What was Sami doing?
Sleeping, damn it. Which was exactly what he should be doing.
He reached down and flicked on the lantern. The Hello Kitty journal lay next to it. Sighing, he reached for a pencil and the journal to write something. Anything.
Sami. Samantha. Sami Samantha Steel. Samantha Steel. Did Sami have a middle name? He should find out. Maybe Susanna? Lynne? Florence? God, he was totally losing it.
Flipping the page, he sketched her face in long, broad strokes. Her expression was languorous and satisfied with a spark in her eyes. The look she’d had right after she’d reached orgasm. Pink cheeks, parted lips, relaxed face. So much contentment in those eyes that he could’ve drowned.
His entire body tightened. Whoa, boy. Down.
His damn cock didn’t listen.
He turned the page and sketched her in full tactical gear out on a raid with her hair up and intense concentration in her expression. Then another sketch with her talking to little Lena.
The night wore on, and he lost himself, forgetting consciousness for a while.
The moon turned to a soft sun. Blinking, he looked toward the window. It was maybe midmorning. Where had the entire night gone? What the hell?
He slowly turned his head and looked around the couch.
Sketch after sketch after sketch of Sami Steel lay all around him. On the sofa, on the chair, all over the table. He glanced down to see a myriad of sketches littering the floor.
He flipped the journal closed. His obsession had switched from organizing things to something else. Somebody.
Sami.
Chapter Eleven
Every murderer has a good reason in his own mindto kill.
—Dr. Vinnie Wellington,Perceptions
Sami had had another nightmare where white walls and danger surrounded her, so she’d almost hunted Tace down the night before to make her forget the past. Morning had finally arrived, and she’d headed to work. She took a big drink of her coffee and settled at the monstrous conference table in the Vanguard war rooms. Her body had been on fire all night, and Tace Justice had promised her another round before they’d been interrupted by Greyson.
But they’d said only those hours.
Now it was back to business and she needed to calm her raging hormones. Maybe her body was like a valve. She’d been so content to concentrate just on work, and now after having had good sex, she wanted it again. By that logic, she’d be fine in a couple of days and then move straight to spinsterhood. Yeah. That would work.
Tace strode into the room wearing worn jeans and a blue T-shirt that stretched across his packed upper body.
Her mouth went dry.
His eyes sizzled like the sky over the ocean on a heated day, deep and blue. A shadow covered his square jaw, drawing attention to his full lips. Or maybe that’s just where her gaze wanted to go. For the rest of her life she’d remember the feeling of his mouth, firm and busy.
She shifted in her seat.
He took the chair across from her and didn’t look her way.
Um, okay. She kept her face expressionless. So he didn’t give her a look or smile. So what? She needed things to be normal. Even so, maybe a little bit of reassurance wasn’t out of line. Was she just a quick lay? A pit opened up in her stomach. Maybe he was just a quick lay. Yeah, that was it. She’d used him. Tears pricked the back of her eyes. What in the world? She batted them away and took a long drink of her coffee.
Jax finished taping an old map of Santa Barbara up on a whiteboard. He glanced at the full wall of windows. “We have enough light with the sun that I’d like to conserve the lanterns. Let’s get this done during daylight.”
Raze Shadow stalked silently into the room and took a seat next to Sami. The guy exuded danger. He’d pulled his dark hair back at the nape, drawing attention to his sharp Native American features. He had a gun at his hip and at least two knives strapped to his thigh. His light blue eyes cut her way. “Welcome back.”
“Thanks.” She took another sip of the coffee, the tears gone. “Is it just the four of us?” It had been a while since it was just the four lieutenants in a team meeting.
As if on cue, Maureen Shadow hustled into the room. “Am I late?”
