Way of the Shadows (Shadow Agents #8)(41)
Author: Cynthia Eden

It was what he’d always done.

“I used to dream about you,” he whispered, the words rough. “At first, the dreams were the girl I left in that cabin. You were scared and you were crying out for me.”

Pain echoed in his voice.

“I’m not scared any longer.” She’d worked hard to become stronger.

“Then the dreams changed because you changed.” His hand slid away from her as his shoulders straightened. “I started to dream about the woman you’d become.”

Maybe…maybe Mercer was right. “What do you want from me?” Noelle asked him and she held her breath as she waited for his response.

At his sides, Thomas’s hands balled into fists. “I’m a desperate man. I’ve been that way…too long.” His gaze held hers. “I want whatever you’ll give me.”

I’ll give you everything. Maybe she already had. She moved toward him and eliminated that little bit of space. Her hands curled around his shoulders. Then Noelle put her lips on his.

She was making a choice. Choosing him. Noelle needed Thomas to understand that. Just as she needed him to choose her. Her mouth moved lightly on his, caressing.

His hands rose and locked around her hips. She could feel the strength of his arousal pressing against her.

“I don’t want just one more night.” His words were growled against her lips. “With you, I want forever. I can’t have another taste just to lose you when we leave this place.”

His words broke her heart. Noelle shook her head. “You won’t lose me.” He was what she wanted. The past was done. The ghosts—dead. She wanted to focus on the future, and she wasn’t going to let any fears hold her back.

Mercer had been right on that score.

Thomas kissed her again, and the kiss was harder. Deeper. He took control, and she felt the passion pour through her. She couldn’t get close enough to him. Couldn’t feel him enough.

They stumbled together up the stairs. When she slipped, his grasp on her tightened. He lifted her up, holding her easily.

She kept kissing him.

Then they were in the bedroom. He tugged off her clothes, stripping her quickly, and her hands swept over his shoulders. His chest.

He eased her toward the bed, but Noelle didn’t fall back on the mattress. Instead, she lowered to her knees before him, and her lips skimmed over the scars on his chest and stomach. Scars that mattered to him but not to her. The scars told her how strong he was. How he’d survived.

But that was all.

To her, Thomas was perfect.

He caught her hands, though, when her lips skimmed low on his stomach, and he pushed her back. “I can’t—” His words ended in a growl as he lifted her up and settled her on the bed.

This wasn’t about seduction or finesse. This was about need and desire in its most primal, pure form.

He ditched the rest of his clothes. His fingers caught hers, pinned them to the bed. With his eyes on her, he thrust inside. Her breath caught as he surged deep, then her legs lifted and wrapped around him. She held him tight, and when he began to thrust, she met him, arching her body eagerly.

They rolled over the bed, twisting and turning as the passion surged hotter and harder. Her nails scraped over his back. The pleasure was just out of her reach. So close.

His fingers freed hers. He touched her between her legs, finding just the spot that had her gasping, then shuddering in release.

He was with her. Thrusting deep and hard. Shaking the bed. Shaking her. Making the pleasure ripple through her once more.

“Too…good…” He groaned the words. “Can’t…get enough…with you….”

Noelle felt the same way with him. She wondered if it would ever be enough, or if the need would grow and—

He drove into her once more.

Pleasure lashed through her.

His release swept over him, stiffening Thomas’s body, and he held her in a grip of steel.

Noelle couldn’t catch her breath. Her heart raced frantically, the sound a drumbeat in her ears. She was panting hard, her whole body quaking, and she tried to grab back control because there was something very important she needed to tell him.

I love you.

The truth had hit her when she was at the sheriff’s station. When Porter had tried to shatter her trust in Thomas, and she’d realized nothing could break her trust in him.

Not because he was her partner.

But because he was the man who’d worked his way into her heart.

Her lips parted.

Thomas kissed her again.

* * *

“YOU’RE KILLING HER!” Patrick yelled, his voice echoing back to him. “This one won’t be on me! It’s on you! All of you!”

The holding room door flew open and banged against the wall.

Patrick lowered his head so the man who’d rushed in wouldn’t see his smile.

“You had your chance to talk,” the guy snarled. “You didn’t. If you can’t stop the screams, then I’ll just shove a gag in your mouth.”

Patrick’s head snapped up. “That’s not the way cops work.”

“Who said I was a cop?” The man demanded.

Thomas stared into the fellow’s cold eyes. He took in the guy’s battle-ready posture. The hands, which were loose at his sides and the grim face, which could’ve been staring into hell.

I’ll show him hell.

“You’ll be leaving this place in about three hours,” the man told him flatly. “Settle down until then, or I will settle you down.”

Patrick stared back at him. Didn’t speak.

The guy gave a grim nod and turned away. Patrick waited until the fellow reached for the door.

“She’ll still be alive in three hours,” Patrick mused. “At least, I think she will. Guess it depends on how long she can stand the cold out there, all alone.”

The man glanced back at him. Patrick knew the guy was trying to judge him. To see if he was telling the truth or if he was just spinning a new lie.

“I got tired of Lawrence Duncan sending me out to do his work. I was tired of killing for him,” he waited a beat, then added slyly, “and for her.”

“Her?” The guy’s brows climbed.

Patrick gave a slow nod. “They were working together. Always were. She would slip in and get the intel he needed. People talk so much easier to a pretty face, and Paula sure has a pretty face.” He whistled, remembering the other features he enjoyed about her. “But I figured, if I’m done with Duncan, then I’m done with her, too.”