Under Fire (Love Over Duty #1)(59)

What if he regretted it? He'd been out of bed before she'd woken. At first she'd wondered if that was just a military habit, but thinking about it now, perhaps he hadn't meant for things to get so carried away between them. Louisa shook her head to clear all the high-school-esque thoughts. He was a grown man. She hadn't forced him. Far from it. He'd approached her in the kitchen. He'd laid his hands on her. All she'd done was be honest and tell him that she wasn't strong enough to stop him from touching her. That she wanted his hands sweeping her skin. No. There was nothing for him to regret. And she was just being foolish. It was sex. And it had been sublime.

Somehow, she needed to find the words to tell him just how badly she wanted to learn from him, how she wanted to learn more about herself  …  what she liked and what worked for her. And his tongue. Oh, Lord, his tongue. When he'd knelt behind her, she'd wondered what on earth he was going to do, but then he'd licked her like she was a freaking popsicle, and she'd shivered from top to bottom. Her thighs tightened at the thought of it now.

She dried her hair with a hand towel, and then, as she began to comb it, Six pushed the door open. His eyes immediately dropped to her breasts, which were still covered by the small towel, and then lower to where water droplets ran down her thighs.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath as his eyes finally met hers. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were in here. Just wanted to brush my teeth before I head out." It was hard to discern from his tone whether he was grumpy that she was using his bathroom instead of the guest one or frustrated because he was in a hurry. Or if he was actually mad at her for what they'd done.

"I'm almost finished," she said, refusing to apologize for something she wasn't even sure she should be apologizing for. "Where are you going?" Her voice sounded exponentially calmer than she felt inside.

Six leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. "Got a lead on the van, so Cabe and I are going to go check things out. Just some recon-see if we can't pick up a trail to figure out what is happening."

"Should I come with you?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head. "No. It's way safer if you stay here. You're their target, and I don't want you in any crosshairs. You would just be a distraction."

"You should know that Vasilii texted me last night. I don't know if it has anything to do with the van, but he wanted to talk to me."

Nothing about his features or tone suggested any kind of happiness to see her, and it sucked. Really sucked. He was obviously in SEAL mode. And he looked fierce. "What exactly did he say?"



       
         
       
        

"Just that he'd been too hasty. That he was sorry someone broke into my home, and that the police had been to see him. And that he wanted to talk some more."

Lines formed on Six's brow. "Well, for now, just ignore it. And definitely don't try to go meet him, at least not without talking it through with one of us."

"Okay," she replied. It was ridiculous that underneath the talk of texts, and tracking down van drivers, she was desperate to ask him about the two of them. But she wasn't going to be that girl. The one who asked, "What are you thinking?" No. She was just going to get on with finishing up so she could be crushed in private. "Just give me two more minutes."

When she was done, she turned around and saw that Six hadn't moved. His eyes still fixed on her, he ran his tongue along his lower lip.

Deliberately, she adjusted the towel, fully aware that Six's eyes followed her every move. Intellectually, she knew it was wrong for his gaze to turn her on so much when he seemed suddenly so distanced from her.

Pathological shyness had taught Louisa one important thing. Never poke someone into conversation. Louisa hated it when people tried to engage her, like at the drive-through when they tried to ask her about her day. She just wanted her food and to be on her way. Or when people who knew her a little better forgot to work with the fact that she felt uncomfortable around anyone other than her mother and proceeded to act like untrained psychiatrists to get to the bottom of her problems. She often wished people would just leave her alone. So she got the fact that Six was sticking to strictly business and would never be the one to break the terms of their professional agreement, even though it broke her heart that she really wanted to feel his arms tighten around her and a good-morning kiss on her lips.

"All done," she said, hanging her hair towel on the hook next to the shower. With her head down, she hurried to the door and was reaching for the handle when Six's hand grabbed her hand.