Page 39 of The Knight
What the fuck am I doing?The thought blazed through his mind, even as he deepened the kiss. This was reckless, insane. He had to stop.
But her lips were warm, soft, and addictive.So sweet.The world outside vanished, dissolving into this one perfect moment. All he could taste, feel, and breathe was Freya—mint, heat, and something intoxicatingly warm. Her scent wrapped around him, threatening to pull him under.
Focus.
He broke the kiss, pulling away as reality crashed back in.
Freya wobbled, but he caught her by the elbows, steadying her as her breath came fast and shallow. She was looking right at him. The kiss had done exactly what he needed—it had interrupted her panic and snapped her back to the present, alert and ready.
He ran his thumb across her lower lip, the fullness of it drawing his attention for a heartbeat longer than it should.
“We’re going to get out of here,” he whispered, his voice hoarse, his command clear. “And we’re going to stay alive. Do you hear me?”
She blinked, touching her lower lip with trembling fingers. But she nodded, her breathing slowing, syncing with his. As he held her gaze, the air between them thrummed with a dangerous energy, the kiss lingering like a fuse waiting to ignite again.
A shrill ring shattered the moment.
Abe spun, his instincts flaring. He locked onto the mustard-yellow rotary phone hanging by the back door, its old-fashioned ring rupturing the air like an alarm.
It rang again, louder this time.
Impatient.
21
Freya’s handtrembled as she reached for the phone, her body still humming from Abe’s unexpected kiss. Her fingertips grazed her lips chasing the ghost of his touch. Her world had tilted on its axis in a brief, electric moment of desire mixed with danger.
Was the kiss real, or just a by-product of their life-or-death situation?
She gripped the receiver, stealing a glance at Abe. His intense gaze sent a fresh wave of heat through her. Freya swallowed hard and forced her voice to steady. “Hello?”
“Freya.” Asta’s voice crackled with urgency, distorted through the poor connection. “Listen. I don’t have much time. I came back from the market on a different route. There are men surrounding my house.”
A muffled noise in the background made the hair on Freya’s arms rise.
“Asta. Are you okay?”
“I can stop them, but you must act now. Get to your car—I made some adjustments last night. Drive up the hill—fast. Don’t look back, no matter what.”
Adjustments?Freya’s throat tightened. “Asta, we can’t just abandon you?—”
“This is not up for debate.” Asta’s tone was sharp as steel. “I may be old, and my lifestyle is simple, but I am far from helpless. My research, it’s valuable, heh? Let’s just say it has uses beyond academia.”
“But, Asta?—”
“Do as I say.” The line went dead with a decisive click.
She lowered the phone, her mind spinning. Asta was an old woman. They had to protect her, not the other way around.
“Freya?”
She turned to Abe, her voice little more than a shred of a whisper. “Asta wants us to go. Says she’s going to deal with the men.”
“What? How?” He was checking out the window. The gun in his hand was matte black and sucked light from the room.
“She didn’t say.” Her stomach knotted. “We can’t leave her, Abe.”
Abe crossed the room. “We don’t have a choice. If we stay here, we’re sitting ducks. They won’t kill you—they need you to decrypt the laptop. But after that?” He let the question hang in the air.