As quickly as he’d grabbed her hand, he let it go. “But only you. And I suggest you watch your back.” Lach stood up.
“Wait,” she said before she could stop herself. “Will I see you again?”
“Where are you staying?” he asked.
“The Nefertari.”
“Heath there too?”
“Yes.”
“Same room?”
She didn’t like the sour look on his face. “No, actually. What…what are you going to do?”
He didn’t answer, just turned around and walked away.
But as she made her way back to the hotel, she felt his eyes on her. Watching her back the entire way.
* * *
Three nights later, Gina was finishing up her packing and getting ready to catch her flight home in the morning, her job in Cairo finished and successful. From what she heard the raid on the warehouse went off without a hitch. No mention of anything in the papers, no injuries—at least on their side.
Jeremy had returned to the States ahead of her, leaving a note saying he’d been called back for an important meeting. Of course, he’d given her no details about it. She tried not to be annoyed. She needed to get used to being kept in the dark.
Gina tried to ignore the ache in her chest, pretending it wasn’t disappointment that Lach hadn’t come to the hotel. Of course he wouldn’t come—that would break protocol. She’d tried to find out surreptitiously if Lach was still in country, or if he’d vanished like Jeremy as soon as the job was done last night. That’s how it usually went—achieve the objective then disappear, either go on to the next mission, or go home and wait to be called up again.
Maybe someone waited for him back in the States and he’d hopped on the earliest flight he could find. She tried not to imagine what their reunion would look like—a beautiful, scantily-clad woman waiting at the door after getting his text. Or maybe she’d rush to the airport and risk security to get as close as she could to him as quickly as possible. His eyes would light up, he’d hurry to her, pick her up and twirl her around?—
A soft knock on the door tore her out of her thoughts and her breath caught in her throat. She froze in place, knowing it had to be him.
He knocked again, this time louder.
There was only one reason why Lachlan would seek her out now. There was no woman waiting for him. At least not back in the States. Just like no one waited for her.
He stayed behind. For me.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she walked across the hotel room and placed her hand flat against the door. If she opened it, everything would change. She’d have to tell herself that she wasn’t cold, that she did still have a heart. That she still wanted him, and he wanted her.
Gina bit her lower lip and made her choice.
She opened the door. Lach’s eyes met hers as heat rose between them.
“First, I want to say I’m sorry?—”
That was all he got out before Gina pulled him into the room. The door had barely closed behind him before his lips were on hers. He crushed her to his body, one hand streaking up her back to tangle in her hair, the other gripping her ass, hard. His kiss obliterated two years of loneliness and longing. They might as well have been back in the middle of the sandstorm. Her body immediately reacted to his as she ran her hands up his incredible biceps, feeling new scars underneath. She smoothed her thumbs over the stubble on his cheeks. His face would feel incredible between her legs—roughness against her thighs while his tongue brought her to ecstasy.
Gina moaned into his mouth and he echoed her desire. Lach had her undressed before they were even halfway to the bed. The world outside and all its problems ceased to exist as he laid her down and explored her body in the dimly lit room. When he finally sank into her, Gina’s nails bit into his back and her cry echoed his groan.
As they lay tangled together in the aftermath, Gina's heart raced with a mixture of satisfaction and fear. He’d undone her completely, sent all of her carefully cultivated defenses crashing down. All she wanted was to stay here in his arms.
But that was a dangerous fantasy.
“How did the mission go?” she asked, trying to remind herself of who they were.
“Flawless. Thanks to you.”
“My report? Or…”
