Forsaken Duty (Red Team #9)(31)

Owen walked out to the hall, tucking that question away for a future discussion.

She closed the door behind her, then stared up at him. It took every ounce of resolve he could summon not to touch her soft skin. He looked away from her but didn’t leave. Every second he could spend in her company was a gift. He wasn’t willing to surrender any of them.

“What are you going to do now?” she asked.

He shrugged.

“You look ready to drop.”

“I’m fine.”

“You should have taken the bedroom I offered.”

His gaze swiveled toward her. “There’s only one bedroom I want to be in.”

She opened the door to her room and took his hand. Shivers coursed along his skin. “Get in my bed and try to sleep.”

It took his body a few seconds to calm the buzz that started when she touched him. “Where are you going to be?”

“In the next room. My office. I have some emails to answer. I do have some friends, you know.”

“They are not friends. True friends would have gotten you out of this terrible situation.”

She scoffed at that. “Bringing in anyone who isn’t already in this mess is just asking for their death. And turning to anyone who is inside already…well, that’s complicated. It’s nearly impossible to discern where anyone’s loyalty lies. I didn’t know whom I could truly trust.”

This was the closest they’d come to actually talking about what had happened to her. He didn’t ask more questions, though he wanted to. There were so many answers he needed if he was to untangle her future and get her free. Instead, he walked over to her bed and sat down to take off his boots.

She watched him.

He held her gaze as he leaned back and stretched out on her big bed. The covers were rumpled, her pillows stacked in the odd ways that had made her comfortable while she slept. He kept eye contact with her until she looked away from him. Turning on her heel, she walked into her dressing room. From the sounds of it, she went through to one more room. He listened for a long moment, trying to decide if sleep really was a good idea.

He pulled one of the pillows out from under his head and pressed it to his face. Her scent was all over it. Sweet. Some flower he knew but couldn’t identify. He pulled the pillow that was by his side and sniffed it. It was still warm. She’d probably snuggled it up against her body. He breathed against the soft Egyptian cotton, filling his lungs with her, imagining his face pressed against her breasts, as this pillow had been.

He closed his eyes and was instantly asleep.





11





Over the next several days, Owen and Addy progressed through many of the weapons in Jax’s armory. He watched her growing confidence. She was becoming a little more comfortable around him. She smiled more easily and even laughed a little. Every moment he spent with her, the love he’d always felt for her deepened.

He craved time with her, though he knew it was stolen—from his team, his mission, his son. He was going to have to go back soon. He couldn’t leave without her, but he wasn’t confident he could get her to go with him. She was tied to this beautiful place with its fiendish history. Why? Was it because she thought this was where Augie would find her again?

Owen was sitting against the wall opposite Addy’s room once again. He’d grabbed a pillow from the sofa downstairs. Jax had sleeping bags—he could have snagged one of those, but the truth was that he didn’t want to be comfortable. He needed to be aware and semi-alert the whole night. Comfort wasn’t conducive to that goal.

He was just dozing off when Addy’s door opened. Her room was dark behind her, but light from the conservatory behind him cast her in a silvery glow. She was exquisite, like a ghost version of herself, soft, fierce, strong in a way that was unique to female civilians living with warriors.

“Have you come to keep me company?” he asked.

“No.”

“But you’re here, so you are company.”

“Why don’t you sleep in your room?”

“I told you why.”

“Then hire someone to guard me so you can get some rest.”

“No one can guard you the way I can.”

“You aren’t superhuman.”

“Pretty damned near when it comes to you. And yours.”

“This is foolishness.”

“It’s reality. Deal with it.”

“Owen, I’m tired. You’ve been out here every night.”

“I know. Go to sleep.”

“I can’t with you out here not sleeping.”

“It’s a matter of self-discipline. Nothing more. Close your eyes and sleep. I’ll keep you safe.”

Her sigh was dramatic. She slipped back inside her room but left the door open. “Come with me,” came her whispered voice from inside the shadows.

Owen’s whole body quickened. She didn’t mean it that way, you idiot. Get a grip. He followed her. His eyes were already used to the dark, so he saw her move into the dressing room where an air mattress had been made up on the floor.

“Sleep here instead,” she said, indicating the temporary bed.

“This is kind of you.”

“It’s not kindness. It’s survival.”