Lachlan’s breath froze in his chest. He looked past Rowan to see his team grinning at him like idiots. Axel gave him a thumbs-up.
“Please.” A tear slid down Rowan’s cheek. “I’ve never had anyone care about me like you do. I’ve never felt the way I feel about you for anyone else.”
Enough. Lachlan surged up to sit and dragged Rowan into his lap.
She let out a squeak. “You’re…you’re not dying?”
“No, sweetheart.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Or horribly injured?”
“Well, it is a nasty cut, but Callie took care of it.”
The woman in question winked. “You lost a fair bit of blood, so go easy.”
Lachlan cupped Rowan’s cheeks. “So, you’re falling in love with me?”
Color filled her cheeks. “Oh, well…”
“You can’t take it back now.”
“I thought you were dying.”
“You still can’t take it back.”
She huffed out a breath. “Fine. Yes.”
“You want to stay with me and be mine?”
Now she smiled. “Maybe.”
Lachlan rested his forehead against hers. “I think I started falling in love with you when you were eight, and looked at me through that hole in the fence.”
Warmth bloomed in her eyes. She pressed her lips to his, and Lachlan took his time kissing her.
“Okay, enough.” Seth made a gagging noise. “I’m gonna be sick.”
A smiling Blair helped them up. “Happy for you guys, but we have a job to finish.” She nodded at the artifact that Rowan was still holding.
Axel held out a blue scrub shirt, and she set it in the fabric. Lachlan shook his head. Damn thing had caused all this trouble, but the upside was it had brought Rowan back into his life.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and scowled at her. “No more fighting with bad guys for you.”
“Well, I did consider climbing out the window, but I figured if I fell again you’d have an aneurysm.”
Lachlan grimaced. “No more joking about falling off roofs.”
“Young man.”
They all swiveled to face the old lady propped up in the bed nearby.
“Your young woman has been through a lot, and it appears she loves you very much.” The woman smiled. “Humor an old lady and kiss her again.”
Axel barked out a laugh.
“Yes, ma’am,” Lachlan said.
“And please don’t do your shirt up yet, either.” The old lady winked.
With laughter welling inside him, Lachlan pulled a smiling Rowan closer and kissed her. Around them, his teammates laughed.
*
“God, Rowan.”
Lachlan’s deep voice shivered through her. She kept riding him, her palms pressed against his chest. She rose and fell again, his hard cock filling her up.
They were in his room at the Area 52 base. Lachlan gripped her hips, driving her down harder. She moaned.
“I love being inside you,” he growled.
Her gaze locked with his. His eyes were glittering. “I love you being inside me.”
He thrust his hips up. “I could stay here forever.”
“Lachlan.” She felt her orgasm drawing closer. He ran his hands down her body, over her belly, and found her clit.
Rowan bit her lip, sensations flowing through her.
“Tell me.” His hand stilled.
She made a sound and ground against his fingers. “What?”
“Tell me you love me,” he demanded.
Warmth bloomed in her chest. “I love you, Lachlan Hunter. You’re all mine.”
He flicked her clit and she came. She tried not to scream, but everything inside her was too strong.
Lachlan reared up. “I love you, too, Rowan.” His mouth captured hers and he swallowed her cries. A moment later, his big body shuddered and he groaned through his own release.
When he lay back on the mattress, he tucked her into his side.
“I want to stay here, but I’m guessing we need to check in,” she said.
When they’d arrived back at base, Airman Kowalski had been whisked away for monitoring and processing. The artifact had been handed over to an overprotective Arlo and Ty.
Jonah Grayson had scheduled a debriefing.
“Yeah.” Lachlan stroked her back. He was silent for a moment. “I want you to move in with me.”
She sucked in a breath and looked up at him. “Really?”
“Really. I want you in my bed. I want to bring you coffee every morning, and watch you bake something chocolate in my kitchen every night. I want to hold you while you tell me about your day. I just want you in my life. You make it brighter. You make it matter.”
She swallowed, so much emotion swelling inside her. “I can make some calls about finding work.”
“I have a better idea.” He flicked a finger at her nose. “Why don’t you go back and study? Or take a baking class?”
She sucked in a breath. God. She imagined choosing what she wanted to do. “I always wanted to study archeology.”
He smiled. “I know.” Then his face turned serious. “I’m away sometimes. But knowing that I was coming home to you—”
She kissed him. “I’d be waiting.”
Lachlan went still. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes! I’ll move in with you.”
His smile was huge, and he kissed her again. It was just turning heated when there was a thump on the door.
“Some people work around here, you know.” Blair’s voice. “The director’s waiting.”
“Duty calls,” Lachlan murmured.
“I think I’ll go and check on Lars.” She kissed his jaw.
After they’d changed, Lachlan dropped her off at the lab with a final hard kiss. Rowan went first to check in on Aimee Kowalski, who was currently sedated, but showing signs of improvement. She found Lars sitting with her.
“Hey.” Rowan smiled and hugged him.
He gave her a small smile. “Hi.”
“How are you feeling?”
Lars shrugged. “Hanging in there.” He looked at Aimee. “It’s been good talking with Airman Kowalski.”
Rowan imagined having someone who understood what they’d been through helped. “That’s good.” They talked about innocuous topics for a while.
“They’re going to let me go home soon.” Lars looked at the floor. “I’m not sure I want to go home, or to work, or go back to my research.”
“Take your time.” She placed her hand on his. “There’s no rush, Lars. Time will help heal the wounds.”
He nodded. “What about you?”
“Oh, well, I’m moving to Las Vegas.”
Lars looked surprised. “Really?”
The door opened and Lachlan strode in. He nodded at Lars, then stopped beside Rowan. He tipped her head up and dropped a kiss to her lips.
Shaking off the daze Lachlan’s kisses always seemed to generate, she looked back at Lars. “Ah, I don’t think you two have officially met. Lars, this is Lachlan Hunter, leader of Team 52.”
“Hi.” Lars nodded at Lachlan, a mixture of both understanding and disappointment on his face. Then his gaze moved back to Rowan. “Be happy, Rowan.”
“You, too, Lars.”
Lachlan tugged her up and led her back toward the rec room. All of Team 52 were waiting outside, and several guards flanked the elevator.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“An archeologist we’ve worked with before is bringing in an object.”
Axel appeared. “Hope it’s not one of those Treasure Hunter Security assholes.”
“No,” Lachlan said. “It’s Dr. January James.”
Seth straightened. “Not that witch.”
“Seth—” Lachlan’s voice held a warning.
Rowan watched the super-cool Seth’s cheeks flush with color along his cheekbones. “She’s impossible.”
“You did threaten her,” Blair said. “Her behavior was justified.”
“I was trying to save her from a dangerous piece of ancient technology. She hit me over the head with a metal pole!”
Callie nodded. “Knocked him out cold and left him with a black eye.”
Rowan bit her lip, trying not to laugh. She caught Blair’s gaze, and the other woman burst out laughing. The others all chuckled, and even Smith had a smile on his face.
Seth crossed his arms over his chest.
The elevator doors opened and a petite brunette in khaki cargo pants, with a white shirt tucked into a narrow waist, strode out holding the handle of a metal suitcase.
Chapter Twenty
Seth
Seth Lynch stared at the woman who worked every one of his nerves. As she walked in boldly—like she owned the place—he gritted his teeth.