Page 166 of Covert Mission
She just holds me. It feels so damned good. She doesn’t argue, doesn’t try to convince me otherwise.
“You’re a good man, Lucas Calder.”
I drop my head to hers.
“You love your team,” she says quietly.
I nod against her hair.
“You would never let them get hurt intentionally.”
The rusty, dented organ behind my ribcage clenches. She’s right.
Camile squeezes me tighter. “Every single one of them knows that. Nyx included.”
I exhale hard, the shuddering breath rolling out of me.
She leans back again and looks up at me.
This beautiful, special woman sees me.
All of me.
As I look down at her beautiful hazel eyes, she studies my face.
Then she rocks forward, standing on her tiptoes and brushes a kiss over my cheek. “I’m going to stay back tonight while you and Scout go get the files.”
I feel my own eyes go wide. “Fuck,you will?”
She nods and presses her lips tight. For a beat, she just touches me, her fingertips gliding over the hair at my nape. “I want you safe. I know you’d be worried about me, and I don’t want you to be distracted.”
I don’t want to argue. Hell, I want her to stay back, somewhere safe, but I know it’s her mission. “Are you sure? Scout and I can protect you.”
“I’m sure. It’s better this way. Now we should go. Because I’m seriously hungry for whatever that is they have in there. You made me work up a beastly appetite earlier.”
A warm glow fills me. It’s the bright feeling I had earlier. The one I wondered if I’d ever feel again. I drag her to me and kiss her hard.
When I finally let her go, she laughs. “Oh, my god. Whatever you ate must be spicy. Your lips are on fire!”
“Honey, my lips are always on fire.”
She’s laughing when I drag her down the path toward the noisy bunch.
Maybe… just maybe the madness is over. About fucking time. Scout and I can run the op, then Camile and I together will be free to make our decisions about the future.
* * *
Carollia’s lights cast a dull gray glow on the underside of the cloud cover. Shit night for an op. It’s never good when the whole damned city is glowing like a lightning bug.
Scout shifts in the passenger seat of the truck. “How’d you convince her to stay behind?”
I lower my binoculars from where I’ve been looking at the rear entrance of the building. “You won’t believe this, but she just volunteered. She didn’t want my head fucked up. She said that after Nyx talked to her.”
There’s a beat of heavy silence. I blow out a breath. “I still don’t know what that conversation included, but Camile was different after.”
Evan tosses a balled-up gum wrapper at me. “Well, I can tell you what they talked about.”
“Oh, yeah, all knowing one? Please enlighten me.”