might crush it?
He didn’t see any other way around it. The risk was worth it.
She tipped her head and studied him. “Like with a camera, one shot. One frame.”
He lowered his fist from her chin, forgetting it’d been there. “Yes.”
A tear slipped down her cheek, a reminder she was also vulnerable and not a superhero despite the costume.
He could lose her, too. Jaden hadn’t served in the military, and he’d died.
When Finn was in his twenties, he’d lost a friend to a drunk driver.
So many others died, and it never seemed to make sense.
“Make love to me?” she asked, and instantly his thoughts switched from death to life. To her.
He’d picked up condoms earlier in the day. A pit stop at the store for a hope-so moment. And was this hope-so moment about to come to life?
She eased back, lowering her hands from his body before turning to the side. “Undress me,” she requested without waiting for his answer.
He was vaguely aware of the muffled voices coming from downstairs.
It should have been enough to snap him out of the moment, to refocus on the op, but all it actually did was serve as a reminder that he would need to keep her quiet because he’d be damned if anyone heard the sweet moans Julia made while coming.
Finn did as he was instructed and slid down the side zipper that ran the length of her torso. The belt was attached to the skirt and top, so the entire costume fell around her knees onto the ground. All that remained were her red, lacy bra and panties and the gold band on her arm.
When she shifted to face him again, his gaze caught her nipples poking through the thin lace of the bra.
“Touch me,” she commanded in a breathy whisper, and fuck if that sound didn’t go straight to his dick.
“On the bed.” He guided them both up, and she stepped free of the costume. She removed her undergarments, then unhooked the armband and tossed it on their way to the four-poster bed at the center of the room.
Once Julia was seated on the bed, he kicked off his shoes. “I’m prepared this time,” he told her, lifting his chin to point to the nightstand where he’d placed the just-in-case condoms inside the drawer.
A naughty look crossed her face. She’d transformed from worried and scared to turned on as fast as he had.
“I want you to take charge tonight. I want you to—”
“Fuck you hard?” he asked, remembering her words at the tent.
She sucked in a quick breath before lightly nodding and staring at his crotch as his hands moved to the buckle of his pants. He was painfully hard and in desperate need to lose himself inside this amazing woman, a woman he was falling for. You already fell, a voice in his head told him.
“Wait.” She stood and came around before him, setting a hand to his chest, urging him to take a step back. When her eyes met his, she said, “I want to undress you.” She continued to hold his gaze as she worked his belt loose, his heart pounding overtime.
Before moving to his pants, she lifted the hem of his shirt and guided it up and over his head before tossing it to the floor. Her attention briefly lingered on his chest as if the reminder of being shot was a bullseye of pain.
“Look at me,” he said in a deep voice, not wanting to lose her to what-ifs.