He yanked her clear of a sword’s downward arc, pulling her into his chest. He didn’t let go as he attempted to decipher what he was seeing in her eyes, brow furrowing. Then, his gaze darted around her, to her aura, for answers. And it clicked. The iridescent blue of his eyes heated to nearly black.
“I thought I was the one prone to distraction,” he said, a low, deep hunger reverberating through his words and hitting her somewhere intimate.
Miranda maneuvered around him, twisting to drive the broad side of the shovel hard into a cowl covered face. The clang reverberated up her arm and she dipped, allowing Devin to swing the crowbar, catching an incoming enforcer’s shoulder with the slightly hooked end and wrenching their entire body from that singular point. Their face slammed into the shelf of supplies, containers and solutions toppling over and leaking viscous acids that started to burn through their leather uniform.
Devin stood very still and very close to her, not backing away as she rose to her full height, practically grinding against him. She could feel every scorching inch.
“You are playing with fire, Mira,” he warned, once again pulling her from an incoming attack. “You were plenty irresistiblebefore.” His hand enclosed around her jaw, thumb sweeping her lips like he was marking his next target. “If we were anywhere else this wouldn’t even be a conversation,” he rasped, voice heavy with implication.
Miranda’s eyes locked with his as she swung with the blade edge of the shovel. When she felt it connect with something solid just past Devin’s shoulder, she jerked the handle back, ripping and pulling against a torso. Screams followed.
It was the way desire pulsed in his eyes every time she moved, like watching her slam a shovel into someone’s face was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen, like her power was arousing, that heated her all over. That ignited the undercurrent of arousal tainting the adrenaline.
Together they twirled and hacked, arms threading to reach enemies, anticipating and reacting in flawless synchronization. A perfectly choreographed duet of destruction. And each time he pulled close or she arched her back into his chest or their handsbrushed, was an exhilarating rush unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Her body was screaming, vibrating with the energy to attack and yet warmth was building between her thighs, her heaving breaths were not from exertion.
The exit was in sight and Miranda sent her shovel nose first over Devin’s shoulder, spearing an enforcer in the neck. She didn’t bother removing her arm, instead draping it over Devin’s back as the enforcer wheezed. She bit her lip because she couldn’t bite his.
Not yet, anyway.
They lingered, but she didn’t detect any new enemy bodies in her peripheral. She did hear the barking of voices just outside the door. Reinforcements had arrived. Whatever enforcers remained, they must have decided it was more prudent to scatter, than continue the fight.
And, yes, this was hardly the time or place to hook her fingers over the back of Devin’s head, nor was it in any way appropriate to part her lips over his. There was a very responsible part of her that was well aware of just how indecent it was for his hands to draw down her body. How scandalous it was for his fingers to dip into her skin before hefting her off her feet. No arguing with how sinfully wicked it was for the pressure of his arousal to coax unabashed moans from her throat.
The door—that had been just within reach—was kicked inward, hinges snapping.
And it took entirely too long for either of them to think about stopping.
“What the hell?” Captain Blair fixed them with an incredulous stare. “Look, I’m not one to criticize or judge inappropriate proclivities, but there is actual blood all over you.”
Devin set Miranda on her feet.
“Not ours,” Devin commented, but Miranda was just grateful that it wasn’t her mother that burst through the door.
“Not sure it matters,” Captain Blair countered, then he began to take in the scene. He sighed, shoulders rising and falling with the gesture. “Did you leave…anythingintact? This is going to take weeks to sort out.”
“Are my mother and sister outside?” Miranda asked.
“Who? Oh, yeah. Wait a minute.” Captain Blair spun on the spot, narrowing his eyes at her. “He wasyourfather, wasn’t he? That damn noble who came strolling into my HQ with way too much knowledge of very secret plans. He acted like he was suddenly in charge of everything and half my officers were ready to follow him out the door without even bothering for my approval.”
“Things had changed, we wanted to make you aware,” Devin said with a shrug.
“Just keep him away from my investigation from now on,” Captain Blair ordered. “I assume Graves got away?”
Miranda watched Devin, gauging his reaction. It couldn’t be easy to face now, knowing he might never get the chance again.
But she loved him for it.
The word flitted so effortlessly through her thoughts, she almost missed it entirely. Her heart must have figured it out long before her brain, because it felt too natural, too easy. Like she had loved him for much longer than this moment.
She expected to recoil at the realization. After all, love would make it all the harder when this ended. She had been adamant that falling for Devin was the last thing she wanted.
Then why couldn’t she stop grinning?
“Yes, naturally, at the first sign of trouble he ran,” Devin said, biting out the words.
“Cowards never change,” Captain Blair replied, before he started to order about his men to different tasks.
This was no longer Miranda’s part of the mission and she took Devin’s hand, leading him toward the door.
