Page 133 of Dangerous Mission

“Griff.”

He flips the latch on the door and jerks it open. The pistol is still in his hand.

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Griffon Kane looks down at the gun, then back at my face.

Hollow cheeks, overgrown scruff, shadowy eyes with a few new ghosts. He looks like I feel. Any other time I might tell him to take a damned nap. A dirt nap.

“Where is she?”

“Resting.”

“I need to see her.”

Fuck you. “Later.”

“No, I need to talk to her now.”

I consider my options. Shooting him isn’t the best choice. I slam the door in his face instead.

Aria shrieks and rustles around on the bed. “Wait! What did you just do?”

Istalk to her and drop to a knee next to the king size frame. She blinks rapidly at me, her pretty brown eyes full of concern. “Memphis…”

Warmth shoots up my arm as I gather her hand in mine and kiss across her knuckles. As I do this, she searches my eyes.

I lay it all out there. Man up like a motherfucker.

“I want you to marry me.”

“Holy… what?” She hinges up off the bed, her wet hair sending droplets flying.

Hope fills my chest as her cheeks start to take on that nice shade of pink she gets when she’s excited. I also know a few other shades of pink she gets too. But that’s not this.

“Now?” That one syllable has a shake to it. The vibration matches the nerves in my stomach.

“The wedding can wait a little while, but I want us to start forever now.”

She closes her eyes, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Warmth fights against anxious energy in every cell, in every muscle in my body.

“What do you say, beautiful, will you make this beast whole?”

A loud bang against the door makes her eyes fly open. As she stares nervously across the room, she presses her free hand over her heart. “Oh my! He’s really going to be furious.”

“Don’t worry about him.”

“Sounds like he’s got a battering ram.”

“He’ll get his turn in a few minutes. Right now, you’re mine and mine alone.”

Smile gone, she meets my gaze as she traces a finger along my jaw, teasing the days-oldgrowth of my beard. That simple touch unravels so many of my broken circuits and wires them back together again.

Solemn, she asks, “Will you two be able to get along if you and Griffon are brothers-in-law?”

I lean up and kiss her, tugging gently on her bottom lip, then tasting forever with a decidedly possessive swipe of my tongue.

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