“No,” Noni said, her chin lifting. Fire lit her dark eyes, and pure stubbornness firmed her jaw.
His entire body heated to a slow burn. He’d sacrifice anything but her. Saving her was within his control, and he had to do it. “Yes.”
She stood then, crossing her arms and moving around the sofa toward him. “Not a chance. This is my fight, and I’m getting that baby.”
His temper uncoiled like a live wire. Too much uncertainty and danger slammed into him, releasing the tight hold he’d had on his control. No more. “You don’t want to push me any more today,” he said, giving fair warning.
Malloy cleared his throat. “On that note, Tina and I are going to get a couple of hours shut-eye.” The cop sounded exhausted, but he shoved to his feet and lurched toward the hallway. “Which bedroom?”
“On the left,” Denver said evenly, his gaze not leaving Noni’s. The woman should’ve gotten on the helicopter like he’d told her to do. If she was safely in Montana, he could fully concentrate on the job, or jobs, he had to do. There was almost a zero chance somebody wouldn’t die in the morning. But Noni had to be safe. “Noni.”
She faced him squarely as Tina quietly shut the door to the bedroom behind her and Malloy. “You can’t seriously be arguing about this,” she said, sweeping her hands out. “I’ve been in car chases. Shot at. Nearly kidnapped. For goodness’ sake. This baby ismine. I’m not leaving her and hiding somewhere.”
Hers. Yeah. Of course he got it. She already viewed the baby as her daughter. She’d stated that intent. Of course she’d fight to the last breath to protect Talia. But how could he protect Noni at the same time? “They said to come alone,” he said lowly, shaking out his hands to prevent him from curling them into fists. The pressure on him, from every direction, upped in power.
She breathed in, her chin down. “I know what they said, and we’ll follow the plan. But I’ll be right alongside Malloy so I can hold my baby the second we have her. That’s nonnegotiable.”
Her defiance was having the untenable effect of waking the beast inside him. The one that still railed against the unfairness of the world. The one he kept so carefully in check. Even the air around them tasted of danger. Of the myriad of precise blades and guns even now being prepared. He could feel them. Could sense their intent. Heat unbanked inside him as fear and fury combined. How could she not see the danger? “You don’t understand what’s happening.”
She flung her arms out wide. “How could I?” Her voice rose. “Everything that is happening is crazy. I’m stalking a gang to take back a baby who became my daughter in a split second. You’re a super-secret genetic experiment being chased by the people who created you. I have my aunt and her wife driving who knows where to meet who knows whom.”
In fury, she was glorious.
She slapped her hands against her hips. “We just watched a veterinarian dig a bullet out of a cop on a kitchen table. Then we bid on my baby against monsters on the dark web—whatever that really is. There’s no way to understand this world.” She rubbed her forearm. “I’ve been shot, Denver.” Her voice wavered on the last.
Ah hell. He reached her in two strides and wrapped his arms around her. “I know, baby.” Shoving his emotions aside, he held her close and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “You’ve been through enough.” Now she had to see his point of view.
She lifted her head, and tears glimmered on her long dark lashes, her tone broken. “We’ve all been through enough. But we have further to go.”
Those words dug deep. He’d lived his entire life thinking them. “You can stay safe,” he whispered. The woman had no idea how much he needed her to stay safe. No clue. Perhaps he hadn’t, either. But now he did. Everything good in him he’d already given to her. “Trust me.”
“I do.” She placed her hands on his chest. “But I’m coming tomorrow, and there’s no way to stop me.”
He blinked. Her defiance just pissed him off. Right or wrong, his temper took over. “You’ll do what I tell you to do.”
She tried to step back and he didn’t allow it. “Listen, Denver—”
“No. You listen.” Emotions ripped through him so quickly he couldn’t grasp just one. “This is an op involving gangs and cops and probably soldiers who want me taken.” He hated talking. This is why he didn’t do it. “You’d be just collateral damage to them.” When she was everything to him. He’d known it from the first time he’d kissed her. Sinking into a bottle hadn’t helped even ease his pain at leaving her. How could she not understand that one simple fact?
She opened her mouth to argue, no doubt. So he went on instinct and stopped her, his lips covering hers. She stiffened, her hands still against his chest. Then she made a helpless sound in the back of her throat, and those fingers curled into his shirt with a little bite of pain. Her body softened, leaning into him. He took the kiss deeper until she opened her mouth, letting him in. Her mouth was hot and tasted of the wine from dinner and of something else, something sweet, something that was just Noni.
His girl.
He was tired of pretending otherwise. Tired of pushing her away and trying to be a good guy. Tired of being alone.
God, she tasted like heaven. Oh, he’d probably never get there, but this was close enough. This was perfect. He explored her, his hand flattening across her lower back, bending her into him. She slid her hands up over his shoulders, pressing her breasts to his chest. His cock jumped and nestled into the sweet warmth between her thighs.
Too damn perfect. The lust always present when she was around, the hard-edged desire she brought out in him, ignited into a demanding ache. Sharp and intense.
They had to stop this. His control had snapped, and he’d felt that release deep inside. She wasn’t safe with him, and that knowledge cut deeper than any scalpel ever could. Nobody was safe near him at the moment. So he leaned back, releasing her mouth, panting.
Her eyelids opened to reveal those stunning black orbs. They slowly cleared. Need shimmered there along with a dark defiance. “That all you got?” Her voice was husky and taunting.
The animal inside him, the one that tracked and hunted, leaped alive with a hunger so sharp it craved. His chains released. “No. I’ve got more.” Awareness finally crossed her face, but it was too late.
Way too late.
Noni realized just a second too late that she’d gone too far. Oh, she’d felt it in his kiss. The barely restrained hunger, the snapping of his control. She’d wanted all of him, or she thought she had.
