Hide and Seek - Lara Adrian Page 0,105

with him.

He pulled her head down, his lips finding hers in an all-consuming kiss. He couldn’t stop devouring her. Couldn’t stop exploring her mouth and showing her what she meant to him, knowing that words would never be enough to express how Michelle made him feel.

Whole.

25

Nick hung the towel over the rack in the bathroom and pulled on his shorts, glancing back at Michelle who was stepping out of the shower, water pearling off her perfect skin.

“Damn, you look tempting,” he said, letting his gaze roam over her curves.

“Haven’t you had enough for today?”

He grinned, already stalking toward her, his cock thickening again. “Apparently, you’ve given me an endless appetite.”

The ringing of the door bell stopped him from pulling Michelle into his arms. He turned his head involuntarily.

“That’ll be the Chinese I ordered,” Michelle said.

He arched an eyebrow.

“Considering the calories we burned earlier, I figured we needed some food.”

He grinned. “You figured right.” He pressed a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll go down and get it.”

Nick snatched a T-shirt from the hook on the bathroom door and slipped it over his head, already walking into the hallway. He reached for his wallet and headed down the stairwell, leaving the door to his apartment ajar. The buzzer in his apartment had been broken for months, so he had no choice but to run down to the first floor.

“Coming!” he called out a few seconds before he reached the entrance door and ripped it open.

The guy standing there wore a baseball cap, kept his head down, and carried a white plastic bag with several food cartons bearing Chinese symbols. It was the food Michelle had ordered, all right, but the guy delivering it wasn’t working for the Chinese restaurant around the corner. He was neither Chinese nor the kind of guy who’d take a menial job like delivering food unless it was to gain access somewhere.

The stranger lifted his face, giving Nick a full view of his features now. It was confirmation of what he already knew, what he’d already sensed by the prickling sensation spreading over his skin.

“I’m—”

“—a Phoenix, I know,” Nick cut him off, darting quick looks up and down the street to see if they were alone.

“I came alone.”

“How did you find me?”

“Sheppard’s ID card. When it was activated, all kinds of alarm bells went off. I got an alert. Missed you when you left Langley, but I found you again.”

His pulse kicked up. “How? I covered my tracks.”

“Don’t worry, the only reason I was able to see your picture on Sheppard’s ID was because the alert came through the moment you activated it. When I got the second alert after the system administrators disabled access, your picture was gone already.” Ace winked. “Lucky for me that I took a screenshot.”

Nick sighed a breath of relief.

“I hope you found what you were looking for at Langley.”

“Your father was a very clever man.”

The other man’s eyes widened. “You recognize me?”

Nick opened the door wider, motioning him into the entrance hall. “You’re Ace, Sheppard’s adopted son.” He offered his hand and Ace shook it. “I’m Fox. I recognize you from the picture in your father’s files.” Which was also the reason why he knew he could trust this man. Sheppard’s son was the person who’d loved him most and would have never betrayed him.

“You found his files?” Excitement shone in Ace’s eyes.

“I’m not the only one who has a copy of them though. Whoever killed your father knew about the files. He tried to delete them, probably copied them for himself first. But I was able to find a backup copy.”

Ace’s jaw set into a grim line. “So that’s how he’s been able to set those assassins on our tail. He knows who we are.”

“We?”

“I’m in contact with another Phoenix, Zephyr.”

“You trust him?”

“One hundred percent.”

“Good. We’ll need him. There are two others I know: Ranger and Stingray. They’re in D.C. We’re working on a plan to bring the Phoenix back together.”

“That’s better news than I expected,” Ace admitted.

“We can do with a bit of good news, because the rest… Something bad is gonna happen.” He met Ace’s eyes.

“The inferno,” his fellow Phoenix said without hesitation.

“Yes. We need to find out where and when it’s supposed to happen so we can prevent it,” Nick said.

“It won’t be easy.”

Nick smiled. “We have everything we need now: a list of agents with pictures and names, and five Phoenix working together to find them. And once the Phoenix rise again, we’ll find the asshole who