Evidence of Passion (Shadow Agents #7)(17)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Dylan grunted and still didn’t start the vehicle. “I’m not talking about the interrogation. I’m talking about what went down with Mercer earlier.” They’d left the EOD without discussing that little meeting, and he wasn’t going to hold off any longer. They needed to clear the air.

She held his gaze. “I don’t…” Her words trailed away and she hesitated before saying, “You know I don’t like the plan. And I think Mercer and Noelle are wrong. Jack doesn’t have an attachment to me. He just wants me dead.”

“If that were the case…” The words were brutal, but they had to be said. “Then why aren’t you in the ground?” Don’t think of her that way. Don’t.

She flinched. “Start the car, Dylan.”

He didn’t. “Noelle knows her killers. That’s the point of her being a profiler, right?” Dylan pressed. “She says that he has a connection to you. I believe her. We need to use that connection.”

“What they want to use is you, not me. They want to dangle you in front of Jack like—like you’re a red flag hanging in front of a bull.”

“So what? I’ve been used on missions before. I’m an agent. That’s just part of my job.” Risk. Danger. The adrenaline rush. It was his nine-to-five routine. More like my 24/7 routine.

“They want him to think that we’re lovers.” Now her voice was hushed and her eyes were troubled. “They want you to pretend to be involved with me.”

He had to handle this carefully. “It’s not exactly a hardship to do that.”

Her lips parted.

“I’ve done jobs much worse.”

And he’d just said the wrong thing. So much for being careful. Dylan knew he’d bungled when her eyes narrowed to chips of blue fire.

“Oh, so glad that I don’t fall into the category of worse for you,” Rachel snapped. “I mean, I’d hate for the idea of being my lover to be so terrible for you to consider. I don’t want to give you nightmares or anything.”

“It’s not terrible.” His voice was low. “It’s tempting.”

She tensed.

Time for them both to cut through the lies. “You have to know,” Dylan told her, aware that a new intensity had entered his voice. “You have to know how I feel.”

She glanced away.

No, he wasn’t having that. He caught her chin and made her look at him. “Come on, Rachel, it’s me. Three years. I’ve been with you, at your side for three long years.”

She didn’t speak.

“I want you.” The words were a growling rumble. He’d meant them to come out easier, without that hard edge, but when it came to Rachel and his need for her, there was very little control there for him. “I’ve held back because I didn’t know what you wanted.”

She still wasn’t speaking.

Hell, he should have just kept his mouth shut. He’d thought Rachel might want him, too. Especially after the way she’d kissed him the other night.

I thought wrong.

He freed her chin and turned away from her. His fingers curled around the key and he twisted it in the ignition. The car immediately snarled to life.

Rachel’s hand flew out. Her fingers clamped around his. “I want you to be safe. I don’t…I don’t ever want extra danger to come your way because of me.”

Her touch electrified him. If he ever actually got her na**d and beneath him the way that Dylan wanted…

I won’t let her go.

He swallowed and tried to keep some of the need from his voice as he told her, “Baby, I’m EOD. Danger is just a way of life for me.” His gaze cut to her.

Her eyes were on him.

“What do you want?” Dylan pushed. He waited, needing her to say…

“I want you.” Her words were so quiet that he had to strain in order to hear them.

And as soon as he did hear them, everything changed for Dylan.

He turned fully toward her. Arousal had flooded through him at her soft words. He didn’t want to be in that car then. He wanted to take Rachel away from that place. He wanted to get lost in her.

Rachel’s thick lashes lowered. “But you’re my closest friend, Dylan. The only man that I truly trust. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t.” His promise.

She licked her lips.

And Dylan couldn’t take any more. He pulled her as close as he could get her and his mouth took hers.

The kiss was hard, deep and he knew that the lust he felt for Rachel wasn’t going to be contained, not any longer.

For three years, he’d played by the rules. Been the good guy.

He was tired of being good. Rachel was about to learn just how far he would be willing to go in order to have her.

I will do anything.

Her mouth opened beneath his. Her nails sank into his shoulders as she held him just as tightly as he held her. Her taste was as addictive as before, driving him wild. His tongue thrust into her mouth, and arousal flooded through him as he tasted her. Her taste was both rich and sweet, and he wanted more.

But not here. Not now.

Dylan let the kiss linger just a few moments more. Because he had to take more.

But then he pulled back. Damn reluctantly. Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes gleamed.

“There’s no going back now,” he warned her.

Rachel’s breath rushed out. “I should be saying that to you. You’re the one walking into danger.”

He was ready for it. She needed to be ready for what was coming, too.

“It’s not…not just part of a cover, is it?” Rachel asked him.

That question had anger piercing through him. “No.”

“Because I need honesty between us. No matter what.”

He nodded. “And you know what I need?” The gloves were off.

“What?” A whisper from her.

“You. Naked. Beneath me.”

He saw her pupils spread. Her breathing kicked up a little more.

“And I’ll have that,” Dylan promised her.

* * *

JACK WHISTLED AS he headed up the stone steps that would take him to his prey.

An old acquaintance, one who’d called him back to town.

Jack knocked on the door. He waved to the nosy neighbor across the street. She waved back.

He didn’t worry about the woman being able to identify him. He had on a baseball cap. A loose sweatshirt. Jogging shorts. He looked like any of the other dozen joggers currently running down the street.

Only there was one major difference between them.