Page 33 of A Ballad of Blackbirds and Betrayal

“I’ve thought about this for days,” he murmured against her throat, the confession rough with desire.“Watching you work, seeing the focus in your eyes, the determination.Wanting you and knowing I should keep my distance.”

“Why?”She gasped as his teeth grazed the sensitive junction of neck and shoulder.“Why keep your distance?”

He pulled back slightly, his dark eyes searching hers.“Because I haven’t wanted anyone since Jane.Because the mission has to come first.Because you deserve better than a man who’s been living for vengeance for eight years.”

Sabrina traced the scar along his jawline, the one she’d noticed him touching when he spoke of his daughter.“What I deserve is my choice.And right now, I choose this—whatever this is between us.”

For a moment, he remained still, and she thought he might pull away again.Then something shifted in his expression—determination giving way to raw need.His fingers found the strap of her swimsuit, sliding it slowly down her shoulder.

“Are you sure?”His voice was rough, strained with the effort of restraint.“Once we start this, I don’t know if I’m strong enough to stop.It’s been too long.”

In answer, she twined her arms around his neck and pulled him back to her, her mouth finding his with fervor.The water lapped around them, creating gentle waves that echoed their movements as the last barriers between them—physical and emotional—finally dissolved.

* * *

“You’re thinking too loudly,” Atticus murmured, his fingers tracing idle patterns along her spine.

Sabrina smiled against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart.They’d eventually made their way to his quarters—his room was closer, as she’d pointed out with practical logic that had made him laugh.They’d slept briefly, only to wake and reach for each other again, both insatiable after years of self-imposed isolation.

“Just wondering what happens after we stop Mitchell,” she admitted, the darkness making honesty easier.

His hand stilled momentarily before resuming its path.“One mission at a time, Sabrina.”

It wasn’t a promise of forever.It wasn’t even a promise of tomorrow.But as she drifted toward sleep, Sabrina found it was enough for now.In their world of uncertainty and danger, even temporary connections mattered.

Tomorrow would bring bioweapons, Mitchell’s demonstration, and all the complications they’d temporarily set aside.But tonight had given them something neither had expected to find—a moment of connection in lives defined by duty and loss.

For now, that was enough.

ChapterEleven

Forty-seven faces stared back at Sabrina from the screen—men, women, children, entire families captured in satellite imagery of the small community downwind from Mitchell’s demonstration site.She’d been studying them for the past hour, memorizing features, ages, the way a mother held her toddler’s hand in one image, how an elderly man tended his garden in another.These weren’t abstract numbers in a casualty projection.These were people with no idea that a US senator had designated them as expendable test subjects.

After grabbing a couple of hours of restless sleep, she’d returned to the lab with renewed determination.The brief rest had cleared her mind enough to see patterns she’d missed before, and she’d made promising advances with the bioweapon sample Eden and Nate had procured.Still, something crucial eluded her—the final piece that would transform her theoretical model into a viable countermeasure.

The sample itself sat inside a containment unit to her right—clear liquid in a nondescript vial that could pass for water or saline to the untrained eye.Nothing about its appearance betrayed the devastating potential locked within its molecular structure.Yet that innocuous-looking substance could slaughter an entire community within hours of release.

Behind her, the lab door opened with a soft hydraulic hiss.She didn’t need to turn to know who it was.Somehow, she’d developed an awareness of Atticus’s presence that surpassed ordinary senses—a shift in the air, perhaps, or the almost imperceptible sound of his measured breathing.

“Making progress?”he asked, voice crisp and energized.He came up behind her and put his hand on the small of her back, an intimate touch that made her remember why she’d only gotten a couple of hours of sleep.

She leaned into him slightly, as if her body couldn’t help but touch him in some way.“Good morning.”

His mouth quirked in a half smile and his brow arched.And then he leaned down and kissed her, nibbling at her bottom lip.“Good morning.”

She pulled back and tried to slow her racing heart and get her thoughts back under control.This was why business and pleasure didn’t mix.She had to focus.She had to work.

Atticus looked refreshed and focused, dressed in black BDUs and a fitted T-shirt that did nothing to hide the muscled contours of his chest and arms.Despite the standard tactical attire, he carried himself with the authority of someone who commanded respect regardless of what he wore.

“I’m making some progress,” she said, remembering what he’d asked her.“I’ve isolated the primary binding mechanism.Now I just need to develop something that can block it before it attaches to lung tissue.”

“You need fuel.You missed the team briefing this morning.”

Sabrina hadn’t even realized she’d worked through the scheduled meeting.“I lost track of time.”

He moved away, his gaze intent on the monitors where she’d been working.

“What if it’s not about blocking the binding sites?”he asked, his voice thoughtful.“What if it’s about creating a chemical decoy—something that mimics the cellular receptors and draws the toxin away from the actual targets?”

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