Rekindled (Titanium Security Series) (26 page)

“Alex, no—”

He ignored her and stepped inside, zipping it shut after him then turned to face her. The naked relief in his eyes hit her like a punch to the gut. He didn’t crouch down beside the bed as she’d expected. No, he slid his arms beneath her and literally scooped her up into his lap to hold her. He buried his face in the curve of her neck and she realized he was shaking.

She stroked his back weakly. “Alex, you shouldn’t be in here—”

“Shh. I swore I wouldn’t leave you. I’ve already been pumped full of atropine and there’s no way you’re still a risk for exposure.” He raised his head to look down at her, his eyes full of torment. “They wouldn’t let me near you when we got here. I tried everything I knew to stay with you, but…” He trailed off, looking stricken.

Grace put a finger to his lips. “I believe you. And it doesn’t matter because you’re here now.” He was warm and solid, his arms holding her so tight. “When you came after me I was so scared you would die.”

“I can’t believe you ran from me.” He shook his head, his cheek brushing against her hair. “Or that you thought I’d actually let you go.”

“I was trying to protect you.”

He huffed out a breath. “God, I thought I would die when you ran from me.”

“You chased me down even though you knew you might die.”

“Yeah. And I’d do the same thing again if I had to.”

Grace turned her face into his shoulder, breathed in the scent of the strong disinfectant soap and the underlying musk that was all Alex. “So you’re okay?” She’d never forgive herself if he wasn’t.

“I’m fine. And you’re going to be fine too.”

She lifted her head, met his gaze. “Did the neurologists say that?”

Alex nodded. “Your system’s already shed ninety-nine percent of the sarin, and as far as they can tell everything’s functioning normally. You’ll have headaches, dizziness and some nausea for a few weeks or so, but with any luck I got that antidote into you in time to prevent permanent neurological damage. Another minute or two and it would’ve been ugly.”

She shuddered and his arms tightened around her, his lips brushing against her temple. “Thank you.”

“You don’t ever have to thank me for that. Not ever. Understand?”

He said it so fiercely that she nodded. “What about David?” Though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer to that. It still didn’t stop her from hoping she was wrong.

“He didn’t make it,” Alex murmured. “But the other members of your team have been freed from the various locations where Hassani had them taken to, and they’re all in good condition. No sarin gas exposure or any other injuries beyond what they sustained in the hostage taking. Apparently he’d hoped to use them as leverage for safe passage to Islamabad once he got on that helo.”

Grace bit her lip and blinked back tears, her relief about Dr. Travis and the others tempered by David’s death. “David said it was his fault. He took a bribe from someone in the media and they were blackmailing him.”

“I know. Evers and the team in Islamabad managed to crack the case while we were busy down here. We found out who Hassani was getting help from in the ISI.”

“Is Hassani dead?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you do it?”

He nodded. “That hangar he had you in was booby trapped. Didn’t matter what happened, that canister was going off, either when the time ran out, or when you tripped it by trying to get out one of the windows and doors. If you’d stayed you would have gotten a lethal dose within minutes. It was damn lucky you got out of there when you did. Even though it tripped the sensors when you crawled out the window, you minimized your exposure.”

Of course, she realized. Because sarin was heavier than air, it would eventually sink. “Was it an old canister?” It was the only thing she could think of that would explain why she was still alive. Sarin had a short shelf life and degraded quickly when stockpiled.

“We think so. Another thing in our favor, huh?” When she didn’t answer he groaned and stretched out, keeping her tucked into his side.

The medical staff was no doubt having conniptions right now from him being in here, let alone without a protective suit. But she was so thankful to have him holding her like this. She burrowed in close, closed her eyes and savored the feel of him, the steady thump of his heartbeat beneath her cheek. “I love you,” she murmured. “So much.”

He wrapped his arms around her back and squeezed her. “Love you too, angel. Think you can get some sleep now?”

“With you holding me, yeah.” With him beside her she felt completely safe. “You won’t let me go?”

“No. I’m not going anywhere.”

Grace smiled at that. He’d promised not to leave her, and he hadn’t, even at risk to his own life. That told her everything she needed to know.

Stepping through the end of the Jetway at BWI airport, Gage hitched his carry-on bag higher up on his shoulder and entered the waiting area at the gate. The place was dead. Not a big surprise considering it was one in the morning. He cracked his neck from side to side as Hunter stepped up beside him. They headed for the baggage claim where they’d have to wait for their weapons to be delivered to a location separate from the rest of the luggage.

“What day is it again?” Hunter muttered as he rubbed a hand over his face.

“Can’t remember,” Gage responded. He was done in. The entire team had been going on next to no sleep for the past few days. Alex was still in Karachi with Grace, who was being released from the hospital within the next day or two. Evers, Blake and Jordyn were flying out later today. Zahra was still in Islamabad with Dunphy and a small security team at the hospital, where he continued to make slow but steady progress. Rumor was they’d be sending him back stateside for rehab in a week or two.

After the intense hostage incident with Grace and her assistant, Gage and Hunter had been screened and treated for sarin exposure along with Blake and Jordyn just in case, but thankfully nothing had penetrated the protective suits they’d worn. Even thinking about it made his skin prickle. That chemical weapons shit was scary as fuck, and he was glad people like Grace were out there championing the fight to eradicate them.

“How about you grab the luggage and I’ll take care of the other stuff,” Hunter suggested. Gage nodded and headed for the carousel where the other passengers were gathering. He covered a yawn, looking forward to getting home to the latest NSA safehouse he shared with Claire and crawling into bed beside her. Though he didn’t plan to let her sleep until well after dawn. He’d spent six hellish months apart from her before they’d gotten back together, and this last trip was the first time they’d been separated since. He’d hated it.

“Hunter!”

At the excited shout, Gage turned his head and saw Khalia running toward his team leader, her high-heeled boots clicking on the floor, the hem of her coat and her long dark hair flapping behind her. A wide smile stretched her mouth. Hunt’s answering grin was the only outward sign of his surprise as he set down his carry-on and strode toward her, that smile transforming his harsh features as he reached for her. She jumped into his arms with a squeal, grabbed him around the neck as he lifted her from the ground and hugged her tight.

Gage hid a smile and turned back to the empty carousel. Good to see Hunt could still be taken off guard. Finally the carousel buzzed and the bags started feeding down the conveyor. The flight had only been half full so there wasn’t much luggage to sort.

He grabbed his big suitcase and Hunt’s duffel, lugged them over to the couple who were still wrapped around each other kissing. Gage cleared his throat, raised an eyebrow at Hunter. The team leader grinned in response and took the bag with a murmur of thanks, one arm wrapped around Khalia’s shoulders.

She pulled away from him and crossed to Gage to hug him. He caught the glint of the rock on her finger as she reached up her arms to wind them around his neck. “Good to see you back safe and sound,” she murmured.

Gage threw a grin at Hunter. Tight-lipped bastard hadn’t said a word to anyone about getting engaged. Looked like there would be a few weddings in their crew over the next while, beginning with his and Claire’s. He planned to whisk her away to some place tropical in the next few weeks and elope. He knew she was good with that plan. They’d waited long enough to make things official and he didn’t want to wait anymore. “Good to be back. And nice to see you again.” It felt like forever since he’d first met her in Islamabad back in September.

“I wanted to surprise him,” she said with a grin, looking back at Hunter.

“You did, and that’s not easy to do.” He settled his gaze on Hunter. The bags holding their weapons were waiting on the floor next to the other carousel. “You ready?”

“Yeah. We’ll drop you off,” Hunter offered as he walked over to grab them.

“Nah, it’s okay, you two go ahead. I’ll catch a cab.” Nothing worse than being a fifth wheel, and it’d been weeks since Hunter had last seen his girl so Gage figured they could use the privacy.

“No you won’t,” Khalia replied in a sly tone, and Gage caught the hint of a grin that curved her lips.

Before he could wonder what that comment was supposed to mean, the sliding doors at the end of the secure area opened and he caught a flash of caramel-brown hair as Claire walked in. Her face lit up when she saw him and Gage’s heart started to pound. Grinning like an idiot, he dropped his bags as she rushed over and caught her up in his arms, growling low against her neck at the feel of her soft curves plastered to him. Her silky hair snagged against the heavy stubble covering the lower half of his face.

She squeezed him tight then eased back to take his face in her hands, scanned his eyes. “Hi.”

“Hi yourself.” She and Khalia must have cooked this little welcoming committee idea up. He couldn’t stop smiling as he bent to kiss her. Her lips were soft and warm beneath his, parting eagerly for the caress of his tongue. She tasted like cinnamon and he couldn’t get enough. When he finally lifted his head, the love and joy he saw shining in her gray eyes melted him inside, chased away the heavy weight of exhaustion that had been pulling at him. She was like a ray of sunshine, lighting up his whole world. “What are you doing here? I told you not to wait up because I’d be home so late.”

“Yeah, but as you know I’m not that good at taking orders. Besides, this is a special occasion and I wanted to welcome you home properly.”

The special occasion she referred to was the end of Hassani and his terror network, which signaled the end of his days in the field. Gage knew she’d been holding her breath for this day. She’d spent her whole life worrying about the military men in her life. He didn’t want her to have to do that anymore.

“It’s really over?” she whispered, a hint of uncertainty in her eyes.

He cradled her cheek in his hand, marveled again at how soft her skin was. He couldn’t wait to stroke his hands all over her naked body, make her purr and moan for him. “It’s all done. I’ve officially begun the transition to desk jockey-trainer hybrid.” Hunter and Tom Webster, the co-owners of Titanium Security, had asked him to come on board in an administrative capacity. He’d agreed to act as a consultant when needed, get new contracts and help train new security members when they were hired. Although he’d miss being out in the field with the guys, he knew it was time to step aside from that life.

He’d done his time; he wasn’t getting any younger and he had a life to make with Claire. One where he wouldn’t be called out in the middle of the night to fly overseas and put his life on the line in the field anymore. She deserved better than that.

Claire let out a relieved sigh. “I’m glad to hear it. And to celebrate, I brought you a special surprise.”

His interest captured, Gage raised a speculative brow at her as a dozen enticing possibilities occurred to him. “Yeah?”

Eyes sparkling, Claire leaned up on tiptoe to whisper against his ear, her warm breath stirring shivers that suddenly made the front of his pants too tight. “Just wait ‘til you see what I’ve got on under this coat. Or rather, what I
don’t
have on.” She pulled back to waggle her eyebrows at him and his eyes immediately shot to the long black trench coat she had on, the black heeled boots below it.

“Lemme see,” he blurted, reaching out to pull the collar of the trench aside and peer down it. He caught just a glimpse of red lace and plenty of pale, smooth skin before she squealed and slapped his hand away.

“Gage, not
here
,” she finished in a scandalized whisper, turning three shades of red.

He smothered a chuckle. “In the truck then?” There was no fucking way he’d be able to keep his hands off her until they got home. Zero.

Laughing, she leaned her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist. The sweet scent of vanilla drifted up to tease him. “Maybe. If you’re good.”

“Baby, you know I’ll make it way better than good.”

She swatted his shoulder, glancing around to see if anyone had overheard. Hunter and Khalia were both laughing at them. Claire narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re gonna pay for embarrassing me like this.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Now I’m going to torment you all the way home.”

Visions of her unbuttoning that coat and stroking teasing hands all over her body while he watched flashed through his mind. And one of her leaning over the center console while he drove to unbutton his jeans and wrap her mouth around him. “Totally worth it,” he murmured.

Setting his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close, grabbed his bags and started for the exit with Hunter and Khalia behind them. He couldn’t wait to see what Claire would do in the truck. Now if he could just drive them to the house without getting into an accident, but even still, it was a hell of a memorable welcome home.

****

Seven weeks later

Grace opened her eyes as she turned over in the wide, cozy king size bed and found the other side of the warm flannel sheets empty. She didn’t hear the water running or Alex moving around downstairs. Yawning, she stretched her arms over her head then sat up. It was still light out but already late afternoon, the sky outside the cabin’s loft bedroom turning a soft red-gold above the snow-capped evergreens.