She wanted those lips on hers again, stealing her breath—her cries—and feeding her those low, hypnotizing growls that made her whole body shiver.
“Yes. Move over.” She tried for authority but got hormones on overload.
Opal’s quiet laugh carried from the other side of the room. She glanced up to see her watching them.
Ellory felt heat climb her neck and realized too late that she and Ash were far closer than professional colleagues needed to be. Worse, she knewexactlyhow he’d been looking at her.
If she was honest, she’d been looking at him the same way.
When she glanced around, she saw the team had gone, leaving the rest at their command posts. As if everyone in theroom suddenly realized the amount of work it would take to support Charlie in the field, they snapped into their roles.
Luckily, so did Ash. After he stepped back, there was suddenly more space in her lungs and some of her brain cells returned enough to dive into her work.
After a while, a cup of coffee appeared at her elbow, and she looked up to see Izzy holding a tray. She murmured her thanks and received a smile in return before the woman moved to Opal.
Ellory picked up the mug and took a sip. It probably tasted delicious, but her tastebuds weren’t in charge right now. She was staring at a string of code embedded in the financial file.
“Sophie.” Excitement quivered in her voice. “Can you have a look at this?”
Sophie jumped up and hurried to Ellory’s side. She felt it when the woman registered what she was seeing.
Sophie’s breath came out in a rush. “Zoom in on that sequence.”
Ellory adjusted the display. “My eyes aren’t playing tricks? You see it too.”
“It’s not there by mistake. It’s too patterned.”
Ash hovered behind them, his presence threatening to short-circuit her senses.
“It could be an account number.” She trapped her lip between her teeth as she sifted through her memory banks for a similar number sequence.
Ash dragged a chair beside Ellory. She thought he was going to sit, but to her surprise, he gestured for Sophie to take the seat. As soon as the woman did, she pulled the laptop closer.
Ellory focused on what the brilliant cryptologist was doing and pushed her glasses up her nose when she heard a low sound coming from Ash’s throat.
She glanced over to find his stare locked on her mouth. Her body prickled and she had to tear her gaze away and concentrate on something besides the hot SEAL who was obviously focused on her too.
Minutes turned into an hour. The clock was ticking down until the dual teams infiltrated the offices in upstate New York and Wyoming. She and Sophie went back and forth, cross-analyzing the code with the financial records.
When Sophie issued a small gasp, Ellory leaned in. “You see something?”
She nodded. “You’re right. It’s another account number.”
“Let me see.” This was her strength.
She felt the room still around her as she studied the number string. She only needed one number to jog her memory. If she’d seen it once, she’d recall it.
Ash didn’t speak, but she felt him watching her. When it was time to move, his focus shifted away, and she was able to breathe again.
Ash stepped fully into command mode, and the shift in him was immediate. His shoulders squared. His voice rang out with authority. Whatever heat lived between her and Ash was banked behind his sharp discipline.
“Wyoming, give me your status.”
Denver’s voice came through the speakers. “Two minutes out. No exterior movement. Thermal’s clean.”
“Copy. New York?”
Con responded. “Stacked. Waiting on your go.”
