From Part 2: The Bond Job
Chapter 7 Excerpt: Evan’s POV
“Right now, probably as we speak, Bennet and TJ are hashing things out,” I said. “Tomorrow, I’ll take you to the safe place they’ve chosen for you to reunite with your team.” I kissed her cheek. “But tonight, you’re off the grid. Not on call. Not on alert. You can relax. Finally rest, even if it’s just for a few hours.”
Samantha slid her hands under my shirt. “Evan, as a medical professional, I can attest there are more ways to relax the body than just rest.”
I’d meant for her to fall asleep against me again, with her fingertips stroking my skin, but every image playing through my mind involved both of us being wide awake. I moved my hands under her shirt and pressed my palm into the small of her back. Endorphins raced through my blood. “As a non-medical professional, I can assure you I’m aware.”
“One thing,” she whispered. “You never did tell me whether you’re married.”
Oh yeah. I’d been too busy enjoying her flirtation. “Never married, and currently not dating, unless you count the fix-ups my sister keeps foisting on me. And you were never married, but are you dating anyone?”
She froze. There was a story there that I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear.
“About that,” she said, “I do date. Several men. With my career and all the things I can’t share with anyone, monogamy feels…” She shook her head. “I have friends, mostly doctors—well, they’re all doctors—who also aren’t interested in settling down. It’s like a roster.”
I tried to wrap my head around what she was telling me. “A roster.”
She nodded.
I nodded, too. She wasn’t dating so much as fucking. Some part of me liked the implied emotional distance of her arrangements. And I understood it. Not many relationships could withstand the intense pressure of secrecy required by working in intel. But I knew I didn’t want that kind of distance applied to me. I pulled away from her. “Okay. That’s fair. No judgment. But I don’t think I want to join a roster.”
“I’m sorry, but I had to tell you the truth.” She laid her hand over my heart.
“I know. I appreciate it.” I laid my hand over hers. Her mere touch had me rethinking everything. God, I wanted her. And she wanted me, with no strings attached. Twenty-something me would have been all over that, and her. Thirty-two-year-old me needed to heed my younger self’s advice.
She had to know what she was doing to me. She was watching my face, pressing her palm against my racing heart, and waiting for me to change my mind. Who was I to disappoint her?
That was my cock talking again. But I wasn’t above listening to it.
“A roster is out for me,” I said, “but I have been known to indulge in the occasional one-night stand.”
“One night?” She only hesitated for a few seconds, then slid onto my lap and straddled me. “That makes sense. No strings. Just the two of us, alone here for one night.” She kissed a path up my jawline to my ear and whispered. “One night to remember forever, and then we’ll go our separate ways.”
I groaned, damn sure she was right that this would be a night I’d never forget. I wrapped my fingers in her long, silky red hair. She slowly inched closer, moving her mouth toward mine. Outside, the night went silent. Inside, the air crackled around us. And then we touched, lip to lip. The pressure of her mouth and the scent of her skin drove me mad. Adrenaline raced through my veins, swelled my cock, and made me lightheaded.
And we were just getting started.
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