Alpha One (Shadow Agents #1)(16)
Author: Cynthia Eden

But she did fear the way he could make her feel. He stirred too much lust in her. Made her want things she couldn’t have.

Sometimes he scares me.

But the full truth was…sometimes I scare myself.

“Good.” Sydney’s gaze darted back to the men. “And Gunner?”

Yes. He made her nervous. So did Jasper.

Her silence must have been answer enough because Sydney gave a little shrug that seemed to say she understood. “Gunner has a special grudge against Guerrero. We were…we were in South America about two years ago. Came on a village that was supposed to be a safe haven for us and for the hostage we’d rescued.”

“You do that a lot?” Juliana asked. “Rescue people?”

“We do what needs to be done.” Sydney rubbed her palm over her heart in an almost unconscious motion. “The village… I was the one doing intel. I thought it was safe. I didn’t realize Guerrero had made a deal with a rebel leader in the area. The gunfire started. It was a bloodbath.”

Juliana glanced at Sydney’s hand. “You were shot.”

Sydney’s hand dropped. “Gunner was the one who took four bullets, but he still kept fighting. He and I—we were the extraction team. He got me out, too.”

“And the hostage?”

Sydney gave a small shake of her head. “Gunner’s brother didn’t make it out.”

Oh, hell.

“So you can see why he might seem…determined…to get Guerrero.”

The men were finished talking. They were heading back toward them. Juliana glanced at Gunner’s eyes. Still dark. Still cold. But…she could have sworn she now saw the echo of pain in his gaze.

“It wasn’t a sanctioned mission.” Now Sydney was whispering. “We went in, just the two of us, because we had to get him out.”

There was something there in Sydney’s voice. Something… “Who was the hostage to you?” Juliana asked. Gunner’s brother, but maybe more.

Sydney just gave her a sad smile. “We all want Guerrero stopped.”

Juliana nodded.

“Don’t give up,” Sydney told her. “Whatever happens, keep fighting, keep working with us. Help us take him out.”

Staring into Sydney’s gaze and seeing the struggle on her face, Juliana realized that walking away from the EOD wasn’t an option. “I will.” She’d do her part. Guerrero was a monster, one who was destroying lives left and right.

He had to be stopped.

Logan’s arm brushed hers.

We’ll stop him.

* * *

JULIANA WASN’T GOING to like this walk down memory lane. Logan knew it even before the woman’s body tensed up, boardlike, in the seat beside his.

“Why the hell are we here?”

The here in question would be in the middle of nowhere—or rather, in the middle of the woods in Mississippi. Pulling in front of an old cabin that had seen so many better days, long ago.

A familiar cabin.

He pulled the SUV around back. Made sure that it was hidden. There was only one dirt road that led to this cabin. So when the men hunting Juliana came calling, his team would know.

Logan climbed from the vehicle, swept his gaze past the trees. Jasper and Gunner would be setting up watch points out there, securing the perimeter.

The location was the perfect trap. And Juliana…

“Logan, why here?”

She was the perfect bait.

He forced a careless grin to his face. “Because the cabin’s secluded. It’s secure. And no one in Guerrero’s team would think to look for you here.”

True enough. They wouldn’t think to look for her there, not until they were hand-fed the info.

Sorry, Juliana. And he was. He didn’t like lying to her, setting her up. But no matter what else happened, he would keep her safe.

That part hadn’t been a lie.

She was already out of the SUV, heading up the old wooden steps that led to the front of the cabin. The steps creaked beneath her feet.

Logan followed her. When she paused on the slightly sagging porch, he opened the door for her with a sweep of his hand, and he remembered the past.

No one’s here, Julie. Come inside.

Logan, are you sure?

The cabin’s mine. No one will find us here. It’s just you…and me.

For an instant, he could feel her mouth beneath his. The memory was so strong. Her lips had been soft, silken. Her body had been a perfect temptation under his.

Here. It had all happened here.

Locking his jaw, Logan slammed the door shut behind him and secured the lock. Because the team had been planning this move in advance—for days, actually, even before the hit in the cemetery—the cabin was already wired. Cameras had been set up to scan the cabin’s exterior. Alarms and sensors were strategically placed outside.

The feed would all go back to Sydney, since she was their tech queen. But Logan had a few monitors set up inside the cabin, too. He liked to keep his eyes open. Being blind in the field had never suited him.

He turned and found Juliana’s dark eyes on him. There were smudges beneath her eyes. Exhaustion. She looked so fragile, so very breakable, that his body tensed.

Go to her, every instinct he had screamed at him, but he knew Juliana didn’t want his comfort. The stiff lines of her body said she didn’t want him at all.

The kiss in Mexico had been a fluke. She hadn’t come looking for seconds, and she’d been very clear when she told him they were done.

Not yet.

So he’d just hold on to his fantasies. They’d gotten him through plenty of long nights, and he could keep his hands off her. He’d try to keep them off, anyway.

“You can take the room at the top of the stairs,” he said. It was the only bedroom there and—

Her gaze darted to the staircase. “I’d, um, rather not.”

The memories were hitting her, too. He’d pushed her back at the EOD meeting. The idea of her being so close to one of the other agents—hell, no. He didn’t want her spending any nights alone with Gunner or Jasper. So he’d pushed to see what she’d do.

And maybe because he hoped that deep down she still wanted him. He was on fire for her.

Only, Juliana was turning away. “I’ll take the couch.”

“Take the bed.” He’d gotten a new bed for her. New sheets. New covers. She could rest, take it easy and—

“I’m not getting into your bed,” she snapped. Her temper was back. Probably the wrong time to mention he’d always found her sexy when temper spiked her blood and heated her voice. “I might have to stay with you, but I don’t have to—”