Way of the Shadows (Shadow Agents #8)(21)
Author: Cynthia Eden

He’d kill Noelle and her shadow.

It was just that the shadow had seemed familiar to him. Something about the man’s profile. His voice. I feel like I know him.

His breath heaved from his lungs. The snow fell harder.

A storm…it would be the perfect cover. When the snow fell so heavily, no one would be looking for an attack.

No one would see him. Not until it was too late.

Chapter Six

The snow pelted down on their cabin. Noelle pulled the oversize coat closer to her body as she glanced back over her shoulder. Thomas shoved the door closed, pushing his shoulder into the wood, then securing the lock.

It was cold inside, but cold wasn’t the reason why Noelle was shivering.

Her past was coming back to her, and the images that kept flashing through her mind didn’t make any sense. They couldn’t be real. Not unless—

“I’ll get the fire going,” Thomas said as he stalked toward the large fireplace. “You should head upstairs. Get in a warm shower. Wash away the ash and get some feeling back in your limbs.”

There was no emotion in his words, and he wasn’t looking directly at her. She found, right then, she couldn’t take her gaze off him.

He bent near the fireplace. A few moments later, flames flashed up.

A shudder shook her as she remembered the fire that had nearly taken their lives.

Still crouching, Thomas glanced back at her. The gold of his gaze reminded her of the fire. “Go on upstairs,” he said again. “You’re shaking.”

“It’s not from the cold.” Well, okay, perhaps part of it was. She crept closer to him and to the warmth of the fireplace. Her hands were fisted in the pockets of her borrowed coat. “I need to ask you some questions.”

He looked toward the stairs. “The power might not stay on long, not if the storm is as strong as I’m thinking it will be. You should shower first, then we can talk.”

She braced her legs and straightened her shoulders. She’d waited long enough for this conversation. “Tell me about the first time that we met.”

His eyelids flickered as he slowly rose to his full height. He wasn’t looking at the stairs any longer. He was focused on her, and his stare was guarded. “Why does that matter?”

“Because I… I remember your voice.”

His jaw hardened.

“I can hear your voice in my head. You’re saying that…you’ll always be with me.”

He didn’t speak.

“But you’ve never said those words to me.”

He turned back toward the fire.

“At least, you haven’t said them since I started with the EOD. So that means you had to tell them to me before Mercer brought me on.” She was trying to keep her voice even and calm, but her heart was galloping like mad in her chest. “And the only before for me, the only time I don’t remember, is the forty-eight hours of my abduction.”

He looked back at her. His expression was unreadable. “You’ve had one hell of a night. We both have. After you’ve slept, I bet things will be clearer for you.”

“Doctors told me that same line for weeks.” Anger snapped in her words, and she tried to pull back the old fury. “‘Things will be clear…’ and ‘Give it some time…’ and ‘You just need rest.’” Her laughter held a bitter edge. “I’ve heard all of that a dozen times before. And guess what? Rest doesn’t help. Time doesn’t help.” Her lips pressed together, and after a tense moment, Noelle demanded, “But you know what did help? Seeing that poor girl tied to the chair.” She took a step toward him. “Just like me.” Because it had been as if she’d stared into a mirror of her past.

A muscle flexed along Thomas’s jaw. “She’s not you, though, Noelle. You’re just getting things confused.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “Stop lying to me.”

He shook his head.

“You are. You’re lying. From the moment I saw you at the EOD, I felt like we’d met before.”

“Other missions,” he growled out. “Our paths have crossed. I can’t tell you what I was doing then; you don’t have the clearance.”

“Forget clearance!” The words came out as a yell as she shot forward and grabbed his arms. “This is my life! Tell me!”

He stared into her eyes. “I’ve seen you. You haven’t always seen me. The FBI works plenty of cases that merge with the EOD. Sometimes, you guys thought you were hunting serials, but you were after assassins. It was our job to contain those killers. My team did its job.”

“No, there’s more to this.” Earlier, she was sure that he’d started to tell her more. Back at the station, before they’d learned about Jenny.

“I’ve told you the truth.”

Her temples were throbbing, her heart breaking. “Not all of it.” She blinked because her eyes were filling with tears, and she would not let them fall. “I thought we were partners. I thought we could count on each other.” She dropped her hold and stepped back. “I guess I thought wrong.” She whirled away from him.

But his hand locked around her shoulder, and he spun her right back to face him.

“Thomas—”

His mouth crashed down on hers. She was so shocked by the move she just stood there a moment. Then…

“Damn it, I’m sorry.” He tore his mouth from hers, but he didn’t let her go. Thomas stared down at her with glittering eyes. “Let’s try that again….”

And this time, the kiss was softer. Tempting her, not taking or demanding, but seducing her instead.

Her emotions were about to rip her apart. She shouldn’t just be standing in his arms.

I’ll always be with you. The memory of those words didn’t scare her. The words made her feel safe. The way being with Thomas always did.

Her hands rose to curl around his shoulders. She shouldn’t be in his arms, no, but nothing had ever felt more right to her before.

His mouth pressed to hers, and her lips parted. He kissed her, deeply, sensually, and she rose onto her toes in front of him. The anger that had been blasting through her changed. Desire rose, igniting like a firestorm because, suddenly, it was all too much. The past. The present. The fire. The fear.

She didn’t want to think anymore. She only wanted to feel. And Thomas, he was very, very good at making her feel.

Her hands shoved against his coat. He let her go, just for a moment, and that coat hit the floor. He stared at her, and she could read his gaze then, no problem. Lust and heavy desire shined in his eyes. “Noelle…”