Dominate (Deliver 8)

“Evan…” Her face fell, and she dropped her head in her hands. “Oh, God, they killed him.”

Because she was close to him.

Tomas reached for her, pulled her onto his lap, and rested his lips against her brow.

“I was able to trace the tech on this.” Cole held up the GSM bug he’d removed from her house. “Bad news. It’s only available to the activity.”

“What are you saying?” Tomas froze, because he knew. He knew exactly what that meant.

“Someone on the inside is behind this.” Cole’s expression contorted, etched with barely concealed rage. “Someone inside my old group is after me.”

“Someone you know?”

“Maybe. They could be retired, still employed, a rogue, who fucking knows? It’s a long, classified list.” His lips curled into a smile void of humanity and mercy.

“I don’t know if I like that look on your face.” Tomas tipped up a brow. “I take it you have a plan.”

“I’m going hunting.”

CHAPTER 26

Two weeks later, Rylee followed Tomas up the stairs that led to the top floor of her house in Eldorado, Texas. Every room had been swept for bugs and threats, the property deemed safe by Cole and the team. But her spine tingled anyway, her mood sullen and twitchy.

The place writhed with memories of Evan. She hadn’t loved him, and in her heart, she’d said goodbye the day she drove away and left him standing on the porch. But he was a good man, an amazing friend, and hadn’t deserved to die.

Pushing away those thoughts, she rubbed her chest and focused on her future.

Her future looked delicious as he strode down the hall in front of her, his gait steady and confident, his muscles flexing through the glide of his strides. Corded arms, narrow waist, chiseled ass—he was sexual heat and male potency, dominance and devotion, utterly loyal and all hers.

Turning his neck, he glanced over his shoulder. Eyes of gold, reflecting the color of his heart.

He wasn’t always good-natured, but that mighty heart of his made hers beat like nothing ever had before.

“This closet?” He paused at the door at the end of the hall.

“Yep.”

He opened the door to shelves of towels and cleaning supplies. “Where is it?”

“If you were a bad guy—”

He gave her a glare that closed her throat.

“Fine.” She coughed. “Since you are a bad guy, where would you look for a thumb drive?”

“Not in a linen closet.” He glanced at the other doors. “I would search the underwear drawer first.”

“Of course, you would. Panty-sniffer.” She crossed her arms. “But I already told you it was in the linen closet.”

He scanned the bottles of cleaning products and random clutter, his expression quickly transforming into boredom.

“You win.” He grabbed her, lifted her off her feet, and kissed her hard on the mouth. “Show me where you hid it.”

Wriggling out of his arms, she removed the vacuum from the closet and opened the dirt bin.

“You’re kidding?” His brows climbed, widening his eyes. “How have you not accidentally thrown it away?”

“I don’t use this vacuum. It’s broken.” She dug through the powdered dirt in the collector, removed the tiny stick, and blew off the debris. “My working vacuum is downstairs.”

She handed him the thumb drive, which contained all the photographed copies of his emails. Nine years’ worth. She’d started snapping pictures of his messages after his captivity in Van’s attic.

“Have you ever gone back and reread them?” He palmed the thumb drive, regarding her with affection.

“Never needed to. Your words stuck inside me on the first read-through.”

His lips tipped up, taking hers with them. They stared at each other. Smiled at each other. Stared some more. These were her favorite moments, the private eye contact they shared. It wasn’t a game to see who would look away first. It was a game to see who would move first.

This time, they moved as one, coming together with arms, breaths, and open mouths. He backed her against the wall, and she gripped his hair with greedy hands as his tongue chased hers, caressing and rubbing and drowning her in warmth.

The potency of his kiss was enormous, his love even greater. She threw her arms about his neck, mouths locked, holding him close, knowing she would never let him go.

When their lips melted into panting sighs, he touched their brows together. “The team is waiting.”

Everyone had left Missouri to return to Texas. They weren’t in her house, but they were in the neighborhood, in the shadows, watching and waiting.

Cole had a crazy plan, which involved baiting and hunting his unknown adversary. This stop at her house was just a detour to grab the thumb drive and her personal belongings.

She was going with them, wherever that took her. It was terrifying and thrilling, but for the first time in her life, she’d found her home.

“I forgive you.” She slid her nose astride his.