Page 113 of Dangerous Mission

“You're so wrong,” she says hoarsely. “You can’t see who you are, but I can.”

I fight and fight the urge, but I can’t stop myself. I reach for her, dragging her against me as a growl builds in my chest.

“Why?” My voice sounds ancient.

“I don’t know.”

Burying my face in Aria’s dark hair, I try to catch my breath. It’s impossible. My world is collapsing around me.

“Please don’t love me.” I hold onto her as I feel like I’m about to shatter. “I’m broken. So fucking broken. You deserve more, Aria. Someone that’s not a monster.”

“Stop, god, Scout.Stop! You are not a monster.” She makes a choked sound and takes my face in her hands. “You can’t tell me not to love you, because it’s too late.”

Her thumb traces over my jaw as she leans up on her toes and pulls me down toward her.

My hands tighten around her waist as blood thrums through my veins. I need this woman. The best thing for her would be to push her away. To make one of the other team members guard her while she's in Vandemora, then to send her on her way back to her life in the states.

But then the sickening thought of Adam Hill going back to the states makes me want to scream.

No. I’m not letting her go. Not leaving her safety to anyone else. Aria Kane is mine now.

When her lips brush across mine, I take over. She pushes closer to me, letting me dominate her mouth with deep, twisting thrusts. Soft whimpers pour gasoline on the fire.

“Unless you tell me to stop, I’m going to strip you, kiss every inch of you, and bury myself hilt deep inside your perfect little body.”

“Please,” she rasps, pressing herself tighter, rubbing her nipples against my chest.

When I lift her, she instantly wraps her legs around me. God bless, the heat at the vee of her legs presses tightly against my engorged cock, making the breath hiss out of me. “See what you do to me, I’m consumed with you, beautiful girl.”

Her kiss grows frenzied, her nails scoring the back of my neck, knocking my hat off as I carry her toward the bed. “Seeing you in my clothes does something brutal to my control.”

“I like wearing your things, they smell like you,” she murmurs as I lay her down onto the bed. Her eyes are burning liquid, and only for me.

How did this happen for me?

I lower myself onto her as she opens her legs for me, cradling me against her. With my weight on my elbows, I make sure not to be too rough with her smaller frame.

She watches me with open love in her gaze as I take her face in my palms. When I lower my mouth to hers and kiss her slowly, she closes her eyes and sighs happily.

That little sound unravels thousands of tight muscles in my body. Softens me in a way I never knew could happen.

When I pull back, her gaze is dreamy, her fingers are soft against my back, pressing against the skin below my shirt, and I’m feeling more vulnerable than I’ve ever been in my life.

That’s when I see it. A sign from the universe. As if I’ve ever believed in anything like that before now. But this is a sign.

Smoothing my thumb over the tiny tattoo tucked just behind her ear, I feel a deep sense of peace lodge itself in my chest.

“It’s a compass…” she says quietly.

“It’s perfect.”

“It is a symbol of luck for me. So I’ll always find my way even in the darkness…”

My heart tries to work its way up into my airway.

For a few seconds I stare at that the small mark and wonder if Aria’s a gift from something much larger than any one of us can understand. When I speak, my voice is smoke and gravel and my bone marrow is on fire. “You know what maps meant to me. The compass I bought with my allowance was the most precious thing in the world to me.”

Stroking her fingers in a slow circle against my skin, she holds my gaze. “Do you still have it?”

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