Cygny's Six

CHAPTER5

“You’d like that,wouldn’t you, Elaine-”

They froze in place,and he swore that his heart had stopped suddenly in his chest. Suddenly. Disastrously. Like they’d driven straight into a mountain at full speed.

There was no backing down from that.

No brushing it aside as a mistake.

“Put me down.”

He told himself to do just that, but his body was slow to respond, and she bucked against him, pushing him away.

Leo moved to the side, putting his back against a nearby pine. The scent made his nose itch, but he didn’t have the presence of mind to move away from it.

He was watching her.

All he had was her back and he found it fitting. He couldn’t see her expression, but that wouldn’t change things. Even if he could see her face, it wouldn’t change the fact that he’d lost control.

He’d fallen right back into her arms, and she’d been willing. They both had.

What he wanted at that moment had everything to do with anger. Anger and blind, all-encompassing lust.

And then when she’d drawn him in, pulled him tight, rubbing herself against him, other feelings flooded back. No woman had ever made him as hungry as she did.

Even with his heart in pieces he wanted her more than air.

Reaching up a hand, he rubbed at the back of his neck. He could feel his hair slipping in between his fingers and felt a wry smile touch his lips. The last time that she’d scratched at him like that, he hadn’t had much hair. High and tight was how he wore his hair. Her hair had been shorter too.

Time had passed.

Things had changed.

And still, no matter how angry he was at her, he was still drawn to her like a compass needle to north.

“That was a-”

“Mistake,” she finished for him.

The dull, flat tone of her voice was so unlike her.

Or maybe it wasn’t like Elaine, but de rigueur for Cygny.

How was he supposed to tell the difference?

Shaking his head, Leo resisted the urge to kick his own ass.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

Her eyes met his and he knew that she didn’t believe him.

They were a pair, weren’t they?

Working side by side, but unable to trust each other.

“Cygny, we-”

She lifted her chin and the weight of her gaze cut off the air from leaving his lungs.

“We have a job to do. You and I are partners. We’re assigned to work with each other. I know you can do that. You’ve always had a team. I’m the one I’m worried about.”

What?

His brow furrowed at her admission.

“I work on my own. Or rather, I’ve always done that in the past. This,” she gestured between them, “can work. I’m just not sure how good I’ll be at first, but I’m trying.”

She’d opened her mouth again and he knew that she had been about to say his name.

About to, but he’d made such a horrible mistake just a few seconds ago, she was likely struggling to understand what kind of impact hearing his name would have on them both.

She nodded, repeatedly as if she was answering a slew of unspoken questions. When she stilled her movements, she looked up at his face and then lifted her chin resolutely as she gestured toward the patch of wildflowers she’d been looking through.

“I found a section of tire behind the flowers. Looks like the skid marks that could have been from a tire blow out. They might have picked up most of the pieces and either forgot one or just didn’t see where it rolled off to.”

Okay.

Back to the search.

This was a topic he could manage.