Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(85)
Again, Rome shook his head.
"I wasn't talking to you," I snapped.
"I want them safe just as much as you do," he replied, "but I saw the compound they're in. Cody e-mailed pictures. We can't save them alone, Belle. There's just too much security. If we tried to do an extraction, we could be captured ourselves, and then what good would we be to them?" Exasperated, I threw my free arm in the air. At least Cody seemed to be on our side still. "You think adding Tanner into the equation - sorry, Crazy Bones - will mean the difference between victory and defeat?"
"Well, I am pretty powerful," Tanner said.
I rolled my eyes. Clearly Elaine hadn't drained his giant ego.
"He's not the only one on the way," Rome said.
"What's more," Tanner added - God, I was being double-teamed - "John took care of the rat. Reese, the scrim, is caged. You'd have thought the world had ended, the way the female - and some of the male - agents acted when they learned the truth. Oh, and by the way. You had several messages at home from wedding people. I took care of things, though, and told them the whole thing was off. You're welcome. And listen, I've got a surprise for you. You're gonna like it. See ya." He didn't give me time to reply. The line went dead.
I stared at my phone for a moment. That little shit! Just then, it was easy to forget how glad I was that he'd recovered. I'd known the wedding was off - for the moment - but keeping the date and rescheduling my appointments had given me hope that it could still happen. Now...
Chin up. He's still a part of your life, and that's the important thing.
Suddenly the phone was ripped from my hands and thrown across the room. Startled, jolting, I looked up...up...seeing Rome standing just in front of me. His eyes were still glaring, his mouth still frowning.
"What'd you do - "
His lips mashed down on mine, cutting off my words. His tongue thrust deep, his arms banding around me and jerking me into the hard length of his body. He had an erection.
I gasped in shock, and his tongue thrust even deeper. For a minute - an hour? - I enjoyed him, reveling in his touch, his taste, his heat. He was everything I'd ever wanted for myself - strong and courageous, passionate and loyal. He was my past, and once again, for this moment, he was my future.
So used to holding him, my arms reached up of their own accord, sliding up his roped chest. My fingers traced circles around his tiny, hardened nipples before continuing their journey and tangling in his hair.
"What brought this on?" I asked, breathless.
"You. Need."
"We shouldn't." Oh, that was painful to say.
"Should." He licked the seam of my lips. "We can't have you worrying about Tanner the entire night."
"But you don't remember me, and I'm determined to resist you until you do." Wasn't I? Who knew anymore.
He pulled back, only a whisper away. "Resist later," he said fiercely. "I want you so badly. I need you. I don't need my memories for that. Even without them, I hate it when other men look at you with desire in their eyes. I want to kill Memory Man. I still want to kill Tanner. He finds too many excuses to touch you. My mind may not know you, Belle Jamison, but every part of my body recognizes you as mine." Mine.
His. For so long, that's all I'd wanted to be. Yes, I was different now than I'd been when this whole ordeal started. I'd shifted my priorities. But as I'd learned while staring down at his unconscious body, my love for him had neither changed nor dwindled. And that he felt this strong a need for me, without truly knowing me...We were meant to be together. We had to be.
"We already know I can cage your emotions," he said, assuming that was what was holding me back.
"I've proven it."
"That's not what I'm worried about," I countered, stepping backward. The backs of my knees hit the mattress.
Rome closed the distance again, his hardness pressing into my softness.
My blood was heating, my limbs shaking. Unable to stop myself, I arched into him, rubbing deliciously.
"Then what?" he demanded, teeth bared.
"The case comes first. It has to."
He tilted his head to the side, gaze roving over me, and nodded. "You're right. But do you really think I'd be here if I thought I could be out there, saving Lexis? Sherridan? Right now, we'd only do more harm than good. We've got Cody on the inside, protecting the women. He won't let anything happen to them."
"He's the reason they're in trouble in the first place." I trusted him again, still, whatever - I think - but that didn't mean I agreed with his methods. "He's let Sherridan be experimented on. He's let Lexis be pushed around."
"To save their lives. To gain information. To earn Desert Gal's trust." This time, it was Rome who backed away from me, hands fisted at his sides. "His reasons are for the greater good, guaranteed." With every step that separated us, my chest ached.
"I've got cameras all around this motel and they're feeding directly to my phone. An alarm will trigger if anyone tries to enter this room." Another step away. "There's nothing else we can do." He was right. So far, we'd done everything we could. Now, we just had to wait.
He stopped in the center of the room. "I want you, Belle. I want to be with you, and I know I told you I'd change your mind, but ultimately the decision is yours. I've treated you badly, and I'm sorry for that.
Gena Showalter's Books
- Where Shadows Meet
- Destiny Mine (Tormentor Mine #3)
- A Covert Affair (Deadly Ops #5)
- Save the Date
- Part-Time Lover (Part-Time Lover #1)
- My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies #2)
- Getting Schooled (Getting Some #1)
- Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)
- Speakeasy (True North #5)
- The Good Luck Sister (Wildstone #1.5)