she’d ever heard. Her fingers clutched at his belt, and he pressed against her, trapping her fingers from moving.
“No. If you touch me now, my control will be shot and this will be over.”
Her retort died in her throat as he rolled partially off her, his fingers finding the band of her panties, sliding under the edge and skimming her pussy lips before he moved his thumb directly over her clit and rolled, forcing her head to hit the pillow behind her and her eyes to close.
“Open your eyes, Astrid.”
She forced her eyes open as he continued to drive her closer to the edge with his fingers. His free hand pressed into her lower belly as his fingers pushed into her and curled as they rubbed against the sensitive spot, sending her over the edge. Her climax pulsed through her on a wave of pleasure so consuming she felt her whole body jerk.
Jack held her eyes which contained a dark, stormy intensity that wrapped around her, and she knew she’d been right—this man could devastate her, but it was too late. She wasn’t prepared to walk away now without finding out what it could be.
Her breathing finally settled and, as if her mind was coming back from a faraway place, she remembered Jack’s shoulder. She sat up fast, almost hitting him in the face before he dodged out of the way, gasping between his teeth.
“Oh my God, I’m so selfish. You got shot saving me, and you end up soothing me and making me, well, you know…”
His lips twitched as he sat up on the bed. “Made you what?”
Astrid scowled at him as she straightened her skirt. “You know what.”
“Yeah, I’d say from the flush over your skin, everyone will.”
“Jack,” she warned as she swung her legs to the floor and watched him stand and grab a shirt from a hanger in the wardrobe. Standing, she moved to help him put it on, sliding his shoulder into the fabric and doing the buttons up for him as he rested his hands lightly on her hips.
“For the record, that wasn’t selfish, that was fucking spectacular.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t deny that, but you got nothing from it.”
“Oh, I definitely got something. I got to watch you come, and that’s the best medicine I’ve ever had. That vision, the memory of your breathy sounds in my ear, and the taste of your lips will sustain me for the rest of the day until I can do it again.”
“Confident, aren’t we?” She was teasing, he had every right to be confident at this point. She felt like she was a sure thing.
His lips skimmed her neck, finding her pulse and sucking gently, not enough to leave a mark but enough to drive her crazy. “I want you in my bed, Astrid.”
She tried not to let the fact he only said bed disappoint her. He’d been nothing but honest from the start it was all he was offering. “Okay, Jack.”
She kissed his lips as a knock on the door came, and he took her hand.
“Time to find out what happened.”
Chapter Thirteen
“What the fuck was that?” Jack was at the front of the room, seated beside Astrid. He wanted her within touching distance, not willing to let her out of his sight for even a second. The image in his mind of the first bullet hitting the ground so close to her had his stomach churning. One split second, and she could’ve been gone, stolen away from him before he’d even had the chance to explore what was between them, and with each passing second, he knew it was more than sex.
His world had stopped turning for that moment in time, and nothing else had mattered to him but protecting her. He didn’t know how or when it had happened, but Astrid had wormed her way into his heart and was setting up for the long haul. Yet, instead of anger or denial, he was at peace with it. This was right, she was right. They fit, and he felt slightly blindsided by it.
Alex leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and Jack could see Alex was as angry as he was. In fact, as he looked around the room, it was clear the entire team was furious it had happened. Each man took their job seriously, and failure was a personal insult.
“Nate took down the shooter, and we’re working on an ID for him now.”
“Actually, I have an ID.” Lopez turned the laptop so