Page 50 of Witness Security Breach

There was only hunger centered on this man. She wanted him more than she wanted to breathe. All of him. Inside her, deep and fast and hard and rough.

Blood thudded against her eardrums and pulsed in her groin. “More, more.” The words spilled from her mouth in a rough whisper.

She was condemned to hell. The upside was the road was slippery and hopefully riddled with orgasms. If he kept this up, she’d have her first pretty soon.

His mouth left hers, gliding across her cheek, her jaw, to her carotid artery, where her pulse pounded wildly as she took ragged breaths, wanting to curl into him.

“I’m your brother, huh?” His voice, soft with menace, skated over her skin. “You sure as heck don’t kiss me back like a sister.”

Shock and hurt slapped her.

She very nearly picked up the gauntlet he threw down. But the one thing she was better at than fighting was running. And when your survival depended on it, you learned to run like the devil was chasing you.

“Out of all the excuses I imagined hearing from you, this one takes the cake,” he said. Lust and anger etched his features into something dark and smoldering and dangerous. “Truly priceless. The worst part is, I think you’re delusional enough to believe it.” The harshness of his words stunned her heart, but she jerked out of his arms.

Her body mourned the loss of his male heat, his scorching touch.

“I’d give my right hand to get under your skin,” he said, “to have you want me the way I want you. I’ve stood by for years, being there for you. Being your person. Loving you. Wanting you. I told myself that one day, when you were ready for a relationship, you would open your eyes to what was in front of you. Instead, you dated Nick. Not just a guy in the office, where I had to have it thrust in my face every damn day, but one of my friends. I had to hear about the details from both of you. Do you have any idea what that was like for me?”

After all he’d just said, the question was rhetorical, but he didn’t let her off that easily.

“It gutted me, Charlie. And if by some chance the two of you had worked out, it would’ve broken my heart.”

Guilt ripped her to pieces.

Aiden was twisting everything up inside of her into a giant choking knot.

“I wasn’t serious about Nick.” He was a friendly work associate that she passed her off-duty time with between the sheets. They’d hooked up until he started pushing to turn their superficial fun into a real relationship. She didn’t do long-term with anyone. Living half a life wasn’t so bad when the idea of anything else, anything more, seemed impossible, too far out of reach. “We didn’t date. It was just sex. I never even stayed the night with him. He was a distraction.” From wanting you. “I didn’t sleep with him to hurt you.”

“But you did hurt me!” The stricken look on his face was a knife in her chest. “Are you going to stand there and tell me that you didn’t know how attracted I am to you? Are you going to deny that it’s mutual?”

If she tried, a bolt of lightning would probably strike her. The intensity of their attraction was as strong as gravity. There were times when he’d give her a look that sent a current of raw desire racing under her skin, making her stomach dip and her breath grow shallow. Of course she knew.

Lowering her eyes, Charlie backed away.

“There’s something I haven’t told you.” His voice grew quiet. “I was offered a position at Camp Beauregard, as an instructor. I was torn about taking it because I was holding on to hope. About us. I think after we clear our names and go back, I’m going to accept the position.”

Panic slithered up her spine and coiled in her gut. “No. No, no.” A fierce longing shook her to the core. “You can’t be serious.” He wanted to leave her. “Why?”

“Because I can’t keep pretending that this is platonic when it’s anything but. My mind files away all these details about you. The way you move, your smile, the smell of you, that defiant way you hike your chin, the sexy hollow of your throat, the curve at the small of your back, creating a sick map of you. One that I see and want to touch that leads me back to you when I’m with someone else.” Naked emotion passed over his carved features and he withered in front of her.

She stared at him, sad desperation flooding her veins.

“As long as I continue to be your person,” he said, “I’ll never be able to move on from you. It’d be impossible to fall in love with anyone else. I want to get married, have a family, children.”

A sinkhole opened inside her, rattling her to the very foundation of her soul. Children. Something she’d never be able to give him or anyone else.

“I need all those things. I wanted them with you.” He shook his head. “But I can see now that’s never going to happen.”

It was too much and not enough. “Aiden...”

He waited, the hope in his eyes glaring.

Tension swelled in the room around them. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She didn’t know what to say to keep from losing him. The weight of that inevitability settled in her chest.

“Get some sleep,” he snapped. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us.” He stormed into the bathroom and shut the door.

Her heart hammered, her brain reeling.