“Alejandro,” she gasped, hips arching.
My name on her tongue. I could die a happy man.Almost.I wasn’t ready to go anywhere until I felt her walls tighten around me while our bodies connected in the way we were made to do.
“Take me. Now, please,” she begged a few minutes later, panting hard as the jazz music thrummed louder and more intensely, like a soundtrack for this moment. “I need to come with you, not alone. Together, remember?”
Together.
That word from her freed something inside me. I’d said it yesterday, but hearing it from her ...
Illusion or not, as far as I was concerned, this woman and I were bound to one another in this lifetime and our next.
I climbed onto the bed, freed her of her panties, then did what she asked of me.
Our eyes stayed locked, our fingers entwined above our heads, anchoring us together as I buried myself inside her, giving us both exactly what we needed. And when she whispered my name again—not from fear or sadness, but in love—I knew I’d carry this moment with me into whatever came next.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Audrey
After walking through metal detectors to confirm we weren’t armed, I stepped through the arched double doors alongside the man who had just made love to me like he was, in fact, my husband. My body was still pulsing, overheated, and on fire.
It’d been far more than sex. A deep connection. A promise of something real in a world full of lies.
Maybe I should have felt guilty, given what was at stake. But it was hard to regret what had happened between us when it felt like it was meant to.
“You okay?” Alejandro whispered in my ear as we began weaving through the guests in the ballroom.
I peeked up at him. “I need to do what I heard you mumble to yourself upstairs while buckling your belt.”
He gently squeezed my hand. “Did I say that out loud?”
I nodded. “‘Focus up.’”
We both had to switch gears, from our stolen moment to what was to come. Saving Eden. Taking down the men who’d turned our lives inside out. I was ready to hit fast-forward and for it to be over now.
“So,” I began as he turned me toward him, “are you focused up now?”
The full orchestra played nearby, and I didn’t miss the painful irony of being so close to a woman at the piano.
He brushed his free hand over my cheek. “I’m focused on you at the moment.”
Those dark eyes held me captive, turning the music into background noise.
We were in a room full of high-rolling criminals dressed in couture, sipping champagne and preparing to bid on stolen, smuggled, or traded artifacts—according to Hollis. And here we were ... pretending we belonged. Pretending we weren’t bait, the most valuable “item” there. To Rhett and Helix, at least.
Alejandro threaded his fingers through mine and lifted our hands, brushing a kiss across my knuckles.
Good thing our cover was as newlyweds. No acting required for us.
“There you two are.” Hollis popped our moment. She had a habit of doing that. “Nice night, yeah?”
That was his cue. Alejandro hesitated, then subtly brought his hand near his head, activating the motion-sensitive comm in his ear.
“Why don’t you get a drink?” Hollis tipped her head toward the bar, eyes on Alejandro.
Also planned. Reed was there waiting for him.
Alejandro leaned in and kissed my cheek. When he stepped back, my heart stuttered at the sight of him in the dark-navy suit. A crisp white shirt, collar open, two buttons undone. Tan skin I wanted to touch again.
