Home>>read The Recruit free online

The Recruit(80)

By:Fiona Palmer


Oh. Jaz was lost for words as she resisted the urge to wrap herself around Ryan so he couldn’t leave. She knew without a doubt that where he was going and what he was doing could be dangerous…life threatening. Not seeing him for a day sent her mad, how would she cope with months?

‘So, have you made your decision?’ he asked softly.

Jaz nodded as she felt the vein in her neck pulse. ‘Yes, I’ve decided to join.’ She had made her decision but saying the words out loud was the scariest thing. ‘But I want to finish school otherwise Mum would get suss.’

‘I understand, but if you want, that operation we want you for can be done while you’re at school. I’m just saying. In the meantime we will work with you to come up with a cover job after school’s over. And until then you can still do some training on weekends or afternoons, if you like.’

‘What, like what we did in the city that time, following that man?’

‘Yeah, bits like that. They may even use you to retrieve messages or deliver them, maybe keep track on someone. Just little bits that can be a real help, you know.’

She nodded and looped her arm through his, just to be touching him and feel his warmth.

The water was lapping gently against the side of the riverbed, almost musically.

‘So what happens now?’ Jaz asked, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. She was fixated on the moon reflection shimmering on the water, so much so her eyes began to well with tears. Well, that’s what she put it down to. Not the whole freaking out session going on in her mind.

‘You will go through the interview stage next. And they will probably brief you on this kid they want you to befriend. I would usually do it but I’ll be away for a while.’

She felt Ryan watching her, his hand gripping her shoulder.

‘Oh, Jaz,’ he said with such emotion that she felt a tear fall from her grasp. He wiped the tear away with his thumb before pulling her into a tight hug. She was trying not to go all soppy but she couldn’t help it. Her life was about to change. She’d reached that fork in the road and had chosen a path. She was about to put her life in some sort of danger while hiding it from all the people she loved.

Jaz clung to Ryan’s chest as her tears soaked through his shirt. His heartbeat was like a percussion concert as she listened to it thrashing out a fast rhythm much like her own.

Ryan was rocking her gently in his arms soothingly as he rubbed her back.

‘It’s okay Jaz, I know exactly how you feel.’

She looked up into his chocolate eyes and felt herself drowning in them.

Jaz wiped away the last of the tears, hoping her make-up wasn’t ruined. ‘I must look a mess,’ she sighed.

Ryan shook his head gently, raised her chin and bent to kiss her forehead but Jaz rose up to meet him and their lips met. The ground shook beneath her feet as her lips tingled against his softness. Ryan pulled back, but she could read the desire in his eyes. She wasn’t the only one feeling something between them, that underlying current that he’d kept at bay. Not letting him pull away, she slid her hand up to his neck.

‘What if you don’t come back?’ she whispered as she searched his eyes for an answer. So what if she wasn’t yet eighteen, she understood enough to know how important this moment was for both of them, age be damned.

Ryan was trying to deny it, but Jaz could read the wanting in his eyes, always his eyes giving him away as much as he held himself back. So she arched up and met his lips again. He gave in for the briefest moment, before pulling away with a growl at his lack of self-control. But he didn’t let her out of his arms.

Jaz was floating across the water, dancing like the city lights, as she experienced what a real kiss felt like. So when had her heart given up on Taylor and found Ryan? And why did this seem so much more powerful than anything she thought she’d felt for Taylor?

Ryan held her face in his hands and gazed at her with such wanting that her breath caught. ‘Ryan I — ’ He didn’t let her get the words out, instead he covered her mouth with his own. This time he didn’t hold back. This time he kissed her like it was his last moment on earth. The kiss deepened. Hungrily they explored, tasted and teased. Clinging on to each other tightly, hearts clashing together. Her hands reached for his chest, which was hard and ripped. She didn’t want this moment to end. Her heart felt like it was going to burst and her body was burning with desire.

Eventually he pulled away. ‘Oh Jaz…’ He didn’t finish but Jaz could hear the regret in his voice and guess what he was going to say. He kissed her gently one last time. ‘That shouldn’t have happened. Now that you are one of us, it really can’t happen again.’ He fought so hard to stay strong, to do what was right, and all that did was make her admire him even more. He tucked her back under his arm and they stayed like that, watching the lights on the river in silence. So many unsaid words hung in the night air. Neither wanted to ruin this perfect moment, or the few minutes they had left together.