“This is so much trouble for you—”
He turned back and gripped her knee. “It’s nothing. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
Her heart did a crazy dance in her chest.
She was falling for this battle-scarred protector—hard and fast.
And she was terrified that this terrible situation she’d been sucked into would get him killed.
Everyone she’d ever loved had left her. She still had Killian, but her brother was busy, and lived on his own edge.
Her father had left when she was a baby. Her mother had left her bit by bit.
Maybe she was supposed to be alone.
“Saskia?”
She looked into Cam’s green eyes.
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it.” He gave her knee a final squeeze, then looked back out the windshield.
She’d sent Killian a message about the explosion, and the plan for her and Cam to lay low. She nibbled her lip. Her brother was in the air somewhere. When he landed and found out what was going on…
All hell was going to break loose.
The lead X6 pulled out of the warehouse. Soon, they followed.
“Down,” he ordered.
He’d already pulled a ball cap low over his face. Saskia lay on the backseat, and pulled a blanket over her.
She lay there, stewing in her own thoughts as they drove.
Cam had survived war. He’d survived so many hard missions, and he’d barely survived his last one with his life.
She wasn’t going to be the reason he died.
She heard him talking on the cell phone with the others.
“We’re across the bridge. All clear.” A pause. “Saskia, you can sit up now.”
She sat up and looked at the Bay. The San Francisco skyline was in the distance, and then her gaze shifted to Alcatraz Island. They’d just crossed the Golden Gate Bridge.
“It’s a short drive to the safe house in San Rafael,” he told her.
Nodding, she curled in on herself, staring blindly out the window.
“Saskia?”
“I’m fine,” she murmured.
Inside her, everything was a crazy jumble. Mikhailov had blown up the Norcross Security office. What would he do next?
It wasn’t long before Cam drove into San Rafael. They passed some beautiful, historic, Spanish Mission style-buildings, but Saskia was too numb to appreciate them. They passed through the bustling downtown, into a suburban area with average-looking family homes. Cam pulled into the driveway of a nondescript ranch house. He touched the dash and the garage door opened. Inside the garage was a black truck, and he pulled in beside it.
“Come on. We’ll eat and change. I want to check those scrapes on your face.”
She nodded tightly.
Cam grabbed their bags from the back, then unlocked the connecting door from the garage into the house.
The inside smelled faintly of lemons. It was nothing fancy, but it was clean. The open-concept kitchen opened into the living area. The kitchen cabinets and appliances were dated, but functional. Through locked sliding doors, she saw a small, pocket-sized backyard.
Cam dropped the bags on the floor, then unzipped his. He pulled out a first aid kit.
“Bathroom.”
“Cam, I—”
“No arguments.”
She huffed out a breath. “Maybe I feel like arguing.”
His gaze snapped to hers.
“Don’t give me that look,” she said. “I think I’m entitled to a breakdown. This asshole is after me. He doesn’t even know me. You’ve been attacked. Savannah has a broken arm. Norcross Security had its front door blown in.” Her chest was so tight she could barely breathe. “That little girl… She could’ve been hurt.”
Cam gripped Saskia’s arms. “But she wasn’t. You need to hang in there a little bit longer.”
Saskia bit her lip.
“You aren’t alone.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “The best thing I learned in the military is that in the toughest situations, you can’t go it alone. The only way to get through this is to trust your team. Lean on them.” He shrugged a shoulder. “I forgot that for a while. After I was injured, I thought I had to go it alone, but I don’t. And you don’t. I’m your team, Saskia.”
Emotion whirled. “I’ve never had a team. Killian is my rock, and if I needed him, he’d be there, but…”
“But he has his own demanding life.” Cam smoothed her hair back from her face. “And life’s taught you not to lean on others too much. Sweetheart, you can’t get through this alone.”
She pulled in a shuddering breath and let him lead her into the bathroom. It was all plain-white tiles, with a shower over the tub, a single vanity, and a toilet.
He made her sit on the edge of the tub, and opened the first aid kit. He ripped open some wipes and dabbed at the cuts on her cheeks.
She winced at the sting.
“Mikhailov will pay for every mark,” Cam murmured.
“I couldn’t bear it if you got hurt. Promise me you won’t.”
“I can’t. I’ll do whatever it takes so you’re safe from him. If that means I’m in the line of fire, I don’t give a fuck.” He sat down beside her on the tub and kept cleaning her cuts.
She’d known all along he was tough and overprotective. But it didn’t stop the worry in her stomach.
She reached up and touched the bruising at the side of his eye. Then noted his torn knuckles.
Again, he’d fought for her. Bled for her.
This time, she took a wipe, grabbed his big hand and started wiping away the blood.
These tough, scarred hands had seen life. Seen war. Yet they could still be so gentle.
She stroked his tanned skin. When she looked up, there was fire in his eyes.
“Saskia.”
She was killing him.
Cam hated seeing the worry and fear on her face. He knew Saskia was thinking she should run.
To protect others, not herself.
To protect him.
Hunt and Ryder had always been there for him. His fellow Ghost Ops brothers had always had his back. His Norcross teammates did, too. But when had a woman felt the need to protect him?
Never.
Now Saskia was stroking his scarred, rough hands like she thought they were beautiful.
“You should leave me,” she said.
“Not gonna happen.” In this lifetime or the next.
“Then I should leave you,” she said.
He gripped her jaw, their gazes clashed. “I’d find you. There’s nowhere you could go, Saskia. I’d find you.”
Her dark eyes brimmed with emotion.
And need. It was there, plain for him to see, matching his own simmering desire.
He pulled her to him.
She straddled him, cupping his cheeks. Their mouths collided.
“I need you, Cam,” she panted against his mouth.
Fuck. His cock throbbed. He palmed her ass. He needed her, too.
He took her mouth again, tasting her. The sweet spice of Saskia. Something tore loose inside of him, with a sharp pang. She had no idea how lost he was without her.
He hauled her closer and she moaned, grinding against his cock.
Cam braced his feet on the tiles so they didn’t tumble into the tub. He claimed her mouth, a hand in her hair, holding her, while his tongue danced with hers. His cock was so hard, he wondered why it hadn’t burst through his pants.