my body flew forward with muscle memory, ingrained from hours spent racing Sam in this exact same lane. McAvoy was already leaving us to our antics, which was fine. I only had eyes for the broad back barely in front of me.
“Not much of a runner anymore, Evandale?” Sam huffed over his shoulder.
I pushed harder, caught up to him.
“Too busy hunting down…book thieves…I guess…” I panted.
He was trying not to laugh. I was trying not to laugh. And as we rounded the first bend, Sam Byrne swooped in to grab me around the waist.
And we both tumbled to the grass.
“I need to file a complaint,” I gasped. “You’re the cheater.”
He pinned me to the earth easily, muscular body landing gently on mine. I hooked my legs over his waist immediately, loving this new position of ours. His chest was heaving, blue eyes bright with mirth. Then he was crashing our lips together in a kiss that spun my world. My mouth opened for his, tasting him, feeling the scrape of his stubble across my skin.
“Too bad,” he murmured. “You’re the one who stole my heart.”
I giggled, kissed his cheek noisily.
He blushed furiously. “Was that too cheesy? I’m new to flirting.”
“It was perfect. Never stop flirting with me.” When I licked my tongue back into his mouth, I tried my hardest to ease his worries. It would never be too much, this man that challenged me. Always. Pushed me, always. My former nemesis. My new partner.
My new everything.
“Some archnemesis you turned out to be,” I said. “Being your partner is a privilege, Sam.”
“How so?” he asked.
“Because you’re the best agent I know. And the man I trust to always protect me.”
Another kiss—firm lips, mouth moving, a sultry heat building between our bodies.
“Falling in love with my rival actually made my life better,” he replied. “I wish I’d known that seven years ago.”
“Another thing we agree on,” I teased. “Now what do you say about finding that soundproof room in the library?”
Epilogue
Freya
One week later
Delilah and I walked into Abe’s office for our weekly staff meeting—and both almost fell down.
“Are you sick?” Delilah asked him, red lips pursed.
“Have you been replaced by your evil twin, who’s actually the nice boss?” I said, hand on my chest.
Abe, to his credit, gave a slow clap in appreciation. “You slay me. Now sit and eat all of this damn food I got you for being incredible.” He indicated his desk, on which donuts and tacos were fanned out in a semi-circle. Donut, taco, donut, taco.
“I’ve never seen anything this beautiful in my life,” I declared.
Behind me, Sam and Henry ambled in—both cheering in surprise at the bounty in front of us. I heaped a plate filled with my favorite foods and sat next to Sam on the sofa. Ever since he officially joined the Codex team, we’d kept our hands to ourselves, and our bickering to a friendly minimum.
At night, Byrne and I were wild for each other, unfettered in our passion and craving. His knee brushed against mine, and the slight contact rocketed me back to the evening before. When I’d been naked and spread-eagle on my bed, served up for Sam to enjoy me like a decadent, three-course meal. Every orgasm earned me his husky voice at my ear. “You’re not tapping out on me, are you, Evandale?”
I didn’t. Not for hours.
“Why are we being celebrated for being incredible?” Delilah asked. “Or are we just generally amazing?”
“While you are, indeed, amazing,” Abe said, “this is to celebrate the close of two extremely high-profile and lucrative cases.” He sat behind his desk, hands clasped loosely in front of him. “We just received a call from Louisa, Henry’s former boss, thanking us for recovering the missing Tamerlane. Which Interpol had failed to do.”
Henry and Delilah exchanged a look of pure love.
“I’m extremely happy to hear it,” Henry said. “And extremely happy it’ll return to its rightful home at the McMaster’s Library.”
“As am I,” Abe said. He pinned Sam and me with a proud look. “Thanks to a little pressure from Francisco, we’ll be receiving full payment for recovering the Sand letters, even though we made a mess of things.” A pause. “A mess of things in a good way.”
“Sam and Freya—messing things up in a good way since freshman year,” I teased, giving my coworkers an exaggerated wink.
Sam, however, surprised me by kissing my cheek. “Nice work, partner.”
“You too,” I grinned.
“I’ll remind all of the couples currently in my office about my PDA policy,” Abe said.
All