The door to the basement banged open. Shit, I should’ve shot the lock.
“You key it in,” she said.
He did. It worked. The door was heavy. But he got both of them inside and the door shut before the enemy arrived and that was all that mattered.
“Leo, we’re in.”
No answer.
Asher tried again.
“Leo, we’re in the vault. What’s the status of everybody else?”
Nothing.
He looked around at his solid steel surroundings. Of course, he wasn’t being heard. In the eerie green glow, Eden grinned at him.
“You think that was funny, huh?”
“Yeppers. Did you figure it out?”
“You mean the fact that my radio won’t work in here? Yeah, I think that’s finally penetrated.” He stifled a grin, waiting to see if she’d catch onto his stupid play on words.
She laughed. “Good pun. You know, I like you, Asher.”
“Thanks, I like you too, Eden.” And he meant it. Smart, good sense of humor in the middle of the madness, and she was willing to lay her life on the line for someone else. He shook his head and felt light-headed. Was it because of a possible concussion, or the woman in front of him?
Eden bent her head. He got the feeling that she was a little embarrassed. Who would have guessed? Then she looked up and smiled at him. “I gotta tell you, I really, really like the fact that there is carpet and a table and chairs in here. Suzanne has done this up right.”
He held up the glow stick and looked around the large vault. It was huge. The entire back wall was covered with safety deposit boxes from floor to ceiling. In the middle of the room was a huge conference room table, with ten plush chairs. At the far right end was a door.
Eden sat down at the long table, in one of the plush armchairs, and reached under her skirt.
Reached under her skirt.
Reached under her skirt.
What the hell?
Then he saw she was rolling down one of her stockings.
It took all of his willpower to keep his tongue from rolling out of his head. She’d totally caught him off-guard with that move, and he hadn’t realized just how much she’d turned him on.
Calm yourself, Thorne!
“These are shredded and covered in blood, I’ve been needing to take them off,” she let out a tired sigh of relief as she stretched her toes.
He started to watch as she began rolling down the next stocking. She wasn’t doing anything overtly sexy, but Asher still had to look away, or risk drool dripping on the carpet. The woman had legs that went on forever.
“No gold bars.” He heard her yawn.
“Huh?” Asher hoped it was safe to turn back. It was.
“Didn’t you always think there would be stacks of gold bars in a bank vault?” Eden asked. She yawned again as she stretched her neck. Instead of staring at the way her breasts thrust forward, Asher looked at the pile of silk on the floor.
“I think you’re thinking of Fort Knox. The gold is probably in some of these boxes, not just lying around.” He nodded at all of the numbered boxes surrounding them.
“Interesting,” she mumbled.
He watched as Eden crossed her arms and lowered her head on the table.
“Tired?” he asked.
She shook her head into her arms. “No, not tired.”
“Bullshit. You’re exhausted.”
Asher crouched down beside her. “It’s okay to let go. Wind down.”
“I told you, I’m not tired.” She turned her head in her arms. “Am not.” He had trouble hearing her, her voice was so low. “Just need…”
“Need what?”
Nothing
He waited for her to continue.
She closed her eyes, then opened them half-mast. “No more witty banter. It’s done. Blood and body parts.” Her voice trembled as she said the words. “I don’t like this. I hated Maurice. Okay, hate’s too strong of a word,” she said as she closed her eyes, then opened them one more time. Tears shone in her eyes. “But no way in this world was he supposed to die.”
Asher gently touched her back and felt her melt into his touch. He brushed soothing circles into her taut flesh as she continued to talk.
“Please don’t be nice to me. I might totally break down. There’s no breaking down for York girls, especially not me.”
“What are you talking about? I’m about ready to have a meltdown, and I’m a SEAL. Are you special operations and I don’t know it?” He teased low and gentle.
She pushed trembling fingers against her temples as her gaze shot over to look at him. “Cut it out, Asher. I know that game. I’ve played it. Just give me a minute. Just a second. Don’t be nice to me, or I’ll lose it. But if you give me a minute, I’ll be good to go. I won’t be thinking about either Estella or Grace dying.” She tried to shrug off his hand, but he wasn’t having it.
She was in need. He’d already let Xavier down; he sure as hell wasn’t going to let this woman down too.
He looked at her confused expression. “You need to cut yourself some slack. I promise to only be nice and comforting for just a moment, then you can go back to being a York Girl.” He pushed his fingers beneath her hair and kneaded the back of her head. Anything to give her comfort.
“Eden, almost everyone got out of the bank alive, you have to remember that. You were one of the major reasons they did.”
“No, I wasn’t. You and your team were.”
