Kyle moved his head to the side, lips dragging over Jamie’s cheek as he wrapped his arms around Jamie to hold him there.“You’re all I need.Like this.Don’t want anyone else.”
Jamie turned his head to fit their mouths together, drinking each other in through lazy kisses.Jamie could feel Kyle breathe against him, calm and easy now that he was coming down from his high.Jamie rolled them onto their sides, curling one leg over Kyle’s hips to fit him against Jamie’s body, unwilling to let go.
“I only want you,” Jamie said against the top of Kyle’s head, holding him close.
He wanted to say more, the words right on the tip of his tongue, but rare uncertainty held him back.He thought of last summer and a dreamlike confession he wasn’t sure he was supposed to have heard, much less understood.But holding Kyle like this, Jamie thought maybe…maybe Kyle had meant it more than just for the sex they couldn’t get enough of when they were with each other.
Because Jamie knew he would never get enough of Kyle, like this or in the middle of a firefight, knowing the other man would always have his six.Kyle was everything he never knew he wanted, much less needed, and giving him up would be impossible.
“Thinking too hard,” Kyle murmured, breath warm against Jamie’s throat, voice muzzy in the way of one close to sleep.
Jamie chuckled softly, holding him tighter.“I’m thinking about you.About us.”
“Mm.”Kyle sighed against his skin, one hand gently stroking Jamie’s hip.“Not going anywhere.”
No, he wasn’t.
And neither was Jamie.
08
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP
Jamie set a mug of coffee down beside Katie’s work spot at the desk in the office they were both sharing on the first floor.Then he unscrewed the bottle of whiskey in his other hand and poured a generous amount into the cup.
“I’m sorry about how I reacted last night,” he said.
Katie’s hand swiped out cat-quick to grab the coffee, bringing it to her mouth.“Doesn’t sound like you’re sorry for what you said.”
“Because I’m not.But I could’ve expressed myself better.”
Katie held the coffee mug out to him.“Your apology sucks.Take it back.”
Jamie sat down on the other side of the desk from her.He didn’t take the coffee mug.“You should have told me what was happening when it was happening.”
“You had a role to play, Jamie.I didn’t need you thinking about what you were going to say because any hesitation would be too obvious.I was busy trying to keep Jansen out of everyone’s minds without him figuring out we’re metahumans.”
“Don’t you think you doing that would tip him off to begin with?”
Katie swallowed a large sip of coffee before grabbing the whiskey bottle to add a touch more to the cup.“I can mimic the wavelength of a human mind pretty damn accurately.I can’t guarantee Jansen will believe we presented as human, but I’m working on the assumption that I did my job right.Are you done second-guessing me?Because I have work to do.”
Jamie tried not to wince.Apparently, sleeping off her anger hadn’t happened as it had with him.“If you think we’re still in the clear, then all right.We’ll work off that assumption.”
“You’ll know in a week,” Katie said, voice coming out clipped.
“I can’t tell if you’re mad at me personally or the situation in general.Which is it, Katie?”
Jamie hoped she answered.He didn’t want to have to order her to talk to him about this problem because that would just make things worse.But they needed to get through this for the sake of the team and the sake of the mission.Problems started at the top and rolled downhill, and Jamie prided himself on being a proactive officer over one who let infighting happen in the ranks.
“Do you need an answer, or do you want an answer?”she asked.
“Need.”
Katie took a sip of her coffee and used her other hand to save what she was working on.All the holoscreens disappeared, minimized on the embedded desk screen below them.She leaned back in her seat and sighed tiredly, rubbing at her temple.
“You’re playing this role a little too accurately, and it grates.It’s honestly more me than you.You normally don’t question my field decisions,” she said.
“We’re normally taking out targets in the field, not trying to get them to dance to our tune.This is different.”
