Brody's Vow (Colebrook Siblings Trilogy Book 1) (17 page)

Good. That was good. “What about the rest?”

“He said it’s being handled and that’s all we need to know.” Translated into layman’s terms, that meant he wasn’t going to tell them what he did know because the less they knew, the better.

“I owe him.” So much, she wasn’t sure she could ever make it up to him. She’d never forget what Brody had done for her, all the feelings he’d awoken in her.

“You know he wants to recruit you,” Briar said. “He’s wanted you on his team since before I joined.”

“I know.”

“Will you think about it?”

Trinity didn’t answer, feeling too exposed in front of Wyatt. He already knew too much and she didn’t blame him for continuing to watch her like a bug under a microscope. But yeah, she’d think about it. She didn’t want to continue down this path anymore. She wanted to be free to have a life again, maybe someone to share it with one day.

Maybe Brody.

A quiet ringtone went off. Wyatt put his phone to his ear. “Hey.” He listened to whoever it was, she hoped Brody, all the while watching her. “Yeah, she’s still here. According to your commander’s wife, everything’s being handled. That true?” Whatever he said must have verified that, because Wyatt’s tense posture eased. “Okay. See you soon.” He hung up, his gaze still pinning her. “He’s on his way.”

“That’s my cue to leave,” Briar said with a wry edge to her voice. She looked at Trinity, raised an eyebrow. “Walk me to the door?”

Feeling Wyatt’s stare following her, Trinity accompanied Briar to the front door. “Thanks for coming and helping me out. I appreciate it.”

Briar snorted softly and shook her head. “I’d do whatever it took to help you or Georgia, and you know it. Just like I know you would do the same for me.”

Trinity nodded. “Yeah, I would.”

Briar reached for her and Trinity wrapped her arms around her friend. “Will you be going back to London now?” she asked against Trinity’s hair.

“Tomorrow.” She didn’t want to think about that yet because she had unfinished business with Brody. Even if the threat was officially over, the way she felt about him scared her to death.

She had no reference point for this, no protocol to fall back on that would help her deal with it or make a decision about what to do. The Valkyrie cadre was supposed to have trained the desire for this kind of emotional attachment to a man out of her for good. “Maybe next time I’m in town we could get together and actually spend time having fun.” Trinity squeezed her harder, hating to let her go.

“I’d love that.” Pulling back, Briar searched her eyes. “I know how you feel about wanting to leave, and I know we don’t trust easily, especially men, but Brody really is a good guy. Don’t push him away because you’re afraid of what will happen. You’ll regret it if you do.”

She forced a smile. How ironic to be on the receiving end of that advice, given that Trinity was six years older and had always played the role of mother figure to her fellow Valkyries. “Thanks for the words of wisdom, young padawan.”

“Hey, I’ve been there,” she said with a grin. “You may be way more experienced than me when it comes to men, but I’ve got a leg up on you in terms of relationship experience. I was scared to death at first but letting Matt in was the best decision I ever made.” She set a hand on Trinity’s shoulder. “You’ve done enough. It’s time to put the past behind you and go after what you want. You deserve to be happy.”

The words made her throat tighten. For as long as she could remember she’d suppressed her own needs and wants, maybe because part of her felt that she didn’t deserve anything more. Now that she’d met Brody, however, she wanted more. She just wasn’t sure if she could have it. “Thanks. Love you.”

“Love you back.” Briar hugged her one more time, then was gone.

Trinity closed the door and stood there alone in the foyer with butterflies swirling in her stomach. Brody would be home soon. Their time together had been short but intense and the bottom line was, she trusted him. When she left tomorrow, she at least wanted to take the memory of him with her, even if it meant leaving a part of her heart behind.

Much as it scared her, this time she was going to take what she wanted and make the most of their last night together.

Anticipation hummed through Brody as he parked the rental car in his driveway and stared at his house. All because Trinity was waiting for him inside.

He still couldn’t believe the strings she’d managed to pull in such a short time, and that he’d been allowed to go. His truck had been turned over for further investigation by a government agency, he was guessing the NSA.

During their brief phone conversations Rycroft and DeLuca hadn’t told him the details, but Brody had been released with the promise to cooperate with the NSA in the upcoming investigation. He suspected Rycroft would handle this personally, in part to expose the dirty officer, and also to keep tabs on the kinds of off-the-books ops the CIA had going on.

He was just glad he’d been allowed to go, and that Trinity was being looked after by someone he trusted. He and Wyatt weren’t as close now as they’d once been but there was an unbreakable bond between him and all his siblings. No matter what, they would always have each other’s backs.

On his way to the front door, his heartbeat picked up. Trinity planned to leave tomorrow night but he was going to do everything in his power to try and change her mind. He wanted more time together, wanted to break through her outer shell and see where things went between them. If she’d let him in, he thought they had a shot at something awesome.

Right now there was only one thing he wanted. As soon as he could get rid of his brother, Brody was getting Trinity naked and into his bed.

He didn’t want to think about her running into that cornfield earlier, hunting down Tino. He
definitely
didn’t want to think about the kit the cops had found in the back of Tino’s SUV. Scalpels, other torture tools, a plastic sheet, bleach, restraints and condoms. If that evil son of a bitch had taken Trinity, she’d have suffered unimaginable horrors before he killed her. Brody was glad the bastard was dead.

He found her and Wyatt in the family room. Trinity gave him a warm smile full of relief, the wig she’d been wearing was gone and her face scrubbed clean of all the makeup she’d put on earlier.

She looked beautiful and kissable. The urge to rush over and grab her was so strong he had to force himself to stop where he was.

Wyatt pushed to his feet, holding Grits in one arm, scanning Brody with a critical eye while Trinity stood but didn’t approach him. “Hi,” she said.

“Hi.” Her gaze stroked over him like a caress, heating his blood as he stood there.

“You okay?” Wyatt asked gruffly.

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks for everything.”

His brother grunted and shot a sideways glance at Trinity before looking back at him. “You need anything else?”

“No. You heading home now?” He probably was being a dick, to kick his brother out after all Wyatt had done for him tonight, but he had limited time left with Trinity and he didn’t want to waste a moment of it.

“Guess so,” he said, huffing out a dry laugh. He turned his attention to Trinity. “Will I see you again?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, it’s been interesting. You take care.”

“You too.”

Brody walked him out to the garage. Wyatt put Grits in the passenger seat, shut the door then stopped and turned to face him. “You care about her.”

He nodded.

“A lot.”

It surprised him, how much she’d gotten to him in such a short amount of time, but that didn’t change his feelings and he didn’t see the point in denying them. “Yes.”

Wyatt studied him for a few seconds. “Is she worth it?”

He didn’t even hesitate. “Yeah.”

A grudging smile pulled at that hard mouth. “Okay then. In that case, you should know she was ready to go to the mat for you.”

Brody frowned. “How do you mean?”

“If Rycroft didn’t help clear you, she was going to leak her story and sources to the press.”

Dread coiled in his stomach. “She would have been blacklisted.” It would have put her in further danger. Someone in the CIA might even have issued a kill order for her.

Wyatt nodded. “I know. She was ready to do it anyway, prepared to go on the run if she had to, as long as you were cleared first. Only reason I know is because she had to explain everything to her friend and I wouldn’t let her out of my sight for that part so I got to overhear everything.”

Ah, hell. Brody absorbed the enormity of that, her willingness to sacrifice herself for him. She had the aloof, untouchable façade down to an art, but there was way more to her and her actions hit him square in the heart.

“Call me if you need anything,” Wyatt said.

“I will. Thanks, man.” He clapped him on the shoulder, stood there until Wyatt’s taillights disappeared around the corner, and closed the garage door.

His body was on heightened alert as he walked back into the kitchen. Trinity was standing there next to the counter, waiting for him, the loose hospital scrubs disguising the curves he was itching to explore with his hands and mouth. He couldn’t believe she’d been willing to go to such lengths to protect him. How was he supposed to let her go after this?

“Rycroft said everything was being taken care of,” she said.

“Seems that way. You’ve got powerful friends.”

“Briar sweet talked him for me.” She let her gaze travel over the length of his body with pure female appreciation, then came back up to meet his, increasing the heat and hunger spreading inside him. She walked toward him, her movements sinuous, everything about her screaming sex. “How’s your leg?”

“Still attached.” Throbbed like a damn toothache but he’d be damned if it stopped him from enjoying her to the fullest. The ache in his cock helped distract him from it anyway.

She stopped directly in front of him, a mere breath of air separating them, and set a hand on the side of his face. The heat of her body reached out to him, her clean, soapy scent. “Why did you do it?” she asked softly. “Why did you let me run and stay behind to face the consequences for me?”

He slid his hands into her hair, fingers rubbing against her scalp. At the time he hadn’t thought about it much, he’d just been going with instinct. Now he realized it was because she meant something to him. “It was the only thing I could do to protect you.”

Her eyes darkened as he kept caressing her. “If Rycroft hadn’t stepped in, you could’ve lost everything. Your job, your security clearance. Your reputation. So why risk it all?” She sounded bewildered.

“Because you’re worth it.”

Surprise filled her gaze, then a split second of naked vulnerability that made his heart clench. “You don’t know that,” she whispered.

“Yes I do.” But words weren’t going to convince her what he felt for her. Actions might though.

Needing to touch her, to ease this craving she caused in him, he tipped her face up and bent to brush his lips against the corner of her mouth. Her hands flew to his shoulders, gripping tight, her sharply indrawn breath sending a streak of fire through his gut. “I want you so damn bad.” His entire body was rigid with need.

In answer she turned her lips to his, deepened the kiss.

Brody eased back, satisfaction roaring inside him when she made a sound of protest and tried to pull him back. Except he didn’t want her doing this out of a sense of obligation. This had to be as authentic for her as it was for him, or he would rather walk away right now, even if it would damn near kill him.

Trinity gazed up at him, her expression calm but her eyes blazed with raw yearning. Much as he wanted to devour her, this wasn’t just physical for him.

It was about showing her that she mattered to him, about showing her how good they would be together if she just gave them the chance. He could practically feel her locking armor around her heart, maybe in an attempt to minimize the emotional impact of what was coming.

No way, sweetheart. Not this time.

He held her gaze, let the tension build. The need to break through that barrier was overpowering, but so was the need to imprint himself on her forever. She might have seduced men in the past on ops, but in reality she’d been the one being used. That all stopped now.

He was going to show her how good sex could be with the right partner, with a man who cared about her and was willing to put her needs before his own.

Staring into her eyes, a flicker of uncertainty formed there, the beginnings of doubt, and it tugged at him. She was thinking way too hard.

“Give me tonight,” he murmured, cradling the back of her head in his hands. It wasn’t as much as he wanted, but it was probably all he’d get. For now. Because he had no intention of letting her go without a fight.

After a moment she gave a slight nod, whispered, “Yes.”

It was enough.

Brody let out a low groan and crushed his lips to hers. She gasped and grabbed hold of his shoulders, her fingers digging into his muscles.

Knowing she wanted him just as bad as he wanted her hit him like a double shot of whiskey.

He plunged his tongue into her mouth, tasting her, every sense alive, the burning need to possess her lashing at him. Everything about her was unexpected, a challenge. He wanted to strip her naked and take her right here but held back, because he wanted her to remember this as the best she’d ever had. That
he
was the best she’d
ever
have.

Determined to prove it, he locked his arms around her and lifted her against the wall, pinning her there with his weight. Eventually she might come back to him once she got out of her own way. He wasn’t willing to leave that to chance.

She might be planning to walk away tomorrow, but by God, he would make sure she never forgot him when she did.

Trinity’s heart knocked against her ribs so hard she was sure Brody must have heard it. The weight and heat of his hard body pressed to hers filled her with a yearning so intense she could barely breathe.