Page 71 of Too Lethal to Love
As she rode out the ecstatic storm against his unfaltering strength, everything clicked into place. She finally understood what she’d been afraid of all along, and it hadn’t been a stupid curse.
Flames lapped at the altar in the old church. Kane stood behind black, heavy smoke twisting around him like cobwebs. Beth called to him. Arms outstretched, fire licking the cuff of his uniform jacket, he reached for her but couldn’t penetrate the thick veil.
“No.” Beth shot to a sitting position and swallowed, her throat aching from roaring Kane’s name in her sleep.
A gentle touch grazed her fingers. Scarlett smiled from her perch next to Beth. “Hey, it’s just me.”
Beth rubbed her eyes and scanned the break room Kane had carried her to last night, where she’d fallen asleep in his arms. Not a trace of the super soldier remained visible. No T-shirt tossed over the chair by the door. No boots by the bed. But she could still smell him, feel him in the depths of her body and her soul, and remember him marking her as his own.
Scarlett grasped her hand. “What were you dreaming about?”
“Nothing.” Beth pulled in a gulp of air, this one not hurting as much because it tasted like the soldierwho made promises last night that she believed with all her heart. Apparently, her subconscious wasn’t on board yet.
Shaking off the nightmare, Beth pictured Kane illuminated in an ethereal light as he waited for her at the altar. She wasn’t entirely free of the curse yet, but she’d fight it. That fantasy was a good start.
She sighed and shifted. Her muscles protested in delicious pain as she pulled her sweater over her belly. What happened to her skirt? She swung her gaze and spotted it at the bottom of the cot. “Where’s Kane?”
“He’s with the team planning Dr. Sable’s extraction. They got intel a few minutes ago.”
Beth thanked the powers that be. “Where is she?”
“I can’t tell you. I shouldn’t have told you that much.”
“That’s okay. I understand.” Kane told her all she’d needed to know last night. Oh, she had plenty of questions for Scarlett about the fascinating science behind everything, but they could wait. “Thank God they found her. What if the intel isn’t good? Dr. Sable had a knee replacement a few months ago. She’s still walking with a cane. What if?—”
Scarlett held up a hand. “Alright. I’ll tell you a few more things. One, the intel about Dr. Sable’s location is extremely credible. She’s one whip-smart lady and I can’t wait to ask her a million questions about her work. Two, she is being held locally, not in Mexico like they feared. Three, our boys will absolutely bring her home alive.” She squeezed Beth’s hand. “And they’ll come home alive too.”
“They will.” Beth closed her eyes. Dr. Sable would be okay. Triple X would be safe. Kane would come back soon and…
Rapturous tingles rioted in her core as scenes from last night played in her mind. Kane pinning her against the wall. His powerful body crashing into hers as naturally as if she was an extension of him. The way the universe paused as heslammed into her. The exhilarating peace of blocking out the noise in her head so she could savor every single thrilling sensation.
Scarlett raised her eyebrows. “Did you two do that last night?”
“What?” Beth followed her friend’s gaze to a hole in the wall lining up perfectly with the edge of the cot. Kane promised he’d lay her out on his bed and take his slow, sweet time with her when he got home from rescuing Dr. Sable. Their time on this cot had been anything but slow. It had been sweet on an elemental level, infused with hot, demanding hunger that left her so sated the space between floating back to sleep and her orgasm blurred. She also didn’t remember the bed cracking the plaster.
She remembered the gaping crack Kane had made in her belief in her curse though.
Scarlett patted her knee. “Get up. We have a mass to get ready for. The boys didn’t want us to go, but Kane begrudgingly switched to your side. He said he knew how important it was for you to go to your favorite church on Christmas Eve.”
Emotion welled in Beth’s throat. Yesterday she’d loathed that Edgar and Scarlett, and Kane and the VIPER boys were making decisions about her life. But yesterday she hadn’t felt like part of their family. Now that she knew some of their secrets and was falling in love with the hottest of their members, she didn’t mind the excessive caution.
Scarlett rose from the bed. “But there are stipulations of course, considering the situation. Gage, who is always on my tail when Chris is deployed on a mission, and Dr. Hudson Langley are coming as our protection detail. You met them both at my engagement party. There will also be a VIPER support team who will secure the building beforehand. Oncewe’re in the church, we don’t leave until the service is over, and only with Gage and Hudson.”
Beth nodded. “Okay, but I feel bad that I’m making people work on Christmas Eve.”
Scarlett waved her hand. “No worries. Gage’s daughter has a cold and will be asleep at his sister’s house by that time, Hudson’s wife, Tessa, is volunteering at a soup kitchen, and the others are all single and don’t have any family in town. I hear they have big plans for some party afterward.”
“Good. What time is it now?”
“Almost noon. We need to eat lunch and get home so we can get ready. I know you like to get there early.”
“Yup.” If you didn’t get a seat up front, you couldn’t see the dozens of poinsettias arranged on the altar steps. And she didn’t want to be stuck staring at the back of some guy’s head. Some of the kids who took her science class were in the choir and she wouldn’t be able to wave to them.
Something twinkling caught her eye. She craned her neck around Scarlett. A small Christmas tree sat on the table next to the door. It hadn’t been there last night. She knew because that’s where Kane’s pants landed when she’d tossed them across the small room. “Where did that tree come from?”
Scarlett sighed and placed her hand over her heart. “Kane stole it from my office before he left. He wanted you to wake up to sparkle on Christmas Eve morning.”
Beth placed her hand over her heart too. Tears stung her eyes. “That was…”