“How bad is it?” I asked, eyeing the scarf around her neck.

She shrugged. “It’s just one night.” Then I reached for the scarf, and she understood. “Oh, the cut. It’s fine. It’s hardly bleeding anymore.” My fingers brushed the silk, feeling the rough texture of the bandage beneath. Then I pulled her hand away gently and tugged on the scarf. The filmy material fell through my fingers, and she sucked in a breath, like I was removing something more intimately located than the scarf around her neck. Her gaze locked with mine as I tucked her hair behind her shoulders and unwound the last layer of scarf.

The silk slipped over her arm as I pulled the material loose and let it fall to the floor between us. Her hands found my chest, but there was no clear intent in her eyes. She didn’t have a goal, and for once she wasn’t overthinking things. She was just…touching.

I closed my eyes as her hands skimmed my bare, damp skin, skittering over my ribs toward my stomach. Her touch was light, just enough contact to make me desperate for more, and I wanted to lean into her. Offer her more. But she had to set the pace. That was the only way this would work.

Her fingers traced the edge of my towel, playing over the skin south of my navel, and my next breath was shaky. My fingers twitched at my sides, itching to touch her. To explore her like she was exploring me. It took every bit of willpower I had to let my hands hang empty, giving her free rein.

She bit one side of her bottom lip, and I wanted to taste it. Her hands shook at the tuck in my towel, and I wanted to steady them. Her gaze held mine, and I saw fear in her eyes, but I wasn’t sure if she was more scared of giving in to the need gripping us both or resisting it. When she did neither, I grinned, my brows arched in challenge.

That did it.

Kori leaned into me, her hands on my sides for balance, and I didn’t realize what she had in mind until she licked a drop of water from the left side of my chest. I groaned, and my hands clenched around air, aching to grip her hips instead.

She bent for another taste, and this time she moved from drop to drop, her tongue leaving a hot trail across my skin, higher and higher, weaving back and forth until finally she licked a drop beaded on my right nipple, and that was all I could take. I reached for her waist and pulled her closer.

Kori looked up at me and her hands stilled. Her mouth opened and I leaned in to kiss her, my heart beating so hard I could almost hear it. Then my phone buzzed from the counter and she jumped, startled by the sudden interruption.

Kori glanced at the screen. And froze.

I followed her gaze to see a text from Meghan.

Can’t do this anymore, Ian. Tell her whatever it takes to get the job done. I’m counting on you.

I reached for the phone, but it was too late. She’d already seen the message. “What job?”

“It’s not—”

“What job, Ian?” She shoved me away, and I stumbled backward, toward the mirror.

“Kori…” I said, but she was already backing away from me. She spun sharply in the bedroom, bypassing the dark closet in her haste and anger. I caught up with her halfway through the living room, and in my desperation to keep her from leaving, I forgot.

“Kori, wait!” I grabbed her arm, and she turned on me, already swinging. Her fist slammed into my jaw and my head rocked back sharply, pain spreading across my face.

“Damn it!” I dropped her arm to rub my chin, and when I reached for her again, she smacked my hand away and spun into a wide, high kick. Her boot slammed into my chest, and I stumbled backward, and had to grab the back of a chair to keep from falling.

“Don’t fucking touch me, you lying, traitorous son of a bitch,” she spat, and by the time I’d regained my balance, she was nearly to the front door.

I jogged to catch up with her, one hand clutching the towel at my hips, and I slid in front of the door just as she reached for the lever. “Wait. Please.” I held both hands up, palms out, careful not to make my request sound like an order. “I won’t touch you. Just please hear me out. It’s not what you think.”

“Fuck off.” She backed up two steps, and rubbed her forehead so hard it looked like she was actually trying to shove her fingers through her skull. “Jake’s going to kill me. You’re some kind of a spy, or a…a mercenary.”

“No. Kori, let me explain…”

“The fighting. The shooting. I knew you couldn’t be a fucking systems analyst. You never had any intention of signing, did you? You don’t give a shit about me or my sister.” Then her eyes widened. “Kenley. Fuck!” She dropped into a squat, clutching the back of the couch with one hand and her stomach with the other, like all the pain from my betrayal had settled there, and my own chest tightened in response. “You’re here for Kenley. You’re a fucking poacher, aren’t you? The whole thing was a setup, to get you through Jake’s defenses.”

“No! Well, yes.” I exhaled slowly, trying to figure out how much of the truth I could tell her without spilling the beans she’d then have to feed to Jake Tower.

“The hockey game. I should have known. You’re too smart to accidentally reveal yourself like that.” She stood, angry tears building in her eyes. “You’ve fucking screwed us both!”

“No, Kori, I’m not going to let him hurt you or Kenley.”

“Who do you work for?” she demanded.

“No one. I’m not a poacher. That’s not what this is about, I swear on my life.” I stepped closer, aching to hold her but she backed away. Her eyes lost focus. She wasn’t hearing me. She wasn’t even really seeing me. She was seeing the consequences to come in what little future she thought she had left.