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She almost laughed. He was distracting her. She could see the play, and she didn’t care because it was working.
“Online chronic illness support group. Very glamorous.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. She has hEDS. I have migraines.” Although she’d never told anybody except Ryder the cause of them. “We started chatting privately. Found out we had a lot in common beyond the health stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Like a mutual hatred of powerful people who buy their way out of consequences.” She smiled against his shoulder. “One thing led to another, and next thing I knew, we were dismantling corrupt assholes’ bank accounts. Her hEDS meant her body could do stuff and get into places other people couldn’t. I had the computer skills to figure out what places those were.”
He smiled, his hand trailing up her back now. She couldn’t stop herself from leaning closer. “You know. Girls gotta have hobbies.”
He kept asking questions about everything—her childhood, specifics about what she and Fallon had done, whether she’d had any pets, for God’s sake—and she kept answering them. At some point, they lay back on the bed, her rolling up to his side again, like she’d slept. His hand still tracing across her shoulder, waist, hip.
Eventually, she hiked her weight up on her elbow to look at him. He was close enough that she could see the flecks of gold in his brown eyes even in the dim room. “You’re trying to distract me. Keep me from getting nervous.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “There will be plenty of time to be nervous when we’re out there. Plus, sometimes the wait is harder than the mission itself.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you. You don’t have to be here. Everybody would’ve understood if you bailed. Not just because you’re a civilian but because of what I’m asking you to do out there tonight… To pretend to be…” He turned his head away. “I’m the biggest fucking bastard on the planet.”
She cupped his cheek and brought his face back to her. “Your quick thinking last night kept us both alive. And us playing these roles is going to help us get those kids home. And it is roles. I know that.”
“Cassie, I…”
Whatever he was going to say, he thought better of it and instead reached up and curved his hand around her nape, the hold protective and tender both at once. He pulled her lips down to his, taking them in a slow, deep kiss that stole her breath.
This was different from what had happened at her place back at the Rogue compound. That had been a send-off, a prayer for safety. This was a…
She had no idea what this was.
He kissed her like she was the oxygen he’d been missing. His tongue traced her lips then took full possession of her mouth, enticing hers in turn. She whimpered, pressing up against him, desperate to get closer.
He groaned and shifted so his leg pressed up between hers, and she gasped, unable to stop herself from rocking against him. His hands shifted into her hair, holding her so his lips could make their way down her jaw.
Then someone knocked on the door.
They jerked apart, both freezing. Arlo’s voice floated through the other side. “You two planning on hiding in there all night, or are you going to join the rest of us like civilized people?”
Civilized. That was a word choice.
Ryder found his voice. “We’ll be out in a minute.”
“Good. There’s food. Your pet must be starving.”
Your pet.
Ryder’s jaw tightened. She smoothed her thumb down the hard ridge, a day’s worth of stubble rough against it. “Roles. Just roles.”
He nodded and they both sat up. By the time he got to his feet, he looked completely different. Harder. Controlled. The switch happened so fast it was almost scary. Almost. She didn’t have room in her fear budget for almost.
They walked over to the door. “Stay close to me. Eyes on me or on the floor. Don’t speak unless I tell you to. If something goes wrong, I’ll handle it. All you have to do is make it through this.”
She nodded. “I’ve got it. I’m ready.”
She was not ready. Her hands were already starting to sweat, and they hadn’t even left the room. But ready was a luxury she wasn’t going to have today, so she’d settle for moving.
