Page 46 of Ranger's Oath
His breath rakes in harsh and ragged, his shoulders strung tight as cables. Every line of him quivers with restraint, like he is fighting the urge to seize me, to shake sense into me, to crush his mouth against mine until the argument dissolves in heat. I cannot decide which I would let him do, which I would crave more.
“You think I’m reckless,” I finally say, voice lower, steadier than I feel. “But you’re terrified because I don’t stay where you put me.”
His eyes narrow. “You think this is a game?”
“No. I think it’s my life, and you don’t get to live it for me.”
His hand twitches at his side, a restless energy that betrays how close he is to snapping. “You don’t understand what it does to me, hearing you out there, knowing I might come back to find you gone.”
I step closer, until only a breath separates us. “Then stop pretending you don’t want me in the fight. Because whether you like it or not, I’m already in it.”
The tension between us stretches until it quivers, a live wire thrumming with the threat of release. He leans in, not touching,not claiming, but radiating the promise that if he closes even a breath of distance, the world will explode into chaos. My pulse races, my skin flushed and fevered, and for a dangerous heartbeat I ache for it to happen, for the storm between us to finally break.
CHAPTER 18
GAGE
The silence between us hangs heavily even after Rush lays the ledger down. His words still reverberate. Sadie and Cassidy's family's foundation has been compromised, the very people Sadie trusted are feeding the enemy. I try to pull away, to focus on intel, but my body refuses to give her distance. She lingers in the corner of my vision, fire in her eyes, defiance in her stance, and every ounce of me strains toward her.
I’ve spent a career keeping cool under fire, training myself to breathe steady while chaos roared around me. Combat doesn’t rattle me. The battlefield has never scared me. But with her, everything tilts off balance. The thought of losing Sadie, of watching her light be snuffed out because I wasn’t fast enough or strong enough, terrifies me more than any enemy ever could.
Rush briefs us quickly, his voice clipped, efficient. “The initials tie back to Senator Grayson, Van Holt Security’s CEO, and Marvin Harwood. Oil magnate. Legacy family. Harwood’s reach includes half the ports on the eastern seaboard. They have resources, influence, and no shortage of hired muscle.”
I drag my hand over the map spread across the table, marking points as he speaks. My chest burns with frustration.Three powerful men with fingers in everything from legislation to private armies to port control. Taking them down won’t be simple. And the knowledge that Sadie’s name is tangled in their dealings makes my teeth grind.
I glance at Sadie. She’s standing tall, arms crossed, every inch of her radiating defiance. God help me, I admire that fire. She doesn’t flinch or falter. She doesn’t beg for safety. She stares danger in the eye and spits in its face, daring it to touch her. That blaze in her chest is what I love most and fear most, because the same courage that draws me to her could just as easily be the thing that gets her killed.
Rush folds his notes, tucks them under his arm, and excuses himself to secure the prisoner. The door clicks shut behind him, sealing the room in heavy quiet. I’m left staring at the one woman who unsettles me more than any firefight ever could, the only enemy I can’t outflank because she slips past every defense I’ve built and makes me want to surrender.
She doesn’t come at me swinging this time. No raised chin, no barbed retort. She just watches, steady and unflinching, as if daring me to close the gap. The quiet of it digs deeper than any argument could. My chest seizes, pressure swelling until it feels like my ribs could splinter. I can’t hold the distance. I don’t want to. My boots carry me forward before I register the choice, the need to be near her eclipsing everything else.
Her voice is low, teasing. “You’re pacing like a caged animal.”
“I’m trying not to do something stupid,” I growl.
Her lips curve. “Define stupid.”
I stop close enough to feel her heat. “Putting my mouth on you when the world outside wants us dead.”
Her eyes spark. “Maybe the world can wait its turn.”
That’s all it takes. The fragile restraint I’ve clung to shreds apart. I catch her wrist, guiding her hand firmly to my chest, pressing her palm over the violent hammer of my heart. The heatof her touch sears through me, her fingers trembling against my skin. She doesn’t flinch. Instead she tilts her head, eyes gleaming with challenge, daring me to prove myself with more than words, daring me to claim what’s already burning between us.
“Say it, Sadie,” I rasp.
Her smile is pure provocation. “Take me, Gage.”
I don’t hesitate. My mouth claims hers, rough and ravenous, swallowing her gasp as our lips crash together. She tastes like fire, salt, and rebellion. I drive her back into the table, papers and pens scattering like startled birds. Her fingers fist in my shirt, yanking me closer, nails grazing my skin as if she can’t get enough. I tear my mouth from hers only to trace the elegant line of her throat, kissing, sucking, tasting the delicate pulse beneath her skin before scraping my teeth lightly along it. She arches beneath me, a moan spilling free, offering me more of herself with every breath.
Her laugh breaks out between gasps, wicked and breathless. “So much for restraint, Ranger.”
I nip her jaw, voice rough. “You talk too much.”
“And you love it.”
Damn her, I do.
I drop to my knees, shove her leggings off, hook her thighs over my shoulders. Her scent hits me like a punch, addictive and intoxicating. I bury my face between her legs, tongue working her open, devouring her with a hunger I can’t hide. She fists her hands in my hair, rocking against me, desperate and wild. Every cry from her lips feels like a victory, every moan like a brand searing my skin. She taunts me through gasps. “Is this what you call strategy?”
