Claiming Felicity (Ace Security #4)(38)

“How about a break from things around here?” Ryder asked.

She tilted her head at him. “What kind of break?”

“Bailey is going to head down to Colorado Springs for another appointment with the tattoo artist that is doing the new ink on her back. Want to go?”

Felicity couldn’t help the excitement that tore through her. “Yes,” she said immediately. She loved Bailey. They’d bonded when the other woman had been stalked by her ex-gang-member boyfriend, and Felicity knew she’d found a kindred spirit. Felicity had given Bailey the name of the tattoo artist down in Colorado Springs who was transforming a horrible tattoo on Bailey’s back into a beautiful work of art. “Is Joel going too?” she asked.

“No. Alexis and Blake are going to take him and two of his friends on a hike up to the top of Castle Rock today.”

Felicity’s brows raised. “All the way up there?”

Ryder chuckled. “Yup. They figured it’ll tire them out, and after they get back and stuff the kids with pizza, they’ll crash.”

“They’re probably right,” Felicity agreed.

“And I feel like I should probably warn you . . . I’d like to talk to my buddies while we’re down there,” Ryder said, changing the subject slightly.

Felicity smiled. “I’ll finally get to meet these elusive ‘friends’ you’ve been talking to on the phone?”

His lips quirked up, but didn’t quite make it into a smile. “Yeah, love, you’ll meet them. I feel like I should warn you, though, they’re going to have some information about Joseph you may or may not want to hear.”

She tilted her head as her smile died. “What are you saying?”

“I’m actually asking. Do you want to be in our conversation about him, or would you rather we discuss the situation when you’re busy with Bailey at the tattoo shop?”

“You’re asking?”

“Yeah. If it’s too much and you can’t handle any more right now, I’ll make sure we have our talk before you get to the pool hall. If you want in on it, I’ll hold them off until you get there.”

“You’d do that?”

Ryder grabbed one of her hands and pulled her into him. She let out an oof when she crashed into his chest. “Fuck, yeah. This is your life we’re talking about. I have no right to keep you out of it. But if you don’t want to, or can’t deal with it, I’ll make sure you don’t have to.”

She liked that. A lot. “I want to be there,” she told him.

“Then you will be.”

Felicity looked up into Ryder’s hazel eyes. They were looking at her with an intensity she hadn’t seen in a long time. She and Ryder had slept in each other’s arms for the last week, but for some reason, this seemed more intimate to her. One of his large warm hands had snuck under the hem of her shirt and was lying on her lower back. The other rested between her shoulder blades, holding her to him.

He brushed his thumb across the sensitive skin of her lower back, and his hazel eyes were fixed on hers.

“What?” she asked softly. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’ve been around the world doing my thing. I saw women and children in some of the worst situations you could ever imagine. Some were completely broken, mere shells of who I imagine they used to be. Others were scared shitless. Still others were pissed way the hell off. I never knew how someone was going to react around me, or if I was with a team, us. But I’ve never really thought about how they felt about what happened to them. I only saw them for a short time, then passed them off to someone else to deal with the aftermath of their situation.”

Felicity tilted her head, not sure what he was getting at.

“I always thought what I did was the hard part. Physically getting the women out of their situations, being shot at, shooting at others. Killing. But now I realize I’ve been wrong. Way wrong. What I did was in a lot of ways the easy part. Yeah, it was dangerous, but the situations the women were in were always dangerous. But now I realize that it’s the continuing on after the rescue that’s the hard part. You’ve shown me that.”

“Ryder, I—”

He didn’t let her finish her thought. He interrupted her with a kiss. It was short, but intense. Then he pulled back. “I admire the fuck out of you, Felicity. You don’t deserve what he’s doing to you. All you did was try to help a friend. But with no experience, you’ve managed to keep ahead of him for a decade. That’s amazing. You will be free of him.”

“I hope so,” she whispered. “But I’m not sure I know how to live a normal life.”

“I’m used to getting a call every couple of weeks and running off to wherever I’m sent to track down and kill the dregs of humanity.” Ryder shrugged a little self-consciously. “If you’ll help me, I’ll help you. We’ll try to live a normal life together.”

That sounded amazing to her. “Okay.”

“Okay.” Then he leaned down and kissed her again.

As they kissed, he picked her up and placed her on the counter. She spread her legs, inviting him to get closer to her. She felt feminine and desired as his hands caressed her sides and thighs as they kissed.

Way before she was ready, he pulled back reluctantly. “I need to call Nathan. He’s waiting for me to let him know if we’re going with him and Bailey down to the Springs.”