Sharpshooter (Shadow Agents #3)(29)
Author: Cynthia Eden

He kept kissing her.

Then, still so carefully, his hands began to trail down her body. His mouth went to her neck. Licked, sucked and then he found the sensitive spot just behind her ear….

She squeezed her eyes shut and moaned.

He tossed aside her T-shirt. Licked and kissed her br**sts. The touch of his mouth on her ni**les, with their increased sensitivity, had her trembling.

Sydney lifted her hips. Helped him to ditch her shorts and underwear, and then she parted her thighs.

Gunner started to thrust, but then he hesitated. “I don’t—”

No, he’d better not say—

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he finished, voice rumbling.

She tried to smile for him. “You won’t.” Physically, she trusted Gunner more than she trusted any man.

With her emotions? With her heart? She wasn’t sure; the pain might come again.

At that moment, she was willing to risk it.

He thrust into her. She met his rhythm eagerly, lifting up with her hips, arching against him. He filled her, stretched her perfectly, and she gasped at the heavy feel of him inside her.

Her hands curled around his shoulders. Her legs wrapped around his hips. He thrust into her, again, deeper. The rhythm swept her away, made her forget fire and fear and nightmares.

So that she knew only him and the pleasure that washed over her and made her cry out.

He held her tighter. Gave in to his own release with a growl of her name.

Then he just…held her, cradled her against his heart and kept his hand on her stomach.

Held her, and the nightmares didn’t come back.

* * *

THE RINGING OF the phone woke Gunner. He could hear the peal, calling out from down the hall. Swearing, he opened his eyes. He saw Sydney, still sleeping next to him.

Beautiful Sydney.

He eased from the bed, trying not to wake her. The dawn’s light spilled through the blinds. She hadn’t gotten enough sleep, and in her condition, he wanted her to get all the rest that she could.

He slipped down the hallway. Found his phone. “Gunner.”

Silence, then, “Are you whispering?”

Crap, he had been. He just hadn’t wanted to wake Sydney. Gunner closed the door of his bedroom and cleared his throat. “What do you want, Logan?”

“I want to alert you to a security breach.” His friend’s voice held a tight edge now. “I just got the call from Mercer. Someone’s been trying to hack in to the computer system at the EOD.”

Hell. The EOD agents were being targeted again. The attack on Sydney’s house must be the first launch.

“The thing is…our tech guys are saying that it looks like the breach came from inside.”

Now, that wasn’t what he’d expected. “Another agent?”

“Not sure.” Static crackled over the phone. “But the person used the computer system at the main EOD office. Support staff, techs—they’re all being investigated now. The office is under lockdown until we can figure out what’s happening.”

Gunner huffed out a hard breath. “What do you want me to do?”

“Stick like glue to Sydney’s side. If she’s the first target in this mess, there could be another attempt on her.” Logan’s voice hardened. “The files that were accessed? They were linked to Guerrero.”

“What?” Guerrero—now a dead man—had been a Mexican arms dealer. He’d kidnapped Juliana James, the woman who had recently married Logan. When she’d been attacked, Logan had damn near gone crazy.

So how did Logan have to be feeling now?

“Someone was trying to dig into the classified documents that we have on him. That same someone…he or she was looking at Sydney’s file. And yours.”

Son of a—

“I’m getting a guard put on Juliana, too.” Because Juliana had been instrumental in bringing down Guerrero—and because Gunner knew that Logan would never risk the woman he loved. “If someone is looking for some payback, they aren’t getting it,” Logan vowed.

No, they weren’t. Gunner would make sure that no one hurt Sydney.

Not on his watch.

She was too important. The baby was too important. The life that he might just have with them—if he hadn’t already screwed things up too much—it was too important.

* * *

SLADE ORTEZ STARED across the city. He’d chosen this apartment deliberately, though no one seemed to have realized that fact. The EOD. They thought they were so smart.

Clueless jerks.

Once upon a time, he’d wanted to be one of them. But he hadn’t made the cut into the precious program. Good enough to risk his life on freelance missions, but not good enough to be brought into the fold.

Sydney had made the cut. Gunner had. Of course Gunner had.

But not Slade.

Never as good as big brother.

The EOD was paying for his apartment. Actually, Uncle Sam was paying for anything he wanted right now. After what he’d been through, they were giving him…what had they called it? Compensation.

There’d never be enough compensation.

He stared through the window, looking out at the city, and looking right over at the building that housed his brother.

Yes, he’d chosen this location for a reason.

To keep a watch on Gunner.

The fools at the EOD didn’t realize what a threat Gunner was. They thought he was a hero. Their mistake. He’d make sure they fully realized the error of their ways.

Sydney had made a mistake, too.

She’d turned from him. Refused to go back to the way that things had been.

She should have been grateful to be with him. Of all the women—and he’d been with plenty—he’d agreed to marry her.

Sure, he’d kept a few girls on the side, the better to stop the boredom of being with just one woman, but he’d offered to marry her.

As payback, she’d slept with his brother.

At first, the rage had been so strong that he’d been sure it would consume him. Last night, it had come close. He’d given in to his darker urges.

But now, with the rising of the sun, he realized that there could still be hope for Sydney, if she could be made to see Gunner’s true colors. Gunner would slip up, Sydney would turn from him, and Slade would be there.

It was all a matter of time.

He kept staring across at Gunner’s place.

He tried not to think about the light that had flashed on in the middle of the night. He’d been watching then, too. Through his binoculars, he’d seen that light come on. The blinds had been open. He’d seen Sydney…