The world comes back into focus, slowly and painfully. The sun is hurting my eyes, and I want to stand to get Mila out of its harmful rays, but my body won’t answer me.
I watch through half-opened eyes as Mila and Markov exchange a few words. Even injured, I can see the sadness on both women’s faces. I’m surprised to hear Markov admit that she’d hurt her daughter.
The words feel heavy on the air. She leans her head back on the cabin wall and closes her eyes. It's surrender.
All because Sveta refuses to hurt her daughter.
It's kind of fascinating. She was holding a gun to her head not five minutes ago.
The sound of the sirens is now accompanied by the flash of red and blue lights against the white building. A dozen agents spill out of the various vehicles, weapons drawn on what can only be described as the oddest scene.
The escaped convict is sitting quietly, not making a single move to run, while her accomplice bleeds out beside her.
"Agent Thrussell." One of my team leaders, Meg, comes to stand above me. “That’s a nasty wound. It’ll take a bit of time to heal up. You’ll need to get that checked out.”
She’s not wrong. I'm suddenly very grateful that I called for medics as well as a few teams to meet us at the Lake Murray location once we spotted the car parked out front.
Not that I need the medical attention, per se, now that the blood flowing from my leg has progressed from a mild deluge to a slowly decreasing flow. But my team leaders are all RCMP agents who have no idea that I'm a Hairy Coo shifter who can literally take a bullet and walk away without becoming ground beef. Injured, to be sure. But I definitely won’t be steak tartare anytime soon.
"Thanks, Meg. But I just need a minute. Cuff her." I gesture to a still very demure Sveta.
My shifter blood is already healing the hell out of my wound, and it's not as bad as it was a few minutes ago. It'll be tender for a day or so, since an artery was definitely nicked, but I’ve definitely survived worse in my time.
"Here," Mila says, helping me up with her slender shoulders. "You're kind of kooky, you know that?" she adds, shaking her head. "You're not as straight-edged as I originally thought. Diving for bullets and all."
"What's going to happen to me?" Sveta asks as her hands are cuffed behind her back.
"Well, I'm guessing more time will be added to your sentence. For the escape and maybe for the death of your accomplice."
"What's a few more years to a thousand-year sentence?" She shrugs.
She's not wrong. She was given over a thousand years behind bars. It was a gesture the judge posed for the victims' families.
"Mila," she says, "my head is a little bit confused. I think... Wait, are you still in school?"
"No," Mila answers sadly. "I graduated a little while ago. I became a professor. Remember?"
"Oh." Sveta nods. "Oh, yes. That's right."
But it's written all over her face that she isn't sure what year it is or even where she is. Mila leads her mother to one of the police cruisers and tucks her inside.
"I'll be right behind you," Mila swears. "This time you’re headed to a FUC prison. They'll know how to help you. Just... be good, okay? Listen to the officers."
"Mila..." Sveta shakes her head. "I have work to do. I need more test subjects."
"Okay, Mom," Mila answers. She closes the door and turns back, her shoulders slumping way down.
I limp toward Mila, ignoring Meg, who is clamoring for me to get checked by the medics.
"Hey." I drape an arm around her. "You'll be okay."
"Yeah," she whispers. "Better than you. You took a bullet for me." Mila's voice is nothing but a whisper, and I know she’s being brave. My wound is healing, but it might take a while to get past this for her. I took the bullet for her, but I would take the emotional hits if I could.
"It was pure instinct," I tell her. We both look down to the wound that has mostly stopped bleeding. "I wasn't going to let you get it."
"I'm a shifter, too." She furrows her brow. "I would heal just as fast as you."
"Impossible woman." I laugh. "Can't you just thank me for being noble?"
Mila rolls her eyes. "Oh, sure. You're noble as fuck for jumping in front of a bullet." She leans up, one of her small hands running against my furry cheek. Her soft lips brush against mine in an impossibly sweet kiss. "Thanks, T," she whispers against my lips.
It's not enough.
Cupping the back of her head, I press her closer to me and bring my own mouth to hers. This time, when our lips meet, there is no sweetness, only an uncontrolled burn.
I can pretend that I'm kissing her because I'm happy to be alive. I can lie and say that kissing her is a lapse in judgment because I was afraid I’d die.
But I'm not a liar.
I'm kissing her because I need to. It feels like this has been destined to happen since the second I walked into her lab as Mila chatted up a pile of bones.
I run my tongue along the seam of her mouth, and on a sigh, Mila lets me explore her mouth.
It's like sipping fire.
It goes straight to my cock, deep in my heart. I should have known that Mila would be the most potent force in the world.
"What is happening?" Mila asks, pulling away from me.
"Well, I was giving you some of my best work," I tease, needing to bring some levity into the lust-filled atmosphere.
"Huh." She shrugs. "Good try."
Is she serious? There is no way she didn't feel the intensity of that kiss.
The glint in her impossibly blue eyes and the deep blush of her cheeks tell me that she is just as affected as I am.
Mila is such an intense livewire, smart as hell, strong as alloy steel, and she's without a doubt the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I should be so lucky as to get her affection.
"I'm sorry if I just mauled you." My voice comes out raspy and low, belying my words. I'm not sorry. I'm tucking the memory of that kiss deep into my heart, and I'll replay it over and over again.
"Don't be sorry, T."
Mila runs her lips against mine, drops a quick peck, and hugs me close.
"Thanks," she whispers. "I don't think I could have gotten through the last twenty-four hours without you."
I hold her close to me. "I'm the one who should be thanking you. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have found her so quickly. She didn't put anyone else in danger."
Her eyes go to Oscar, her cheeks blanching.
"He made his choice when he decided to help her escape from prison. You can't feel guilty about that."
I tuck her long hair behind her shoulder before placing my hand there.
"I have to pretend to go to the ambulance and get checked out before my team leaders figure out something is off about me. Hang tight, and we can go see your mom. Make sure she's getting the right meds."
Mila nods her head. "I should call my dad and let him know that he's safe. That he can go back to his place." She bites down on her lip, and before I can even react, her lips find mine. She wastes no time demanding entrance into my mouth. Our tongues tangle and rub in a passionate embrace. Mila moves her hands through the hair at the back of my neck, across my shoulders, down my chest, her fingers trailing little paths along my skin.
I wish we weren't in the middle of a crime scene, surrounded by agents. I wish that we had met under better circumstances.
What I want is to lay Mila on the softest, most luxurious bed and make her come until the only thing she can say is my name. Over and over again.
Those are hardly the kinds of thoughts I should be having right now.
"T," she whispers, "you need to go tend to your wound, but just so you know, if you were to ask me out, I'd say yes."
"Fair," I respond before diving back for her lips, because I can't help myself. "Mila," I say between more searing kisses, "let me take you out to dinner."
"I didn't mean right now." She smirks.
"I have no game when it comes to this kind of thing. I like you. Let me take you out."
"Only if you take me someplace where we can share steak tartare."
My eyes go wide, and she giggles. "I'm just teasing, T-Bone. Go." She pushes me toward the ambulance. "Pretend you're a hurt human."
She watches me as I sit in the back of the rescue vehicle, being tended to by a very confused paramedic. Once I'm properly cared for, Mila retreats to the SUV to call her father.
The last day plays over in my mind. I can't believe I've only known Mila for such a short time.
Maybe it was the intensity of our mission, or maybe it's the way we balance each other out, but all I know is that if she is offering to spend time with me, I'll take it.
I'll always choose Mila if she lets me.