“Angelo…” She gulped as he held her where he wanted her. “We…have time?”
He pulled back enough to look at her. Her lips were kiss-swollen, her blue eyes as dark as the sky at twilight.
It cost him so damn much to say it. “No,” he grated out.
She held his gaze for a moment before she dropped her forehead to his shoulder with a quiet exhale.
He gathered her in and held her there, one hand cradling the back of her head and the other pressed between her shoulder blades. He didn’t move as he soaked in this moment of raw want twisted up with regret that he couldn’t give her more.
Couldn’t fucking hold her after she shook apart in his arms.
“When you get back.” Her words were muffled against his shirt, and it wasn’t a question.
He drew back enough to see her. And Christ, that look on her face knotted something deep in his chest.
He slammed his mouth over hers again, the kiss moving from wild to deep and thorough, to slow and tender.
He had twenty minutes. Maybe less.
When he tore from the kiss, he made himself step back and drop his hands to his sides. If he didn’t put space between them, he couldn’t trust himself to stop.
“When I get back.”
She wrapped her arms around herself like maybe she was holding herself back too.
He started out the door.
“Angelo!” she called.
He swung to look at her, a dozen unspoken promises behind his lips.
“If you find…”
“Find what?”
She looked like she wanted to say more, but finally just shook her head.
“Be safe.” Her whispery tone spiked his desire all over again. The words did things to that place in his chest.
Before he could ravish her again, he gave her a hard nod and strode out.
By the time he reached the locker containing his gear, his mind shifted from sweet goodbyes to battle. As he suited up and double-checked his kit, the rest of the guys flooded in.
Only the clank of gear filled the air. In times like this, Ash always thought his brothers-in-arms were silent and serious because they were as locked in as he was. But now, he wondered if their minds were really on what they were leaving behind.
Chase was going to be a dad soon, and he had a lot more reason to come home safe. Hell, some of the other ladies might be expecting and just hadn’t made announcements yet.
In minutes, they were running across the yard for the chopper, ducking under the blades and strapping in.
The landing zone was a quarter mile from the target, a clearing in dense woods that would swallow sound and make them invisible.
Their target: five guys in a house owned by Cipher.
Ash took the rear of the formation as they moved swiftly through the tree line, his rifle up, scanning sectors. Con and Chickie were on point. Chase swept in on the left flank, Steele on the right. The rest of them were strung out across the line, and the comms were silent.
The house emerged through the dark.
“Fucking place looks like a family lives here. Not a terrorist cell,” came Sinner’s voice in their ears.
