Top level—open air, view of the city, and a twelve-foot gap to the next building's garage.
"Oh God." She sees what I'm planning. "No, no, no?—"
"Trust me."
I hit the ramp at full throttle. We're airborne, her scream in my ear, the city spread below us like a promise of death if I've miscalculated. The landing rushes up, and we hit hard, back tire skidding, but we're across.
I brake hard, spinning the bike to a stop.
She's shaking against me, but when I look back, she's grinning—wild and fierce and beautiful.
"You're insane," she breathes.
"You're alive," I counter.
She kisses me.
It's sudden, desperate, her hands fisting in my hair as she claims my mouth. She tastes like adrenaline and coffee, and I'm kissing her back before my brain catches up, one hand tangled in her hair, the other pulling her closer.
Heat explodes between us, inappropriate and perfect, and absolutely the wrong time.
“Sorry. I just—adrenaline, and you—” She pulls back, breathing hard.
"Later," I promise, and mean it. Heat coils low in my belly despite everything.
Her lips are swollen from the kiss, and there's a wildness in her eyes that has nothing to do with the jump we just survived. My hand is still tangled in her hair, and I have to force myself to let go. The taste of her lingers—coffee and adrenaline and something sweet underneath, like brown sugar.
“Later.” She nods, eyes still on my mouth.
I force myself to focus, checking for pursuit. The SUVs can’t make the jump—but they don’t need to. Sirens converge on the other building. We have minutes at most.
"Where to?" She settles back against me. The jump, or the kiss, did something to her because she's not shaking anymore.
"Extraction point. Then we figure out how to stop your Prometheus Network."
"Our," she corrects. "Our Prometheus Network. You're in this now."
I start the bike and head for the extraction point. "Yeah, I figured that out when you kissed me."
Her laugh is soft against my shoulder. "That's not why you're in it."
"No?"
"You were in the moment you saw me fighting and decided I was worth saving. Thank you for that."
She's right, but I don't tell her that. Not yet.
The extraction point is a warehouse near the water, but I take the long way, doubling back twice to make sure we've lost pursuit.
Savannah stays pressed against me, and I'm hyperaware of every breath, every shift of her weight.
When I take a hard turn, her arms tighten around my waist, and her lips brush the back of my neck—probably accidental, but it sends electricity down my spine anyway.
Tyler would have liked her.
The thought comes unbidden as we ride through empty streets. He always said I needed someone who could match me, someone who wouldn't be scared off by the life we lead.
"Find a woman who can stab a man and kiss you in the same night,"he joked once, drunk after a mission gone sideways."That's the one who'll understand you."
