Undercover Captor (Shadow Agents #5)(49)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“It could be a trick,” Mercer snarled as he rushed past them.

Tina was right on his heels. There was only one “prisoner” who would have sparked this kind of reaction from Mercer.

They zigged and zagged through the halls. Then they were entering a small room that she hadn’t seen before. No windows. Only one narrow door to gain entry into that place.

Anton Devast lay slumped on a narrow cot in the room. Two agents were with him, trying to turn his head so that he could breathe.

Anton’s eyes widened when he caught sight of her. “Dead…”

No, she wasn’t.

Tina fell to her knees next to him. His breath was jerking out, his heart—beating too slowly.

She stared at his skin, noting the blue tinges and the sunken lines around his eyes and mouth.

He tried to lift his hand to reach for her.

But he didn’t have the strength.

His eyes flared. His lips trembled as he tried to speak.

Only, he couldn’t talk anymore. It was too late.

Anton Devast was still staring at Tina when he died.

* * *

IT WAS BACK to business as usual at the EOD.

Tina stepped into her lab, the white lab coat she wore a familiar comfort to her. After Devast’s death, she’d been caught up in a whirlwind. A whirlwind controlled by Mercer. Before she’d barely blinked, she’d found herself back in D.C.

With, of course, Agent Cooper Marshall at her side.

She hadn’t seen Drew again. Hadn’t heard from him.

His sisters were safe, alive— She carried the image of them embracing him in her mind.

But Drew…he just seemed to be gone.

Had he already taken another mission? Gone out on another undercover assignment? Was he in the U.S.? Already halfway around the world?

She didn’t know.

But Tina would find out.

Her hair was twisted into a small bun and her steps were sure as she searched around her lab. Less than a week. How could one life change so quickly?

Hers had, irrevocably, and there was no going back now.

She realized the full meaning of Drew’s warning to her. When he’d said there would be no going back, she should have paid more attention. Her old life had vanished, destroyed in the heat of their passion.

Her new life seemed too cold. Too sterile and stark, without him.

I miss him.

The door squeaked open behind her.

“Be with you in a second,” she said, throwing the words over her shoulder as she bent to peer into the low cabinet.

“Take your time,” a slow, drawling voice told her, the smallest hint of Mississippi deepening those words. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Drew.

She straightened slowly, then turned toward him. He stood just inside the doorway, his shoulder propped against the door frame. His eyes were on her.

And he was staring at her as if he could eat her alive.

Only fair, she was probably ogling him the same way.

“I missed you in New Orleans.” He stepped away from the door. Locked it. “And in Dallas.” He stalked toward her.

“Mercer wanted me to come back—”

“I’m not real interested in what Mercer wants.”

Neither was she. Her gaze slid over him. Tall. Dark. Deadly. That was Drew. But his eyes—they were bright.

They seemed to shine with emotion.

But Tina didn’t know if she could trust what she was seeing in his gaze.

“Don’t.” He stopped in front of her.

“Don’t what?” Why was her voice so husky?

“That’s not the way you usually look at me.”

She swallowed, not sure what he was talking about.

“Usually, you stare at me with trust. I look into your eyes, and I want to be the man you think I am.”

He was.

She made herself ask, “How am I looking at you now?”

“Like you’ve lost faith in me.” The faint lines near his mouth deepened. “Doc, don’t. I’ve been tracking you. I’ve been steps behind you all the way home.”

“I—I thought you might be on another mission.”

He nodded. “I am. The most important mission of my life.”

Oh, right. Now she understood. Another mission meant he had to be medically cleared for the field. She cleared her throat. “In light of what’s…happened…another doctor here can—”

“I don’t want another doctor.” His hands wrapped around her waist and he lifted her up. He sat her on the exam table. Put them eye-to-eye and leaned in real close to her. “You’re the one I want. The only one I want.”

“Drew—”

He kissed her.

Kissed her with passion, with need, with raw lust.

Kissed her as if he were desperate.

Kissed her as if she were his life.

She kissed him back just as fiercely. Her arms curled around his neck and she pulled him tightly to her.

She didn’t care where they were. She had him in her arms again, and she’d take this moment while she could.

It was her new philosophy. Grab life. Hold on tight.

She was sure holding tight to him.

When he licked her bottom lip, a delicious shudder slid over her.

“I love you.”

It took a minute for his growled words to sink in. When they did, Tina shook her head.

He pulled back, just a few inches, and his golden stare held hers. “I. Love. You.”

“You don’t have to say—”

“The truth? Yeah, Doc, I do.” He brushed back a lock of hair that had escaped from her bun. “I wanted to tell you in New Orleans. I wanted to tell you in Dallas. Hell, I even wanted to tell you in Lightning.”

What? No, he could not have just said that.

“I haven’t loved another woman, haven’t gotten close to anyone, the way I have with you.” His fingers curled under her jaw. “You slipped right past my walls. Made me want things…things I never thought I could have.”

If this was a dream, she had better not ever wake up. “You can have anything.”

He smiled at her. “You’re what I want.”

Her tall, dark and deadly agent was staring straight at her—and looking at Tina as if she was his world.

“I know you don’t love me,” he said, and he spoke those words with a determined pride that made her heart ache, “but give me a chance. That’s all I’m asking for. A chance to show you that we can be good together. No bombs. No danger. No threats. Just you and me. Give me the time to—”

“No.” That one word sent silence through the room.