16. Grayson

16

GRAYSON

I feel the familiar rush of adrenaline, and on instinct I calm it down. One of the first things you learn in the CIA is to manage your emotions. Adrenaline might be great for housewives lifting a fridge off of their husbands, but too much makes one shaky and unable to properly aim a firearm.

It doesn’t help me calm down at all, protecting Charlotte. I’ve done plenty of ‘escort’ jobs where I was supposed to keep an asset safe. The thing is, all those other times, I was usually protecting someone not much better than the criminals who wanted them dead.

Charlotte is too good for this world. That doesn’t mean I want her to leave it anytime soon. I have to keep things together, and not let my emotions run away with me.

If they haven’t done so already.

“Get down,” I whisper, gesturing toward the sofa. “Behind the couch. Get as low as possible.”

I flatten my back against the wall beside the cabin door as she obeys. I catch a glimpse of her chocolate brown eyes, filled with fear, before she vanishes behind the sofa.

I flick the safety off with my thumb and grasp the doorknob. My ears strain to hear any sound. How many men are out there? How close? What kind of weapons do they have? With only silence rewarding my efforts, it’s impossible to determine what I’m up against.

They’ll be watching the front door. The cabin only has one. Damn it, I should have taken that into account. How did they even find us up here? I made sure we weren’t being followed…

Didn’t I?

Nothing for it. I have to breach the door. I twist the knob, then shove hard outward. The door swings open and bangs against the side of the cabin. I hear more skittering outside.

I take a breath, then let it out slowly through my nose. I crouch down by the door frame and use it for cover, exposing the bare minimum of my body. Staring down the sight of my pistol, I search for the invaders to our little slice of Eden.

A chattering noise draws my attention to a nearby tree. The fat, furry shape there stares down at me with open suspicion. I check the woodpile and find it’s toppled over into chaotic disarray.

A raccoon. I came out here and pointed a gun at a damn raccoon.

I give the area one last, lingering check just to be sure. Then I keep my pistol in my hand as I investigate the woodpile. The only signs of life I find are little paw prints.

Still not satisfied, I hike a hundred feet down the road and make absolutely sure no one else is around. I even shine my cell phone light onto the turf, looking for tire tracks that don’t match my Jeep.

When I’m finally satisfied it was all a false alarm, I head back to the cabin. I don’t see Charlotte when I enter, but I can hear her breathing.

“You can come out now. It was just a raccoon.”

She pops up from behind the sofa, trembling visibly.

“Oh thank god.”

I offer her a hand as she climbs over the back of the sofa. She stumbles a bit and falls against me. I catch Charlotte, and she suddenly clings to me like the last parachute on a crashing plane.

“How long is it going to be like this? Will I have to jump and hide at every sound for the rest of my life?”

I don’t know how to answer her. The only thing that springs to mind are platitudes, and Charlotte is too smart to be placated by any such thing.

“I don’t know how long it’s going to take. I do know that if the Order wants to get to you, they’re going to have to go through me first. You hear me? I won’t let them touch you.”

I smooth my hand over the back of her head, feeling her hair’s sublime softness. Her body is soft, too, as it trembles against me. She buries her face in my chest.

“It’s going to be alright, Charlotte. Nobody can find us here. This place isn’t on any map. The Order can’t even find us, all right? I won’t let anyone hurt you. Not ever.”

Her voice vibrates my chest as she mumbles into my shirt.

“I believe you. I feel safe when I’m with you, Grayson.”

I have to laugh at that. She lifts her face from my chest and looks me in the eye.

“Why does that make you laugh?”

“Oh, Charlotte,” I say, holding her close. “In the defense of this country, I’ve done things that I am not proud of. I don’t regret doing them, but I’m not proud of them, either.”

“Have you ever hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it?”

I open my mouth, and then close it.

“Not physically, no.”

“Then I don’t know why you’re so worried about it. You’ve been good to me. Really good, and you don’t have to be.”

I chuckle again.

“You are paying me.”

“Stop deflecting Grayson. Can’t you just take a compliment?”

I sigh and hold her close. She smells good.

“All right, fine. I’m a good man, are you happy?”

“I’m getting there…I was a lot happier earlier, though.”

She snuggles against me. I can feel her heart beating close to mine. My arms envelop her, and soon our lips meet with fire and passion.

I slide my hand from her cheek, down the sinuous curve of her neck, until my palm cups her breast. Her eyes flutter closed. Charlotte folds her hand on top of my own and presses our bodies even closer together.

“I like the way you touch me,” she sighs.

“I like touching you.”

I kiss her on the neck, playing her gasps and soft moans as a symphony. Slow, deliberate, I work my way up her neck until I nibble on her earlobe. Charlotte cries out, wrapping her arms and legs around me like a frog clinging to a frond of wild grass.

I need her so bad, it literally hurts. We shed our clothes and blood rushes out of my head to my lower extremities, leaving me giddy with anticipation. I want to be inside of Charlotte. I need it the way a forest needs rain.

She senses my need, and I see it mirrored in her eyes. Charlotte rakes her nails down my back as I lift my hips and prepare to conquer her all over again.

Charlotte’s deep, guttural moan sounds like music to my ears as I glide in until I fill her completely. Our gazes meet, and we share the moment of pure and complete intimacy.

I lean into her, crashing my body into her own like a series of ocean waves. I want to release so desperately, but I hold myself in check. The time will come for giving in to my most primal urges, but not until I make Charlotte feel more amazing than she ever has before.

“Oh god, baby,” I gasp.

She grinds her body against my own, a sharp cry signaling her own incredible need. I let myself go at last. We ride the waves of pleasure together, our bodies interlocked as surely as our souls.

I’m not thinking about the future, or the past. I exist in this perfect moment with the perfect woman, and I never want to leave.