Face buried in Khalia’s neck, Hunter fought to slow his thundering heart.He’d never experienced anything like that in his life. He loved sex, always had, but this was so much more than sex it had rocked him to his core.Sweet Jesus. Whatever this emotional and physical connection between them was, he wanted more of it with Khalia. As much as he could have before he put her on that plane in a few hours. Being with her was the only thing that truly eased the constant bombardment of guilt and restlessness he’d felt since the night Scottie died.She was still wound around him, holding him deep inside her and he didn’t want to break the connection. But her legs and arms were trembling with fatigue and he didn’t want her to be uncomfortable for even a moment longer.He eased out of her and gently unwound her legs from his waist, noting the wince she tried to cover when he set her feet on the shower floor. He paused again to stroke his hands through her damp hair that clung to her cheeks an

Youssef paused in the midst of yanking a handful of shirts from the shelf in his tiny closet to wipe the back of one wrist across his sweaty face. Lord, he was soaked. He dragged a small duffel bag from the closet floor and shoved the clothes inside. No matter how he tried to control it, he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. He hadn’t been lying when he’d called in sick to work earlier. He was sick. He’d already thrown up once and his stomach still churned as if it might bring up the light breakfast he’d eaten just before sunrise. That sick feeling in his gut was why he’d decided to run. The authorities were closing in on him, he felt it. Whether it was the Americans or Pakistanis who eventually took him out was irrelevant at this point. Youssef had no intention of suffering torture or imprisonment for his part in this operation. He’d already fulfilled his obligation to the organization behind all this and now he wanted out. But how could he do that?You can’t. You know you can’t.

Hunter cracked one eye open when his phone buzzed on the nightstand. Grabbing it before it woke Khalia, he snuck back to the bathroom to answer it. Tom bulldozed straight ahead with the situation the moment he picked up.“Gage got some photos of Youssef and some other guy he’d been meeting with, and sent them to Claire. Her boss just contacted me to say it’s Malik Hassani, former head of intelligence for the ISI. This guy was fired under suspicion of aiding the TTP eight months ago and dropped off the face of the earth. This is the first time anyone’s seen him since then.”Hunter went from groggy to wide awake in the space of a few heartbeats. “Are you fucking serious?”“Dead serious. Apparently there’s also some chatter about another operation to happen this morning, but as far as the NSA can tell, it looks like it’s still in the planning stages. We’re pretty sure they don’t know where you guys are yet.”Well, thank God for small favors. He grunted, checked his watch. “They planning

No matter how hard he tried to block them, the demons of his nightmares snapped their jaws at the edge of his consciousness. Khalia was silent and her initial trembling had stopped, but the way her hands were still bunched in the back of his shirt told him just how terrified she was. He wracked his brains for something to say to lighten the tension again, and came up blank. Giving her useless platitudes right now would be beyond shitty. They had only two options at this point, and both of them sucked ass.Smoke continued to collect in the bathroom despite the closed door, seeping beneath the lower edge in a toxic veil. They were on the fifth floor. It would take some time for any first responders to reach them. They wouldn’t have much longer before the smoke became lethal, but staying put for the moment was a calculated risk they had to take.Khalia stirred against him and let out a little cough. “Smoke’s getting bad.” He could feel her heart racing, the panic building inside her.“Ha

It swung open easily. A wash of cool, comparatively clean air hit him. When no one shot at them he reached back for Khalia, grabbed her by the upper arm and hauled her through the opening. The moment she cleared the jambs he dragged her sideways to lie behind him and slammed the heavy door shut with one foot. They collapsed together there in the stairwell, heaving and coughing like a couple of drowning victims.Hunter forced his head up, wiped at his watering eyes to see what the hell they were facing. No flames below in the stairwell as far as he could tell from this angle, and the smoke was much thinner here, curling in a thick layer that hugged the ceiling and left the bottom foot or so near the floor relatively clear.He rolled onto his side to get a look at Khalia. “Okay?” he wheezed.She dropped the soot-stained washcloth she was holding and kept coughing, managed a nod. Her face was streaked with grime and blood oozed from little cuts in her forearms, but otherwise she didn’t s