She pushed ineffectively at his chest, but he held her close. Zara fought, but Noah knew it was more with herself than him. She would come to see he could be her port in any of the storms that came her way. Finally, she quit struggling and just held herself perfectly still. He rocked her, offering wordless comfort and support. When she wrapped her arms around one of his and clung to him, he kissed her temple in reassurance.
“I don’t like it when you’re nice,” she whispered.
“Good thing for you, it probably won’t happen all that often,” he teased.
She didn’t laugh or giggle, but he could feel her smile.
“I’ve had it. I’m just exhausted. Would you mind if I just stretched out?” she asked.
“Not at all. Do you want some company, or do you just want to be by yourself in here for a while?”
“Just by myself… if that’s okay.”
He kissed her cheek. “It’s fine, but don’t think you have to go through this alone. I do understand it’s a big change for you.”
“It is, and I don’t know that I want it.”
He laughed softly. “You don’t, but that’s okay… I’m not giving you a choice about that.”
She shook her head. “You really are a sonofabitch, you know that?”
“I do indeed.”
That made her laugh. He ran his hand down her leg and removed her shoes and socks. Standing with her in his arms, he placed her on her feet, then pulled back the covers and helped her undress. Reverently, he kissed her lips and briefly sucked and kissed each of her nipples before helping her into bed. Noah watched as her eyes riveted on the growing bulge in his pants.
“Noah?” she asked tentatively.
“It’ll keep, sweetheart. Close your eyes and take a nap. I have some things I need to do for the office. I’ll get those done, then if you’re still asleep, I may come and join you. I’ll just be in the other room if you need me.”
He brushed the hair off her face and was leaning down to bestow a kiss on her face when Zara reached up and drew him to her mouth. Pressing her lips against his, her small tongue darted past his teeth to flick the tip of his, enticing him to deepen the kiss and take possession of her mouth. He caressed her lips with his before deepening the gesture, inordinately pleased when she sighed and relaxed into his hands, enjoying his attention. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to kiss her like that forever. His cock reminded him there were other parts of Zara to be enjoyed, but Noah pushed down his hunger to have her again and finished the kiss as softly as it had begun.
“Are you going to be all right if I go into the other room?”
She nodded. “Just leave the door open, okay?”
“Not a problem. Call if you need something.”
She nodded again. This time when he leaned down to kiss her, he merely bussed her temple before running his hand down her side, folded the covers over her, and left her to sleep. She probably was exhausted with everything that had happened.
Thom had said when he downloaded her files, it was obvious Zara had worked for several hours after she parted company with Finn and had been back at it the next morning when the hit squad had come calling. As he left her and entered the main room, he could smell something burning and saw smoke rising from the stove. Shit! He’d forgotten all about the damned grilled cheese. He ran into the kitchen and beat the flames out just as they started, then removed the pan from cooktop and turned it off. He held up the decimated ruins of what would have been a delicious sandwich. Well, at least it was well toasted.
Noah called Thom to see if they’d found anything of interest at Zara’s.
“So, you and the hard-hitting journalist? How do you see that working?” The grin on Thom’s face could be heard in his voice.
“I have no idea, but we’ll figure it out. Easier, I think, than an IT nerd and a fighter pilot, but hell, what do I know. I’m in love and want the rest of the world to be as happy as me. I was just thinking earlier that I pride myself on being a man who learns from other’s mistakes. I know Mac feels as if he lost a lot of time he can never make up with Willa. I don’t intend to let either of our jobs come between us.”
“Whoa, you’re really serious about this.”
“I am. I know it seems fast, and believe me, no one is more shocked about it than me, but nothing has ever been as right as being with Zara. Nothing. Mac has toyed with the idea of opening up something on this side of the Atlantic, and I mean to pitch that idea to him. That way, I wouldn’t have to ask Zara to leave her home. By the way, how bad was the mess?”
“About what you’d expect. They tore it apart pretty good. She had some nice furniture in there. Finn knew the restorer Zara used in the past, so we got the damaged pieces to him. They pretty much destroyed her mattress and bedding, I think more to upset or scare her than anything. They did leave a couple of surveillance devices behind. We let them see us moving around, then let them record the place empty. I’ve hacked their system, and now they just see a continuous loop.”
“Anything we can use against them?”
“Several sets of fingerprints and some DNA evidence. If we catch them, Scotland Yard has physical evidence linking them, so they can arrest and lock them up. Also, the crown prosecutor said they’ll let us know if it looks like something they’re going to take before the bar. You’re not planning to let her come back yet, are you?”
“Hell, no. There’s still way too much we don’t know about who’s behind this. I’m pretty damn sure Zara either knows something or at least thinks she knows something and is keeping it to herself. I’ll let her have a few more days before she decides to tell me.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“I’ll persuade her keeping secrets from me isn’t something she wants to do.”
Thom laughed. “I’ll just bet you will. Reid and Fariq are both still at the ranch. Reid grumbled a little about his job until Croft shut him down by reminding him Finn and now Zara were in danger because of him. That seemed to set him back on his heels.”
“What about Fariq?”
“He seems content to just hang out and give us the dope on all his competitors. Croft isn’t convinced we have the whole story about what’s going on in his organization or that he’s ready to abdicate to Springer.”
“How’s Billy Boy doing with Finn?” Noah asked, grinning. Of all the men he worked with, he was the closest to Croft, and the only one who dared call him Billy or worse yet, Billy Boy.
“You know he hates it when you call him that.”
“I know, that’s half the fun. But how are they doing? Finn seemed fine when she talked to Zara earlier.”
“She’s fine. She’s still careful about how and where she sits, and I suspect she’s sore in the same places as your Zara… she is your Zara, isn’t she? I mean, this isn’t casual…”
“It’s about as casual as a heart attack,” Noah said, shaking his head. “If you’d told me this time last week, I even had a soul mate, I’d have said you were dead wrong, but I do, and she’s napping in the other room.”
The two men talked about their possible next steps and Noah’s plan to stay where they were for a few more days before moving on to another remote location. Staying in one place was simpler, but it wasn’t as safe. They arranged for Thom to head to a rendezvous point with a new vehicle. There was also a discussion of moving them back to Mesa. Noah nixed that idea, saying he didn’t want Zara’s life turned upside down. The truth was, he wasn’t ready to share her. He wanted to keep her to himself until he could solidify their relationship.