Page 145 of Lethal Game

Chapter Thirty

It was killing himto not touch her.

Con gave her a slow once-over, to be certain what he’d seen earlier in the lecture hall had been accurate. She looked great. Her skin had a healthy glow and he couldn’t see evidence of any bruises. It looked like she might have put on a few pounds, but she’d needed them. By the end of their ordeal with Akbar, she’d been underweight.

“Max said the stem cells they used to treat your anemia worked.”

She smiled and it damn near made him kneel. “Yes, my bone marrow seems to be functioning very well now. This is a new treatment.”

“No more bruises or nosebleeds?” He couldn’t see any bruises, but that didn’t mean anything.

“Nope.”

Her hair was down. He’d never seen it down, clean, and brushed out since that very first night he saw her. It had come out of its bun during their skirmish with Akbar, but she’d been covered in sand, sweat, bruises, and blood. Now she looked...whole and happy.

Beautiful.

He couldn’t stop staring, couldn’t believe she was in front of him, healthy and apparently excited to see him after three months apart.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you,” he said with a wince. “Max swore he explained it all to you, but that doesn’t mean the same thing as hearing you say you were okay with it.”

“Ha,” she snorted. “I may not have been able to talk to you, but Max kept me up to date on your status during our daily consultations. You really impressed him,” she said with a proud tilt of her chin. “You found out more about the biological weapons black market in Syria in three months than we’d managed in all of the previous year.”

“Thanks, but you taught me a lot about what to look for.”

“We make an excellent team.” She said it like they were about to win a Nobel Prize.

“Yeah.” He blew out a breath. He had so much to say, but didn’t know how to tell her what had been on his mind, and in his heart, for most of those three months. Where to start.

“Con?” she asked, looking a little uncertain. “Are you all right?”

“I’m good.” What an understatement. “I’m better than good. Just seeing you looking so...” He swallowed hard. “Healthy and...gorgeous.”

She smiled at him and it hit him in the chest with the power to stop his breathing altogether. “I missed you too.” She held out her hand.

He took it and her touch calmed something in him that had been wounded by her absence.

“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I could make you something—”

“No,” he told her, pulling her slowly closer. “The only thing I’m hungry for is you.”

“Oh,” she said, a blush coloring her cheeks. “Good.”

“We need to talk before anything else happens.”

She gave him a frustrated huff. “Why?”

Yep, Sophia hadn’t changed a bit. A little too honest, too direct.Thank God.

He was going to follow her lead. “This is not a one-night stand.”

“You promised to teach me how to have sex,” she reminded him. He didn’t need the reminder, he’d been dreaming of all the ways he could have her every night since she’d left Bahrain. “To achieve a complete understanding will take some time.”

He had to chuckle. “God, I love how your mind works.” He cupped her face and brought her even closer. “But let me be clear. It’s going to take the rest of our lives.”

His statement caught her attention and she blinked at him. “It will?”

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