Page 19 of The Vow

“Not here,” I growled, my jaw locking tight as I released my hold on her warm skin.

My hands still tingled as I stepped back, putting several paces between me and the beautiful redhead.Robyn Foster.

She slid off the desk, her attention immediately shifting to her twisted clothes. I turned to the bookcase, giving her some privacy without giving her my back. No matter how much I wanted her, I couldn’t trust her. I had no idea who she really was. I had no idea if Robyn Foster was really her name.

Gritting my teeth, I listened to her muffled curses and the slide of fabric, waiting until she seemed sufficiently distracted before reaching down and adjusting my cock. This shouldn’t have happened—shouldn’t be happening.

I’d been doing this job for four years. Four goddamn years.And never had I put myself at risk like this. Never. Not for anyone. It was why they wanted me. Why I was so damn good at this. And I’d almost just fucked it all up for her—because of her. I’d almost blown my cover and a year of this goddamn operation to save her. The woman with flame-colored hair and a touch that made me burn.

Fuck.

I shifted my weight, my foot knocking into something on the floor.Her cell phone.I bent down and grabbed it. Thank God, the thick carpet completely muted the flashlight she’d turned on.

“That’s mine.” Her voice was indolent, with only a slight tremor of insecurity.

Gripping her phone tight, I faced her, air pushing through my lips in a steady stream as my gaze raked over her in the shadows. Tousled red hair. Flushed cheeks—from fury or desire, I couldn’t quite say. The poverty of illumination only amplified my ache to see all of her. Every inch wrapped in onyx silk. With her dress back in place, the only thing revealed now was the unsteady thread of her breath as it sewed into her lungs and the unmetered metronome of her pulse beating against her ribs.

Whoever she was, she wasn’t a professional—she wasn’t prepared for this. But she’d still come. Still risked. And still captivated me from the very first moment I’d laid eyes on her.

When Sandrine said she had someone she wanted me to meet, I smiled and went along, commiserating only to Magnus that his wife didn’t understand I wasn’t a man who planned on settling down.A point that was true regardless of who I was or pretended to be.

But then I saw her, and in that split second, there existed not only who I was, who I pretended to be, but also a vagrant, vigilante shadow of who Iwantedto be. And that man…that man wanted to be with her. An impossibility given the lives I led.

Our eyes locked, hers wild and brazen, reminding me of the moment I’d crushed my mouth to hers. The heat of her body flushed to mine. My hips fitted between hers. The electric fuse of our lips. Everything about us and that kiss was a lie except for what it did to me; its effect was the most real thing I’d felt in a long time.

A rush of fury swept through me. “You have no idea what you’re getting involved in.”

“You know nothing about me,” she declared, coming closer with her intent emblazoned all over her face. “Give me my—” she whimpered, my arm shooting her phone out of reach as I grabbed her wrist and hauled her back against me.

Hostage.I’d be lying if I said it was for her own safety that I held her this close. Lying if I didn’t admit I craved the feel of her like some kind of designer drug.

Fuck.

Maybe I needed sex. It had been long—too long, clearly, if this was the reaction I was having to a stranger.One who’d almost jeopardized the biggest case of my career.

“Your phone will be the least of your concerns if you don’t do exactly as I say,” I rasped, keeping my voice low and my face tucked close to her ear.

I could practically hear the strain of her throat working to swallow down her protest.

“You’ll get your phone back after we talk. But not here. It’s not safe,” I warned, my lips pressed to the sensitive skin where her jaw met her ear.

I knew everything there was to know about Magnus Sinclair, including that he didn’t trust anyone. Not his friends. Not me. Not his wife. Probably not even his own daughter. So, I wouldn’t put it past him to bug hisown home office.

“Where?” she whispered back, understanding everything I wasn’t saying.

“We’re going to walk out of this room, and you’re going to do exactly as I say. Do you understand?”

She stiffened.

“Let me be clear. If you don’t, if he gets even the slightest suspicion about you and your intentions, he will kill you.”

At that, she turned brittle in my arms. Frozen so stiff, I was afraid one slight bump would make her break.

“How do you know?” Her voice had no more strength than a shadow.

I tipped back, finding her eyes. “Because he’ll ask me to do it.”

“Sorry about that, old sport.” I clapped Magnus on the shoulder and leaned in. “I got a little carried away.”

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