Chapter 149 The White-Hot Friction
"Derek, Carlos is making a reckless run on the primary gangway!" Amelia shouted, her tactical rifle pressed firmly against her shoulder as she fired a precise three-round burst to suppress the gunman on the freighter’s mid-deck. "He is completely exposed! He’s going to get himself slaughtered!"
"I am moving to draw their primary fire lines!" Derek Cooper growled, his large frame sprinting parallel to the ship's hull.
He didn't think about his own safety; he treated his body like an expendable shield, exactly the way he had done for years in the field. He stepped directly into the open light of the pier's main floodlight, his weapon roaring as he engaged Cross's senior lieutenant.
"Derek, no!" Amelia screamed, her heart violently slamming against her ribs as she saw a bullet tear through the fabric of Derek’s sleeve, drawing a bright line of crimson across his forearm.
The absolute terror of losing her partner - the man whose silent protectiveness had anchored her soul through a hundred dangerous assignments - completely shattered her professional boundaries.
The underlying, white-hot fire that had existed between them for years exploded into pure, unfiltered panic.
Amelia broke cover entirely, running straight into the line of fire to slide into a defensive hold beside him. She grabbed Derek by his vest, pulling his massive frame behind a steel container, her breath coming in frantic, ragged gasps.
"Stop doing that!" Amelia sobbed angrily, her eyes blazing with tears and rain as she slammed her hand against his chest. "Stop treating yourself like you're expendable, Cooper! You are not an asset! You are my partner, and if you die out here, I swear to God I'll shoot you myself!"
Derek stared down into her brilliant, fierce eyes, his chest heaving, the blood from his arm dripping onto the wet concrete.
A raw, devastatingly intense emotion completely transformed his rugged features.
He reached up with his uninjured hand, his large fingers digging into the hair at the back of her neck, pulling her face flush against his.
"I am only expendable until the mission ends, Amelia," Derek growled hoarsely, his lips brushing against hers with a desperate heat that tasted of gunpowder and rain. "But look at me... I am breathing because of you. Now cover my six. Let's go end this war."