She slid her hand out from between his and he immediately missed it. Picking up her fork, she finished the last of the lasagna and sat back. "I sure hope so. I hate this. I hate knowing Priyanka's and Mike Hammer's deaths were in vain. I'm even sorry that jerk Bill is dead. I'm sorry you've been roped into something that isn't any concern of yours, I'm sorry-"
Nick put a finger across her mouth. Her lips were soft and full against his finger and he remembered with a flash of intensely uncomfortable heat how those lips had felt kissing his stomach, moving lower, taking him in her mouth …
Blood shot straight to his dick.
Kay must have felt the sex vibes suddenly clouding the air because her eyes widened and her lips moved under his finger. "Nick," she said.
Oh man, there was no response. He couldn't talk, could barely breathe, with a hard-on he could hammer a nail with.
From touching her mouth.
Oh shit, he was in deep, deep trouble. This was not the time and the place. She needed reassurance, a plan. She didn't need to be fucked half to death.
They sat there like that, a little tableau of imminent sex, angled toward each other, eyes locked, the remains of an excellent meal between them.
God yes. Food and then sex. Guaranteed to help overcome trauma. Best thing in the world.
Nick started rising to usher them straight back into the bedroom when his cell rang. His satphone's ring was unmistakable. From ASI.
His gaze never wavered from Kay's. "It's probably Felicity."
She straightened. His sex vibes pulsing at her had given her a slight blush, but she paled again.
Nick was ashamed of himself. Since when did he have problems focusing on the mission? Never. He was intensely mission-oriented. You didn't become a SEAL or join the FBI's HRT without being maniacally focused.
The thing was, Kay just overwhelmed him. He had to start getting his priorities straight, starting right now. Some very bad guys who had already killed and who might be wielding a bio-weapon were after Kay. His job was to keep her safe while she ran them to ground.
He felt his head clear, his heart settle. Yes, that was the mission. Keeping Kay safe. That was what he was good at. He was always picked for protection detail. He was picked because he knew what to do and how to do it.
Kay was not going to be harmed, not on his watch. Not ever.
He could protect her best by keeping her close. Yeah, man. Very close. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as his satphone rang again. He answered without taking his eyes from hers. "Yo. Going to the ops center."
They moved quickly to one of the rooms in that immense corridor. Nick entered a code in the keypad next to the door and it slid open as lights turned on. He put his hand to her back and walked her in.
Kay blinked. It was a command center, and it looked like the White House war room in Doctor Strangelove, only from the 22nd century instead of the 20th. Huge monitors covered the walls and there were keyboards, wireless headsets, and speakers everywhere.
"Here." Nick was holding out an expensive mesh office chair, the kind that supported your back and was easy on the thighs and made coffee for you. She sat down and it was like sitting on a cloud. Whatever make it was, she wanted one for her office.
Then, like cold water dashed in her face, she realized she would probably never work in her office again.
"Okay. I've got Felicity on the line." Nick thumbed his cell phone screen and Felicity's pretty face popped up on a huge wall screen.
"Hey," Felicity said, and it was like her being in the room. She smiled at Kay, whose face was onscreen in a small box in the lower right-hand side, just like before. Behind Felicity stood her boyfriend, Metal, as large as a bridge support. He had a big hand on her shoulder.
Nick appeared behind her on the small screen. She saw him and then felt his hand on her shoulder, as well.
"Hey." Kay smiled at Felicity. "Did you-"
"Decrypt the flash drive? I did. Hell of a job, too. Gave even me some trouble. And it's a lot of stuff. Part of what was encrypted was a link to more files in the cloud."
Oh God, it was so good to see Felicity. She wasn't an operator like Nick, or Metal, or any of the guys at ASI but she was whip-smart and Kay felt better just seeing her.
"Yeah, part of the encrypting was done by Priyanka's brother. Sorry to have to ask for your help."
Felicity waved a long, slender hand. "Don't even mention it, are you kidding? I had fun. Lately all I've done is boring stuff for ASI. What?" She turned around to look at Metal when he made a noise. "Not that much fun in devising data algorithms, don't try to tell me otherwise. Kay's stuff was a real challenge."