crackled behind him. “Maybe it’s good to get a few things out in the open now.”
Her chin lifted as her eyes found his once more.
“I want you.”
“We’re partners—”
“It’s a temporary assignment, and we both know it. Mercer doesn’t plan to keep you in the field. He wants you in the EOD main office, working up your profiles. This is a one-shot mission for us.” So the normal rules weren’t applying. When it came to Noelle, Thomas had no rules. “I want you,” he said again, “and unless I’m mistaken, you want me, too.”
She didn’t speak.
His jaw locked. He’d felt her desire, tasted it. He knew—
“I do,” Noelle said, the words so quiet he had to strain in order to hear them.
His heart seemed to stop at that admission.
“But I know better than to take everything I want. Especially when what I want can be dangerous to me.”
“You can trust me,” he growled. He wasn’t a threat to her. Damn it, yes, he knew the stories that circulated about him at the EOD. That the Dragon was a cold-blooded killer with ice in his veins and that he killed without remorse. That isn’t me. He needed Noelle to see him for the man he truly was.
Her body tensed. “I can’t trust myself.”
He didn’t even know what that meant.
But before he could question her more, he heard the faint roar of—an engine?
He saw Noelle’s head whip toward the door, and he knew she’d heard the sound, too. He grabbed for the rest of his clothes and dressed as quickly as he could. Noelle was scrambling to her feet and pulling on her still-wet clothing.
His fingers curled around his gun. Was that a rescuer coming to find them, someone who’d been alerted by the smoke rising from the old chimney? Or was it the maniac in the truck, coming back to finish them off? Thomas had known the fire would pose risks for him and Noelle. The smoke would give away their location, but staying warm had been a priority.
The roar of the approaching engine grew louder.
Noelle hurried to Thomas’s side. “Stay behind me,” he told her with a firm glare. “Until we find out just who is coming this way.”
“You’re the one with the gun,” she said with a shrug as she lifted her hands. “Letting you take the lead is more than fine by me.”
He cracked open the front door. He could see the bright glint of headlights coming toward the cabin. That roar—it was from what looked like a snowplow. Thomas could just make out its bulk.
He inched onto the sagging porch, keeping his gun at his side. A quick count showed him three vehicles were coming his way, and none of those vehicles looked like the truck that had run them off the road. Actually one of those vehicles—
A siren screamed on. Blue lights flashed.
Right. One of those vehicles looked like a deputy’s car.
More bright lights flooded the scene, illuminating Thomas and Noelle on the porch. Thomas wisely kept his weapon hidden.
Noelle’s arm brushed against Thomas’s side. “We’re FBI!” Noelle called out as she moved forward. They were both supposed to keep using that cover, no matter what.
Doors slammed. Two men ran toward them. “We were hoping it was you,” one of the man huffed out. “I’m Sheriff Glen Hodges. Your FBI boss has been calling our office for hours because you missed some sort of check-in.”
Ah, that boss would be Mercer, and yes, they had missed their check-in. Thomas was actually surprised Mercer hadn’t sent the National Guard after them. When it came to protecting his agents, Mercer was as fierce as any lion.
“We saw the smoke,” the man beside Sheriff Hodges said, as he rocked forward onto the balls of his feet. “No one has been using Brian Lakely’s place in years, so we thought it might be you.”
Thomas advanced toward the men.
“Did you have car trouble?” Hodges asked, shaking his head. “How the heck did you wind up out here?”
“We had car trouble,” Thomas agreed softly. “And the trouble started when some bozo ran us off the road and left us for dead.”
“What?” The shocked exclamation came as the sheriff shot back a good two feet. “But we don’t have trouble like that out here in Camden—”
“Well,” Thomas drawled, “it looks like you do now. Because someone out there just tried to kill two federal agents.” Thomas planned to get his hands on that someone very soon.
Senator Duncan, I’m coming for you.
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