Way of the Shadows (Shadow Agents #8)(27)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Thomas thrust into her—drove into her until he was hilt deep. She might have been cold before, but right then, she was blazing hot. Her sex clamped tightly around him, and Thomas was pretty sure he was about to lose his mind.

Noelle pushed up, bracing her hands against the floor. Her br**sts were so close, he had to lean up and take one into his mouth.

Then she started moving. Rising. Falling. The rhythm was maddening. He needed more. He needed deeper, but Noelle was going slow. Slow and sensual. Every glide of her body had his muscles aching with the effort to hold back.

He wanted to take, and he would, but first…

Noelle.

He kept stroking the center of her need. He knew now just how she liked to be touched. Knew the caresses she needed. Knew just how to make her eyes go blind and to make her gasp.

When she moaned his name, he smiled.

When she came, crying out, her body tensing, he took over.

His hands locked tightly around her hips. He lifted her body, up and down, again and again, driving in the rhythm he needed. When it wasn’t enough, when he needed more, deeper, he twisted with her, putting her beneath him on that rug.

And he took her. Claimed her. Pleasure flooded through him.

He kissed her when the release erupted. Kissed her and tasted life and hope. Tasted everything he’d ever wanted.

Thomas knew that, in an instant, he would kill to keep her by his side.

* * *

THE STORM HAD PASSED. Noelle stared out at the sea of white around the cabin. In the distance, she could hear the rumble of snowplows.

The road in front of their cabin was covered, but she knew they’d be getting out of there soon enough.

Her gaze slid toward the trees that lined the property. Had the perp survived the night? She bet he had. But…

“My bullet hit him,” she said quietly. Thomas was behind her. Not talking. They hadn’t talked much during the remainder of the night.

They’d made love, and exhausted, she’d fallen asleep in his arms. When she’d woken up, he’d been dressed. Armed.

And the day had dawned.

“I grazed him,” Thomas said, as he drew closer to her. “Or at least, I think I did.”

Her shot had been at near point-blank range, so Noelle figured the wound she’d inflicted had to be bad. “He’ll need medical help.” She glanced toward Thomas. “I hit him in the chest. Not his heart, but enough of a wound that the guy can’t just keep walking around without treatment.” Not even close. “If he survived the storm, he’ll be looking for someone to patch him up.” So they’d check first with local doctors and veterinary personnel. Someone with medical training.

“He’ll look, unless he’s the kind of man used to taking care of his own wounds.”

Noelle thought of the scars on Thomas’s body. “You’ve done that.”

“When it comes down to either being able to stitch up yourself or dying, yeah, you learn to stitch that skin pretty fast.” His voice was grim. “I’ve dug bullets out. Hell, I’ve even cauterized knife wounds. In the field, you do what you have to do, and you keep going.”

The words of a soldier. But they weren’t looking for a soldier. They were looking for a killer.

Or are we looking for both?

The whir of the snowplow was louder.

“The sheriff will be coming for us,” Thomas said. “We’ll talk to Jenny and get her to describe the man who took her.” He glanced up at the now-clear sky. “And we’ll talk to Mercer. Find out what the EOD has learned about those victims.”

Before they did… “We need to talk first,” she said as she gave a determined nod.

His gaze instantly became shuttered.

“No more secrets, no more lies.”

He flinched at that. “I haven’t lied to you.”

It almost seemed surreal to have this conversation with him. After everything that had happened the night before, they should have been close. Heck, it didn’t get much closer than being someone’s lover. But there was a wall between them.

Secrets.

And, yes, despite what he’d just said…lies.

“I want to know everything.” They were alone. Now was the time to put it all out on the table. “From the moment that you saw me—running in those woods—until the moment you left me tied in that cabin.” Because, yes, that part was obvious. She’d been left there with a dead man.

The sound of the plow grew louder. They’d tried to call the sheriff earlier, but they still had no service in the area. While they had a few more precious moments of privacy, she needed to hear the rest of Thomas’s tale.

Even though part of her was almost afraid to hear what he had to say.

Hiding from the truth won’t do any good.

“You heard me screaming in the woods, and you found me.” She looked down at her wrists. “I’d been tied up, bound—”

“And he was hunting you.”

Her head whipped up. Thomas wasn’t looking at her. He was staring out at the snow.

“I knew what he was doing pretty quickly. Another hunter always knows….”

She shook her head, but he didn’t see the movement.

“You were leaving a clear trail for him to follow. Broken branches, blood on the rocks. He expected to find you out there, but he didn’t expect me.” His voice was low and rough. “He jumped out of the bushes with a knife, and he went for your throat.”

Her hand lifted to her throat. “The man…the man found with me that day… His throat had been cut.”

Now he did look at her. His eyes blazed with emotion. “I wasn’t going to let him kill you. And, like I said, he expected you—” his right hand flexed near his side “—not me. I got that knife away from him, and he was the one who died.”

Her breath rushed out. “All of that was in the woods? But—but his body was found in the cabin. I was found in the cabin.”

He looked away from her. “I was working a case. Undercover. Domestic terrorists were in the area. I…I couldn’t be found with you. I couldn’t be caught up in an investigation about a missing teen girl and her dead abductor.”

“You left me.” Saying the words…hurt. Her hand lowered to her chest and rubbed over the ache there.

“Yes,” his voice was soft. “I left you. You kept trying to follow me, so I had to tie you up. I couldn’t have you walking from one danger straight into another.”

The pain in her chest seemed to get worse. “You were following orders.” Mercer’s orders. She’d thought Mercer was her friend. They’d met years before when she first joined the FBI. He’d taken an interest in her. Her supervisor had been in awe of the guy, and even though she hadn’t realized quite how powerful Mercer was, Noelle had known he was a man who could help her.