that had almost pierced her skin. Mi Ling would have been relentless in her interrogation and wouldn’t have spared Anna any pain. She wanted the iPads. Her government wouldn’t have expected any less of their operative.
Her mind registered a warm body, heavy, delicious muscles, and she sighed as she sank deeper into Dodger’s embrace. Stirring in his sleep, he shifted position, then gathered her firmly against him, rough stubble catching in her hair as he rested his cheek on the top of her head. She slipped her knee between his and snuggled down, savoring the quiet pleasure of waking up in his arms.
As she stared into space, absently aware of the soft rise and fall of his chest, her thoughts drifted back to her decision to invade Dodger’s personal space and give him the choice to be with her. She would have accepted his rejection. She could see the toll it had taken on him to go against what he believed in. But Anna sensed there was something else holding him back that was deeper, more painful, more fundamental than betraying his promise to Max or breaking the brotherhood code. There were times when she saw a more sober Dodger, and before his decision, before the lovemaking, she had seen that man. Often, the class clown acted that way to cover up his own pain. He was funny and charming, but what was it he was hiding? She longed to know everything about him—if he’d ever let down his guard and tell her.
She had to be realistic. This was a temporary situation per Dodger’s terms. She could live with that. But she’d be lying to herself if she denied that she wanted more. They lived their lives on the edge. She was in the field and he was a SEAL, deployed all the time and more often than not in terrible danger. She could deal with that as well. There would be a time when that wasn’t going to be the case. But for now, they were young and dedicated to serving and protecting the US.
That was if she could clear her name and get back her credibility and trust. In the CIA there was a very low threshold for mistakes. But even though she was determined to carry out her mission and neutralize this threat, she had no guarantees that she would be reinstated. It didn’t matter. She knew who she was and what she was doing. The rest of it was just lies and deceit. Someone had set her up to take the fall.
She sighed again, so thankful for Dodger’s help. It took a special kind of person to stick by her under these circumstances and put himself at risk—not only of death, but what would happen if the Navy found out he was aiding and abetting a rogue agent…
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
Attuned as she was to his every breath, Anna had no inkling Dodger was awake, and she tipped her head back and gazed up at him in surprise. “Is that a Navy SEAL trick? You just open your eyes and you’re awake?”
He gave her a slow, lazy smile as he smoothed his hand across her back. “Don’t you?”
“I don’t know. Do I?”
The laugh lines around his eyes creased, then he murmured softly, “Bugger me, but I do know you’re a hell of a lot nicer to wake up to than my M4.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “So, you’re comparing me to your gun?”
He tensed and his expression became suddenly guarded as a muscle twitched in his jaw.
“It’s a compliment,” he hedged. “We…uh…love our weapons. They protect us.”
“Still so flattering. You are a piece of work.”
“But you think I’m devilishly handsome, right?”
She didn’t say anything, and his expression darkened with a troubled frown. “A good shag?” He gave her a completely adorable grin and it took everything she had not to react. God, he was so cute. “Come on, luv. You have to admit that was a good time.”
Still she didn’t say anything.
He stared at her a moment, then gave her a sly smile. “Right, just like my M4, I know how to take you apart and oil you up so you’re as dangerous in my hands.”
“Maybe so,” she said, deadpan, “but I think I am also adept in that department. You were pretty…oiled.”
Hauling in a ragged breath, he closed his eyes and thrust his hand deep into her tousled hair. “Is that an invitation?”