Masked (16 page)

By the time she reached his door she was a wreck. Her hand shook as she reached out to knock on the door. There was a short pause before it opened to reveal a half-naked Roman, wearing nothing but a towel. Droplets of water still clung to his skin, drawing her eye. She looked up to see as much concern in his eyes as there had to be in hers.

“Are you okay?” they said together. Neither laughed.

“I’m fine. You?” she said.

“Not even a scratch,” he said.

She let out a slow breath. “Do me a favour, and never go running into a burning building again. I don’t think my heart can take i –”

“Who’s that?” The door opened further to reveal Eve standing there in a fluffy, white robe.

Bridgette’s mouth dropped open until she forced herself to close it. Breathing became difficult under the heavy weight crashing into her chest. She took a step back, her eyes going to Roman even though he was the last person she wanted to see right then. His expression was hard to read, but she could have sworn he was slightly horrified by the situation.
Well that makes two of us
, she thought.

“I can see you’re more than fine,” she said, pushing past the ache.
Do not cry, Bridgette
, she ordered. “Good to know everyone made it out alive.” She glanced at Eve quickly then turned around, all but running down the hall toward her room.

There she was, being thrown around a van, shot at, drugged, and the whole time she’d been worried about
him.
Meanwhile, HE had been showering with HER. Bridgette bit the sides of her cheek to stop herself from screaming, or crying, or possibly both simultaneously. She couldn’t get to her room fast enough. As soon as she was inside, she closed the door crashing back against it, her breath coming out in painful gulps. Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. He wasn’t worth it.

She stood there blinking back the tears until she was sure she was okay. Then she moved into the bathroom, stripping off her torn, dirty clothes, tossing the hooded mask on to the floor with more vehemence than was probably necessary. As she waited for the water to heat up, the room slowly filling with steam, she started to plan how she’d get out and back to her friends and sister. There was no reason for her to stay here any longer.

Roman cursed, turning to grab clothes as fast as he could.

“What’s the problem?” Eve asked, watching him from the door still.

He stood up straight, giving her an exasperated look. “What’s the problem?” he repeated incredulously. “The problem is you came to the door wearing nothing but a bathrobe. Now she thinks we were doing things we weren’t.”

Eve shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. “I still don’t see what the problem is. So what if she thinks we’re sleeping together? You and Weapon X aren’t together. Are you?”

“No,” he said quickly. But there was no denying what he saw in Lottey’s eyes when Eve appeared, and that was exactly why he was going after her. There was no more tip-toeing around whatever it was that had developed between them recently. Perhaps in the beginning, when he first thought he felt a pull between them, he’d had a reason to brush it off as nothing. It had made sense. They’d been nothing but friends for years. Why would it be any different all of a sudden?

Every time he’d felt that electricity he’d shrugged it off. But no more. He was getting to the bottom of this, once and for all. Roman knew
he
felt differently around her, even though he couldn’t exactly say why. There was just something altered about her that drew him in. If he hadn’t gotten the impression she felt the same, he would never have said anything or acted on it. The look in her eyes just now though told him she definitely felt
something
, because there was no denying the look of jealousy and hurt he saw in those bright blue orbs.

Roman pulled on a pair of pants, slipping his feet into his boots without bothering to do them up. He pulled a white t-shirt over his head as he made his way to the door.

“Where are you going?” Eve asked, bristling with anger. Not that he cared.

“Where do you think?” he replied dryly.

“You’re just going to leave me here?”

Roman stopped and looked back at her from the door way. “Look Eve, we’ve been friends for years, and I have nothing but respect for you. But this,” he said motioning between them, “isn’t going to happen. Sorry, but I just don’t feel that way about you. I know you said you didn’t want to be alone right now, so that’s why I said you could shower in my room, but I really need to go right now. Sorry.”

He shut the door behind him, not bothering to wait for a reply. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what Eve had hoped would happen between them when she’d asked to stay with him. Roman didn’t know why he’d agreed, knowing full well what she wanted. Since she’d arrived it had been clear she was interested in him in
that
way. He knew when a woman was flirting with him. It wasn’t that Eve wasn’t attractive, it was just that his mind had been occupied with thoughts of someone else. He wasn’t one to distract himself with meaningless sex when he knew what, or who, he really wanted.

Roman ignored everyone has he stormed through the halls. He stopped in front of her door and took a deep breath before banging on it. No answer. He knocked again and waited. Was she ignoring him? She was going to have to do better than this if she wanted him to leave her alone. Roman twisted the knob and pushed, surprised when the door actually opened. Lottey never left her door unlocked.

The sound of running water came from the bathroom. The door was slightly open, steam drifting out into the room. His feet were moving across the small space without him realizing he’d made the decision. Roman stepped into the bathroom and froze, his eyes glued to the naked skin in front of him.

Lottey was facing the shower, her hair curling at the bottom from the steam. Milky white, smooth skin begged for his attention as his eyes roamed over her back, down to the naked globes of her ass. His hands twitched with the need to touch. Her legs were long and firm, shapely in just the right way that they were muscled and yet still feminine. She was absolutely beautiful and he hadn’t even seen the front of her yet.

He sucked in a deep breath, knowing if their relationship didn’t change like he wanted it to right now, this vision would never leave his mind for as long as he lived. She must have heard him, because suddenly she looked over her shoulder, their eyes meeting. All his breath whooshed out of him.

Roman Adamson was standing in her bathroom staring at her like she was the only woman in the world. A deep, intense hunger filled his eyes as they locked with hers. Ever muscle in her body froze at the sight of him. Bridgette knew she should be panicking right now. Her entire ruse had been discovered, which could mean direr things for her. And yet, the feeling filling her stomach was anything but panic.

Facing the desire of Roman Adamson was a heady thing. Without thinking about it, Bridgette turned slowly, facing him. His eyes left hers for the first time since she’d looked back at the strange sound. Now they took in every inch of her exposed body. She trembled under his gaze as though it were a physical touch. This situation was probably the worst thing that could happen, but Bridgette couldn’t find it in herself to care. She thought she’d lost him earlier, but he was here. With her. Looking at her in a way all women wanted a man to look at them. His eyes came back up to meet hers.

She didn’t know who moved first.

Their mouths crashed into each other’s, his arms wrapping around her waist to smash her against his body just as her arms wound around his neck. His kiss was demanding and hungry, but she met him stroke for stroke, lick for lick. She pressed herself closer, her frantic mind wondering if she’d ever be close enough to feel satisfied.

His arms slid across her, the feel of his skin against her sensitive skin caused her to moan into their kiss. Large, rough hands gripped her waist and then she was being lifted and carried backwards until she was sitting on the edge of the vanity, their kiss never breaking once. She widened her legs to accommodate his body as he stepped closer. The coarse texture of his jeans rubbed against her naked skin, driving her wild.

Their mouths broke apart as they both struggled to catch their breath. Roman’s eyes looked over her as though he were memorizing every inch of her face. His hands rose to cup both sides as he tilted her head back.

His voice was gruff when he spoke. “I knew it,” he said. “I knew there was something different about you.”

Bridgette didn’t know what to say. To be honest, she didn’t know what he was going to do with his newfound knowledge. Would he sell her out to Ludwig? From the way he was looking at her, she didn’t think so. But how well did she really know this man? Perhaps his loyalty to Ludwig would override any attraction they had for one another.

She raised her hands to cover his against the side of her face. “What are you going to do?” she asked, pushing the words past the emotion lodged in her throat.

He looked at her for what felt like forever. Her heart beat a mile a minute, part of her seconds away from jumping him and stripping off his clothes, the other part wondering how she could manage to knock him out and get away from headquarters before anyone else found out her true identity. She did neither, though, caged in by his massive body, frozen under his intense stare.

“I’m going to kiss you again,” he answered, before bringing his mouth down to hers again. And just like that, all her worries evaporated again under the ministrations of this gorgeous man in front of her. His kiss seemed to touch every part of her, inside and out.

She tugged at the hem of his shirt, wanting to feel his skin against hers. He broke away from her for a second to rip the material over his head, before descending on her again. She stroked her hands across the plains of his stomach, muscles tensing under her touch. She had no idea what came over her to make her so forward, she had never been this way with any other man. Bridgette wasn’t sure if it was due to the emotional rollercoaster of the day, and thinking he might have burned to death in that building, or if it was day after day of building tension between them. Whatever it was, she wanted this man like no other.

Her hands went to the button of his pants, ripping it open in one quick tug. She pushed them down, moaning when her hands met bare flesh beneath. Then he was lifting her again, walking her across the bathroom. Hot water hit her back making her gasp into his mouth. He held her for another moment before sliding her down the front of his body, slippery now from the shower.

Roman reached for the soap, lathering it between his hands, his eyes roaming her body again as she stood still, her mind trying to catch up with everything that was happening. “Are you hurt?” he asked, his voice gruff with desire.

Bridgette shrugged. “Not much,” she said. “I’ll have some bruising.”

His mouth tightened. Then his hands were on her again, and like before, all thoughts left her. “Turn around,” he ordered. She obeyed, closing her eyes as he began to wash her gently, each touch, each stroke causing her to relax more. All the tension from the day eased and all she knew was the man sharing the small confines of the shower with her.

He placed a warm kiss on the side of her neck, his body moving closer to brush up against hers. Bridgette let herself melt into him. “You are so beautiful,” he said softly. “From the first moment I saw you, I was lost.”

She looked over her shoulder, eyebrows raised sceptically. “You thought I was Charlotte this whole time.”

He shook his head. “I knew something was different. Charlotte…she’s hardened. Most of that is probably my fault for bringing her into this. But you, you’re still so full of life. It radiates from your eyes. I knew I was a goner the second you started dancing around the gym when you beat me during practice.”

Bridgette laughed.

Roman’s mouth stretched into a wide grin as he watched her. “You’re so much better than all of us,” he said.

Bridgette turned around fully, shaking her head. “No I’m not. You’re the man who went into a burning building just to make sure your men were safe inside. That’s not something most people would do, Roman. You have more dedication than anyone else I know.”