Page 42 of Secret Mission

When I flop over on my back, she lies perfectly still next to me.

A heavy silence settles between us, but when I find her hand, she lets me lace our fingers together.

“Get some rest.”

“If you want to talk, I’ll listen. I’m not upset. Thank you for telling me.”

“You deserve so much more.”

She yawns quietly and tightens her grip on my hand. After a few moments, she murmurs, “I’m fading. I think I can sleep. You knocked me out.”

It takes a few seconds before I can respond and when I do, my voice is smoke and gravel. “Good. I’ll be here to protect you.”

Always.

If anyone needs a champion, it’s Allison.

She deserves someone in her court, a shield from the world, and fate has brought her to me.

Fucked up me.

Now, I have to deal with what happened. One way or another.

It only takes moments for her breathing to steady.

I prop my head on my other arm and watch the riverbank coasting by. Once I verify that we’re still in the current that keeps us offshore, I let my thoughts drift.

The familiar pain and guilt are there, but for once in my life, I feel at peace with waiting for something.

She’s worth doing this right.

A grin tugs at my mouth.

Fuck, if my SEAL buddies heard me talking about this—which I would never do—they’d beat the hell out of me.

Danger zone? Full-fucking-speed-ahead.

Sex with a girl that makes me feel something? Slam the brakes!

Rolling my head to the left, I swallow hard. She’s so pretty. So innocent.

Something about this is too fragile. And I’m not talking about her spirit. I’m talking about the threads that are holding me together.

If I shatter, people could get hurt. Including her. And shrapnel wounds are the fucking worst.

But there’s no more time to worry because the sound of sloshing water makes me sit up abruptly.

“Oh, Jesus, Ally! Get up! The boat’s sinking.”

Chapter Thirteen

This has to be karma. And I’m not talking about the town. No, this shit is some fucked up cosmic bitchslap.

Our boat is going down.

“Get your clothes.”

Ally, blinking sleepy eyes at me, scrambles off the bed into the quickly rising water.

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