Allie punched in her security code, told her two bodyguards good night, walked into her apartment, and immediately stepped out of her shoes. She’d moved into this secure brownstone a week ago and still wasn’t used to it. She loved her father, always would, but she couldn’t see him everyday. Not yet.
The brownstone was completely modernized and as safe as one of Endgame’s safe houses. She needed a pet or something…hell, anything to break the relentless emptiness of the sprawling apartment. She liked having her own space, but it was…lonely. She kicked her shoes to the side of the door, set her purse down, and locked the door behind her, setting the passcode.
Today had gone much better than she’d anticipated. It was another step toward freeing King and his men. She’d also partaken of a little “get-back” on one of the men who’d sold her out. Lo-Lo was still out there. Dresden was still out there, but Giles was sitting in prison. The other three senators were in the midst of heavy scandal and inquiries. Now, if she could get her hands on the person pulling their strings…well, things would definitely be looking up.
What she’d endured at Savidge’s hands would haunt her for a long time. She shuddered at the thought and rubbed her hands over her arms.
Yeah, the bad guys were still out there, but so was King.
She missed him.
She poured a big glass of red wine and unzipped her skirt before she headed to her bedroom. She changed into a pair of yoga pants and a tank top before she picked up her wine and walked to the huge, empty living room.
She sank onto her only piece of furniture in the space, a huge leather couch, and sipped her wine, watching the lights of the city twinkle and wishing.
Wishing did no good, so she grabbed another glass and had just reached for the remote when a knock sounded at her door. She set her glass and the remote down, hurried to her bedroom and grabbed the SIG Sauer someone (a.k.a. Kingston McNally) had sent her the day after he’d left.
She chambered a round and flipped off the safety.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“It’s me” came the voice she’d been missing so much.
She rested her forehead on the door. “Who’s me?”
“Open the door, Allie,” he demanded.
She frowned but did as he ordered. Then she stood there, door barely open as she peeked around it. “What do you want, McNally?”
“Open the damn door, woman.” Exasperation flavored his tone.
She stepped back, her body going molten as he walked into her apartment like he owned it. “I’ll ask again. What do you want, McNally?”
“I saw you today,” he murmured, his green eyes burning as he caught her gaze and refused to let it go.
“I imagine a lot of people saw me today. That was the purpose of my visit to the Hill,” she responded as she walked past him into her living room.
He smelled so good—evergreen and mint. She was mad at him for leaving her. She wanted him. She loved him. If the time away from him had done anything, it was to cement the latter. It wasn’t adrenaline that kept her awake at night.
It was need for him. Those barely there smiles and the varying tones he used to get her to do what he wanted.
“Nobody has ever done for me what you did for me today,” he said gruffly.
She sighed.
He grunted.
They seemed to be back where they’d started.
“So you saw me. That’s nice,” she said inanely.
“No, I mean I saw you,” he said again.
“We still playing games, Kingston McNally?” she asked as ire wound through her body.
He shook his head and then shrugged out of his leather coat. He was wearing a black long-sleeved T-shirt and low-slung jeans.
“I’m done playing games, Redding. I’m all in with this one,” he said firmly as he stepped out of his boots and pulled his T-shirt off.
Allie stepped forward, drawn by invisible strings of love and lust. She licked her lips.
“Yeah, do that again,” he murmured.
She did. Hey, her mouth was dry. “What are you doing?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Staking my claim.”
“You left, McNally,” she murmured.
“I had no choice. Important thing is, I came back.”
“Not good enough,” she returned.
He made a beeline for her, scooping her up and over his shoulder and heading to the couch. King placed her gently on the leather and came down over her. He grabbed both her hands in one of his and settled in the cradle of her hips.
“Don’t say that, Allie,” he ordered.
“Well, what should I say, McNally?”
“Anything but that,” he said.
“Let me go, McNally,” she demanded.
“Say my name, Allie.”
“Let me go, King.”
“No.”
“Yes,” she said immediately.
“You stood up there today, in front of the entire nation, and demanded that people look into what happened to Endgame.”
“I think you’re exaggerating. Not that many people watch C-SPAN,” she whispered.
He chuckled. “I’m not leaving,” he told her.
She squirmed beneath him, desperate to either get out from under him or get naked with him. “I don’t want you to,” she told him.
“I’ve got a lot to learn, Allie. I’m a tough man, and I really don’t think I’m good enough for you. But you’re mine. I’ve claimed you, and you’re mine.”
She was going to call that his you’re-never-getting-away-from-me tone. She could dig it.
She nodded. “I missed you.”
He dropped his forehead onto hers and stared into her eyes. It was the most poignant moment she’d ever experienced. He was hers; she just had to show him.
“More than McDonald’s fries and mani-pedis?”
His hips rocked against her as his heat sank deep into her bones. She cocked her head and played like she was giving it some thought. “Fuck, yes,” she whispered.
He groaned, and she knew then that he was going to be hers and she was going to be his. There was still so much to deal with. Endgame was not out of the woods by a long shot, and she knew he’d be leaving on future missions. Dresden was still a huge worldwide threat, and so was whoever wanted Endgame Ops wiped off the face of the earth.
And this man she’d claimed was always going to fight for good because it’s who he was.
“We have got to work on your language. You know what that word does to me,” he said harshly.
She smiled, felt it echo as a song in her soul, and said, “Yeah, I really do.”
He lifted off the couch and picked her up. “This is just the beginning. What you did today has stirred the hornet’s nest. They’ll be gunning for Endgame even harder, looking to eliminate us. I can’t believe you did it,” he bit out as he dropped his forehead to hers. A deep sigh, and then he squeezed her. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“I’ll do the same for you, King,” she said against his lips.
It was a promise that circled between them.
Then she laughed as he tossed her on the bed and followed her down. She’d landed the man with the lick-me-all-over lips…Mr. LMAO himself.
Ba-da-da-da-daaaa—better than her french fries, and she was loving it.