Friday. Safe House, Albuquerque, New Mexico.BRENDEN WAS GOING TO crack a molar. At least they were done showering. He'd never studied the levels of hell, but one of them had to include showering with a gorgeous woman and not popping a boner. It had taken all of his concentration while sharing the shower head to keep his thoughts in line.To him, this was another day at work. Yes, someone had died. It was a terrible tragedy. It wasn't the first and it wouldn't be the last. The nature of his job was dangerous, and that meant sometimes people were killed.Priscilla didn't have that same mindset. She was upset. He was going to respect that and keep his dick to himself.He swiped the towel over his body, doing a quick dry off. Priscilla didn't move as fast. She focused on her hair then limbs. The water made her tanned skin dewy, and it glistened under the lights. Some of her bruises had begun to turn colors, the new layering with the old. He hated every one of them and wished fo
"You might think differently in the morning." Brenden fisted his hand in the sheets at Priscilla's back."No, I won't." She tipped her chin up, one side of her mouth hitched up.Brenden wasn't strong enough to resist her, and he didn't want to. He pulled the blankets back and yanked his towel out from under him. The sheets slid along his skin, cool to the touch, at least until he got closer to her.For a little while, they'd both forget.He cupped her face and kissed her, keeping his touch tender.He kissed down her body, plumping her breasts and teased her nipples. Her hands stroked his shoulders and neck. He gathered her to him and rolled, pinning her under him.Brenden pushed up, taking in the image of her laid out against the sheets, her damp hair spread over the pillow where it had come free from her towel. Her pupils were dilated and her skin flushed.The rest of the world didn't exist.Right now it was just them.He bent his head and pressed his lips to hers. S
Saturday. Safe House, Albuquerque, New Mexico.BRENDEN STARED AT THE dark liquid filling his cup. The groggy sensation wasn't one born from hours spent staring at a ceiling.No.He'd slept.True REM sleep.For hours.And when he'd woken up, it was to find Priscilla using him as a kind of body pillow, her head on his shoulder, their legs tangled up.He wasn't sure what to make of this. It had to be a fluke, obviously. They'd been tired, it was a draining day and then sex on top of it all had become the perfect cocktail to a full eight hours of sleep."Wakey, wakey." Vaughn smacked Brenden's shoulder.A bit of the coffee sloshed onto the counter."Fuck, man." Brenden set the mug down and reached for a napkin."Someone's testy this morning." Vaughn leaned against the counter, far too chipper for Brenden's liking.The hair on the back of his neck rose. His stomach tightened. He pressed his toes down, grounding them to the earth to keep from moving.Priscilla br
Saturday. Safe House, Albuquerque, New Mexico.THESE PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW what they were talking about.Priscilla strode into the bedroom, her one haven, and crossed to the far wall. The curtains were doing their best job of blocking out the mid-morning sun, but enough seeped around the edges she could see.The bedroom door shut.She glanced over her shoulder at Brenden leaning up against the flat surface, his arms crossed over his chest. He was watching her again.Why was it the rest of his team just didn't get it?"They're wrong," she said.Her gut churned, and it felt as if a hundred million ants were skittering over her flesh.Were they?She'd never been fooled into believing that Asclepius was an innocent company. They had the same problems as any other for profit business. The true purpose, the good they should be doing, got lost in shareholders and stocks."There's no way they'd throw me under the bus like that." She whirled to face Brenden. Their rumpled be
Saturday. Safe House, Albuquerque, New Mexico.BRENDEN'S BRAIN WAS MUSHY. Zain had come back to them with leads to explore. The whole day had turned into research, filling hours with internet searches, phone calls and making guesses.They weren't much closer to knowing more than they had. Sure, they had a pool of names a couple dozen long of suspects, but no real way to determine who their culprit was as long as they were stuck here. The digging they needed to do wasn't the kind that could be done from a distance. And no one was willing to touch the issue of past date medications being sold or used in hospitals. There were limits to what Aegis Group could handle. This was something that needed to be turned over to the authorities.What concerned Brenden was time. They were running out of it."I'm turning in," Nolan announced."Me, too." Riley pushed to his feet."Have a good night, guys." Vaughn shuffled his deck of cards, his attention on the TV and whatever current new
Sunday. Safe House, Albuquerque, New Mexico.PRISCILLA DRAGGED HER FINGERS through her hair. Her mouth was dry, her head felt full of cotton. It was like a hangover except she hadn't drank.What the hell?A light tap on the bedroom door had her scrambling off the mattress. Her bra prodded her ribs, a reminder that she'd fallen asleep fully dressed wrapped around Brenden.She opened the door and Brenden slid through the gap, two mugs of coffee in hand. His hair stuck up on one side and there were still wrinkles on his cheek from the pillow. And just like her he'd slept in yesterday's clothes.A laugh bubbled up out of her."What?" He handed her a mug."I can't remember the last time I passed out like that." She cradled her mug, the heat and aroma helped made the morning more real. "What time is it? Is anyone else awake?""Riley's on security." Brenden's hand slid along her back as he passed her to sit on the edge of the mattress.Priscilla joined him, perching on th
Sunday. Safe House, Albuquerque, New Mexico.BRENDEN NEEDED OUT OF this house. He had to think. To process.He took the mugs into the kitchen, his skin still buzzing from Priscilla's touch.Last night did not make sense any way he looked at it. He very rarely had a restful night's sleep. It was something he'd grown accustomed to. When on the job he'd often get up and share surveillance duty, allowing whoever was on to get a break. At home he used that time to do small chores. It was routine. Nothing about his wonky sleep schedule bothered him.What he couldn't wrap his head around was that he'd fallen asleep while talking, fully dressed and weighted down by a warm woman.He'd never been diagnosed with anything. The doctors he'd seen had ruled out PTSD, depression and a whole host of other typical suspects. Did he have guilt that he'd survived and so many hadn't? Yeah, but he never allowed that to rule his life. He just didn't sleep well and sometimes his nightmares brought
Sunday. Albuquerque, New Mexico.PRISCILLA'S TEMPLES THROBBED, CREATING a full body ache thanks to the adrenaline pumping through her. She crouched in the relative shelter of the pantry, Melody kneeling in front of her, holding a gun. The only light came from under the door, but it was enough.The shooting had stopped.Out in the desert she'd heard the gunfire, had even seen it in the beginning, but it had always been at a distance. Far enough away it didn't feel quite real to her.This time she'd felt the vibrations of bullets tearing through drywall. The deafening blasts were close.Priscilla had prepared herself to defend against one or two people. Three if she was lucky. But a small army with guns?This was outside her realm of reality. She'd always told herself she was a badass, but today proved she was all talk when it came to the serious shit.Melody's hand wrapped around Priscilla's wrist. "It's over.""How do you know?" She said in a whisper."Clear," a vo