"East wall by personnel entrance. Controls camera feeds and alarm system. First target for neutralization."
"Extraction rally point if primary egress is compromised."
"Loading dock east side. Luc's team maintains vehicle there with suppressing fire coverage."
We run through scenarios until my brain feels like it's going to leak information. But by the time Luc calls a break, I know that facility like I designed it myself.
Remy finishes with the explosives around the same time. He packs them carefully in a tactical bag, runs final checkson detonators and timers. Everything precise. Everything controlled.
"We're as ready as we're going to be," he says finally. "Briefing with extraction team at nineteen hundred hours. Op launches at midnight."
Hours until the briefing. Hours until we coordinate final details with Luc's people. Hours before we commit to an assault that could kill us all.
The apartment goes quiet. Luc disappears into one of the back rooms to handle coordination. Remy secures the explosives, then turns to me.
"Come here."
I cross to where he's standing. He pulls me against him, hands settling on my hips. Possessive. Grounding.
"How are you really doing?" he asks.
"Scared. Focused. Ready." I meet his eyes. "All of it at once."
"Good. That's exactly where you should be." His hand slides up my spine to cup the back of my neck. "We have a few hours before briefing. I need you with me. Not spiraling. Not thinking about tomorrow. Just here."
I understand what he's offering. What he's demanding. Connection before we walk into fire. Claiming before we potentially die.
"Yes," I say.
His mouth crashes into mine. Brutal. Consuming. Kissing me like he's trying to devour every breath, every sound, every piece of me before we both die. I kiss back with matching violence, nails raking down his back, needing him closer, harder, more.
He walks me backward until my spine slams against the wall. Pain blooms sharp and immediate. His body cages me there, all muscle and controlled violence. One hand fists in my hair hard enough to sting, wrenching my head to the angle he wants. The other hand shoves under my shirt, fingers digginginto my ribs like he's trying to reach through skin to claim what's underneath.
"If I'm too rough tonight, if I take you somewhere you can't go, you tell me. Immediately." His voice is gravel and threat. "Understand?"
"Yes."
"Not good enough. Give me a word. Something you'd never say when I'm inside you. Your safeword. You use it, everything stops."
My brain scrambles through chemistry terms. "Benzene."
His mouth curves sharp and predatory. "Chemical compound. Very you." He releases my hair, frames my face with both hands. Gentler now but no less intense. "You say that word, I stop. No matter what. No questions. No explanations. Your safety is absolute."
The care underneath the dominance makes my throat tight. "I trust you."
"I know you do." His mouth captures mine again, slower this time, savoring. The kiss deepens as his tongue slides against mine, tasting, claiming. One hand fists in my hair while the other spans my throat, thumb pressing against my racing pulse. He kisses me like he's memorizing every response—the way my breath catches, how my body melts into his, the small sound that escapes when his teeth graze my bottom lip. When he finally pulls back, I'm gasping. "Now take off your clothes."
I strip fast. Shirt yanked over my head, pants shoved down my hips. My hands shake with urgency and fear and desperate need. When I'm finally naked, he circles me slowly. Eyes tracking every inch of exposed skin like he's cataloging targets.
"Bedroom. On the bed. Face down."
The small bedroom has a double mattress on a metal frame. It's basic. Functional. I move to it, lie face down like he ordered.
Behind me, I hear him removing his own clothes. The clink of his belt. Fabric hitting the floor. Then the mattress dips as he climbs on.
His hands slide up my calves, over my thighs, gripping my hips to pull me up to my knees. I'm face down, ass up. Completely exposed.
"You did good today," he says. His palm smooths over the curve of my ass. "Learned fast. Stayed focused. Proved you can handle pressure."
