Heat crept up her neck; her whole body strained toward him like a compass finding north. Time stretched, balanced on the verge of something inevitable and terrifying and absolutely necessary.
“You’re worth everything.”
The air between them heated, the electric charge turning into something warmer and more intimate. Her heart pounded, echoing in her ears like a drumroll.
Neither of them moved—until they both did.
It was messy and sudden and not gentle at all. His mouth crashed into hers, all heat and fury and pent-up hunger, and she gasped against his lips. The world narrowed to this—his hands in her hair, her fingers curling in his shirt, desperation on his tongue. His stubble rasped over her skin, his teeth captured her bottom lip, sending sparks of excitement shooting through her.
He walked her backward until she hit the wall. She wrapped her arms around him, tugging him closer as if she needed to win the war they’d both been losing. The cool wall along her back was a stark contrast to the heat of his body pressed to her front, and she shivered from the sensation. His hand cradled the back of her head with surprising gentleness, the other pressed flat against the plaster beside her head.
The kiss deepened, their breaths mingling, the room fading away. She tasted the coffee he’d been drinking, heard the rough catch of his breath. It wasn’t a kiss, but a lifeline, a promise. A testament to the words they couldn’t say, the fears they couldn’t face alone.
His teeth captured her bottom lip; she made a sound she barely recognized as her own, a raw, primal thing that tore from her gut. His hand slid from her neck to her jaw, tilting her face to deepen the kiss, and she thought she might combust from his obvious need, the careful way he touched her even as everything else spun wildly out of control.
When they broke apart, breathing hard, she tucked her head into his neck, felt his chin on her head. His breath came in ragged bursts that matched her own, warm against her lips. His scent filled her senses: cedar and citrus and something uniquely him.
“I’m sorry, Spark,” his apology ghosted over her head.
“For what?” Her lungs ached with each shallow breath.
“For waiting this long.”
Her heart clenched, a physical ache in her chest. She framed his face with her hands, tracing the line of his jaw. His eyes were still closed, dark lashes resting against his cheeks, and he looked almost vulnerable in a way she’d never seen him. She traced his laugh lines with her fingertips.
“David…” Too many words crowded her throat—thank youandfinallyandplease don’t let go—and none of them adequate.They were too small, too ordinary for the enormity of her emotions.
When she straightened a moment later, it wasn’t with anger. It was with purpose. The kiss had clarified something, burned away the fog of mistrust and confusion. She knew what she had to do. What they had to do.
“We stop him tonight.” Determination coursed through her veins like a current, electric and alive. Her hands were steady, her heartbeat a drumroll.
David’s eyes opened, and they were burning with the same resolve. He nodded once decisively. “Together.”
The word landed between them like a pledge, a vow. Together. Not her facing Chester alone. Not David running simulations in isolation. Not two people orbiting each other’s damage and fear. Together.
She reached for his hand, lacing their fingers, and he squeezed back. His fingers were calloused from hours of typing, and his palm fit against hers like it had been designed that way. Like two pieces of a puzzle clicking into place.
“We need a plan.”
“I have three,” a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth; his fatigue forgotten. “I’ve been working on them all week.”
Of course he had three. The realization made something tender bloom in her chest—not that he’d been planning, but that he’d been planning for them. For this moment when she was ready to stop running and start fighting back.
Her anxiety started to rise, and she fought it back. Four things: the hard floor beneath her feet, the solidity of the wall behind her, the warmth of David’s hand in hers, and the chill air wafting from the vent across her skin.
The room seemed brighter, the air sharper, the world coming into focus with a crystal clarity.
She took a breath. “Okay, Geek. Tell me.”
He didn’t let go of her, and she didn’t pull away. He tugged her to his desk, pulling up holographic displays with his free hand. They had work to do. A stalker to catch. A saboteur to unmask. For the first time since Chester crawled back into her life like a toxic ghost, Lena didn’t feel like prey.
She felt like a hunter. A warrior ready to fight for her life, for her freedom, for the man standing beside her.
And she wasn’t hunting alone.
Chapter 46
Flashpoint
