Dangerous Mating (A.L.F.A., #3)(26)

“Yeah. How did you know?” he said.

“Lucky guess. Let’s get going.” She was getting tired and who knew how long they’d be in here. The little she had eaten at dinner was about through her system. She’d do cartwheels for a protein bar right now.

Bryon handed her an unlit torch then took her hand in his. “There’s only one way,” he said.

She smiled. “You lead and I follow.” He frowned at her words, but led her out of the cavern. That had been status quo most of her life, especially with the FBI. Men would always lead and the women would follow. But sometimes that was perfectly fine. The bad guy usually took out the first person to enter the room. It was the second person who took out the bad guy.

“That’s not what I meant earlier when I said you shouldn’t go walking off,” he said.

She knew his comments weren’t a simple chauvinistic remark, but was pissed at him at the time she said that to him and the words flowed from her mouth. “Yeah, it’s all right. I really didn’t mean what I said. I was just upset that you thought I wasn’t good enough to work at the FBI.”

He added, “I didn’t mean that either. I was saying that I always figured my ma—” he coughed and cleared his throat, “my rescuer would be from ALFA. I didn’t know we even had a relationship with the FBI. I’d thought someone from the CIA would be the first choice.”

“I agree. It should’ve been the CIA since they are international and FBI are domestic. But I deciphered a code the CIA was working on. Maybe this is a multilayer joint mission. I don’t know. Maybe the generals in the director’s office told him to assign me.”

The tunnel they were in seemed different than those before the water trap. These felt older, more worn, more lived in. The wall’s sides were smoother as if millions of shoulders and hands had quietly sanded them down over hundreds of years. Same for the floor. It was a bit dusty as feet scraped away pointy edges, leaving crumbled rock and granules in their wake.

She wondered how old this tunnel was. Rome was in power long before the common era began. This could easily be over two thousand years old. A sense of admiration and respect filled her. Many people gave their lives in building these underground routes to save more lives in the future. Like hers, right now.

That made her think about what she was leaving behind that would benefit the world when she was gone. Had she done anything worthy with her life? She thought about her job. She had decoded several things that related to war and threats. Perhaps in some way, she had helped calm a volatile situation with feuding countries or stopped a coalition that would have taken over a people.

That was all a maybe. What certain things had she done? Not much. Took the bus to work instead of driving. But honestly, that was because parking spots in the FBI area were few and expensive. The only thing she could leave behind were children that believed in saving the world and being kind to your neighbor.

Did she want a family? She wasn’t afraid of raising children, even as a single mother, though she preferred both parents to help balance children’s mental and sociological development.

“Bryon, do you ever think about having children?” Her words startled her. She really didn’t mean to ask him. “I’m sorry for being so personal. No need to answer. That was a dumb thing to ask.”

He stopped, turned to her, and smiled. Instant panty melt. “No, that’s a fair question. Actually, I’m thinking about starting a family more and more. I’m in my mid-thirties, now. I’ve put in more than my fair share of time at ALFA. It’s time that I put effort into my mate and making a home where we can share love and raise children.”

Good god, if that wasn’t the most romantically perfect thing to say . . . she’d love to share love with him.

“So you’d quit your job,” she asked, “just like that?”

“Those who work ALFA for years get a pension, but it’s not enough for a great living. I’d probably find a side job I enjoyed. Or maybe my wife will work full-time and I’d take care of the pups. I’d be an official ‘house dad.’”

He sounded so enthused by the idea, she laughed. He would make a great house dad. Those kids would be lucky to have him as a father.

“What about you, Kari? Are you a career woman or do you want a family?”

“I’ve always worked as did my mom. So I wouldn’t know any other type of lifestyle. But I do want children and a family. I’ve never not wanted one, just haven’t thought about it much till now.”

“If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?” he asked.

She knew that answer right away. “Somewhere with forests and mountains would be great. I like being in the woods and in touch with nature. Whenever I get too much city trash in my system, I head toward a park and camp out under a tree for several hours, reading, people watching, smelling the grass, whatever.”

He laughed. “Smelling the grass. I like that.”

“One of my favorite smells is freshly cut grass. I roll down my window in residential areas when folks are mowing. It’s so calming.” She read somewhere that cut grass had the same natural chemicals as men’s semen. Oh god. She must be getting horny again. How could she not, following the scrumptious ass in front of her. He reached back for her hand and pulled her closer.