Leather & Lace- THE SPECTER SERIES [book five]

Chapter FIFTEEN

Ace Greyson

Lacey doesn't want to leave Serge, which is understandable, albeit more than just a little inconvenient.. So begrudgingly, I had agreed that we would wait until after midnight to leave and continue traveling to the safehouse.. I check the sliver watch on my wrist to see that midnight, is now.

Yeah, I am a kinda irritated by the delay, because my primary objective still hasn't changed.. And while the Doll-faced doctor is busy worrying about keeping Serge alive, she seems to have forgotten that I am trying to keep her alive.. Its the entire reason Im here..

So maybe it's harsh, maybe it's cold.. And it is definitely selfish..

But Serge is not my priority..

Really though, I'm more I'm concerned than annoyed.. A fact that I have been trying to remind myself, in an effort to practice restraint and keep from falling into that hardwired, militant mindset of demanding she follow my damn orders..

I mean.. I understand her devotion, don't get me wrong.. It's part of what makes her the sweetheart she is.. And okay, as far as I know, we have some time.. It will take a day or more for the calvary to strategise and arrange the international protocols necessary for extraction before making contact with a new location..

But until then, my very presence here is enough to trigger a diplomatic crisis that will every intelligence player in the business breathing down Santiago's throat..

Not to mention majorly piss off the Green Machine..

What is worse, the longer were out in the open the chances of word spreading about what happened here increases.. People will definitely be talking about the pretty little doctor and her impressive heroics and when they do, Im certain somebody will come looking for her..

Because in all of this, one thing has become glaringly obvious to me..

It's no mistake that Lacey Paxton ended up in the middle of this shit-show.. Somebody wanted her here.. And after she had opened up to me I'm beginning to think I know who..

I just don't know why..

Now, as we sit eating the modest rice and vegetable dinner Devi had been kind enough to share with us, a shameful squirming sensation crawls through my guts for the umpteenth time..

Because she kissed me.. And I can't stop fucking thinking about it..

Fuck..

It was surprising.. Sugary and soft.. She smelled like honey and tasted like candied apples... Delicious.. And sweet.. Even if she was still crying a little..

Before you judge, I'm not a goddamn monster, I know it was wrong.. And that I was weak to kiss her.. But what was I supposed to do?..

Reject the woman I have pined over for years, while she was in the middle of pouring her heart out to me?.. No fucking way..

I want to be the guy she can talk to about anything.. No I need to be.. I gotta be whatever she needs me to be.. Whatever she needs to make her feel safe..

Because she deserves to have a somebody putting her first, taking care of her, while she tries to save the world..

After she had confided the events of her assault with me, it had taken every inch of my willpower not to react, not to punch a hole through the wall of the Farmers hay shack.. I couldn't let her see the primal rage her confession had triggered deep in my core, I couldn't scare her like that..

Now, with the new found knowledge I have, there is fresh layer of gut-wrenching guilt that broils away in the back of my throat.. How could I not have seen that timid, meekness of hers, for what it truly is..