“If it’s the same way I feel about you, lass, then I have nothing to worry about.” He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “I adore you,” he whisper-growled. “I love you, Sunshine.”
“I love you, too, Soup. So, so much.”
Lach’s phone buzzed and he practically snarled at it.
“I don't know when our paths will cross again, but I'll find you,” he said, a fierce determination burning in his eyes. “I will always find you.”
“Promise?” she asked, her voice barely audible as he stroked her hair.
“Promise.”
After he left, she stayed curled up in the chair, watching out the rain-streaked window until she saw Lachlan jog to the parking garage across the street. She watched him field strip the cigarette he must have lit the moment he left the room—he knew she hated the smell so he never smoked around her—before he disappeared into the garage. Then she got dressed and drove back to her empty apartment, haunting it until it was time to leave for Africa.
* * *
Wearing nothing but a pair of lace panties and a matching bra, Gina sat on the edge of a hotel bed in Iceland, her eyes red from exhaustion and disappointment. Lachlan was supposed to meet her there the night before on a quick layover, but he hadn't shown up or called and she’d tossed and turned all night. Were they cutting it too close this time with only a few hours to spend together? Or had something happened to him on his mission? Was he lying in a German hospital, injured and unconscious, with no one having the faintest clue that they were together? Would she only find out he was injured—or God forbid, dead—from a heavily redacted report?
Stop it. You have zero to go on, so don’t start making up stories.
She laid her hand over her heart as if the pressure could make it slow down. They’d been at this for years now, meeting up whenever their schedules allowed. If they were lucky, they had a week or two together, only a couple of days if they weren’t. Other times, they only had a few hours together. Sometimes, like now, they missed each other entirely, and that hurt the most.
She really needed to talk to Lachlan this time. Things were about to change that might make it even harder if not impossible to meet up. Gina checked the time on her phone again. She had an hour and a half before she needed to leave.
Next time. If there is one.
With a heavy heart, Gina decided to take a shower before heading to the airport. As the hot water cascaded over her, she heard the tiny hotel room’s door open.
"Sorry I'm late," a beloved voice called out over the sound of rushing water. Gina's eyes widened along with her smile as Lachlan stepped into the bathroom, already peeling off his clothes. He pulled back the shower curtain, a sheepish grin on his face.
"Dammit, Soup. You scare me when you’re late and you don’t call," Gina said, torn between relief and anger. "Where the hell have you been?" She looked his naked body over for any injuries. Yup—stitches ran along a new, jagged cut across his left pec. Too damn close to his heart.
"Mission ran long," he explained as he stepped into the shower and pulled her close. "But I'm here now." His lips met hers and their bodies pressed together, his erection pushing insistently against her belly.
“What’s this?” she asked, running her fingers alongside the new wound.
“Nothing important.” He grabbed her hand and kissed her palm. Then he backed her against the shower wall as his hand strayed between her legs. “I’m safe. I’m here with you. Where I belong.”
Gina sighed as wetness that had nothing to do with the shower flooded her.
“Mmm. I can feel how much you’ve missed me, Sunshine,” Lachlan hissed in her ear as he rubbed her.
“So can I,” she replied as her hand wrapped around his straining cock.
He threw his head back and squeezed his eyes shut as she stroked him, water cascading down his chest. “Can’t get enough of you, Sunshine,” he groaned. “Never will.”
The next half hour was pure bliss and over too soon.
Afterward, they hastily dried off and dressed. Gina still had a flight to catch.
“I can drive you to Keflavík Airport,” Lach offered. “That’ll give us another hour.”
“No. I rented a car. It’ll be safer if I leave on my own.”
“No one’s watching youhere, are they?” He sounded annoyed.
“I never know.” She picked up her bag, feeling irritated both at nothing in particular and at everything in general. There was no time now to talk about the coming changes and she didn’t want to just drop a potential bomb in his lap and dash out the door.
“Gina.”
