Kat sighed. “We kind of deserved this.”
Walking over to where she stood, I pried the blanket off her. “How so?”
“We’re a bunch of teenagers, and we thought we could break into a facility run by Homeland Security and the DOD? I mean, come on. This was bound to go wrong—wait!” she said, grabbing my wrists as I grabbed the hem of the thermal. “What are you doing?”
“Getting you naked.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Uh, wow. Way to cut to the point.”
I gave her a half grin. “Your clothing is soaked and cold. And there are probably traces of onyx still on them. You need to get out of them.”
She smacked my hands away. “I can do that myself.”
Leaning in, I spoke directly in her ear. “Where’s the fun in that?” I let go, though, and walked over to my dresser. “You really think we were doomed to fail?”
The following rustle of clothing being stripped off really made it hard to not look.
“Don’t…don’t turn around.”
Considering I’d seen it before, I shook my head as I rooted around for something she could wear.
“I don’t know,” she said finally. “It was a huge undertaking for trained spies. We’re in over our heads.”
“But we were fine until we hit those doors.” I pulled out a shirt that would work like a gown on her, albeit a short gown. “I hate to say this, but I really don’t think Blake knew about them. The look on his face when you and Dawson went down—it was too real.”
“Then why did you punch him in the face?”
“I wanted to.” Placing a hand over my eyes, I turned around and offered her the shirt. “Here you go.”
She grabbed it quickly and for a moment, I split my fingers, catching the shirt billowing around her thighs.
“You were peeking,” she said.
“Maybe.” I took her hand and led her to the bed. “Get in. I’m going to check on Dawson and I’ll be back.”
Kat climbed onto the bed and made her way to what was turning out to be her side. She grabbed the comforter and tugged it all the way up to her chin. I headed out into the hallway, stopping at the top of the stairs. I could hear Dawson and Dee. Andrew’s voice was in the mix. Matthew had probably already left.
I needed to go down and check on Dawson, but as I stood there at the top of the stairs, I told myself that Dee had it handled; so did Andrew. I wasn’t always…needed. I didn’t have to be the one to always take care of everything.
Instead of going downstairs, I pivoted and walked to my bedroom. Slipping inside the room lit by silvery moonlight, I went back to the dresser and grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms. Quickly changing, I then made my way over to the bed. I pulled the covers back and slid in.
Kat wiggled closer. “How’s Dawson?”
“He’s doing okay. He’s not a happy camper, though.” I didn’t need to go downstairs to know that.
“Thank you for getting us out of there.” She tilted her head back as I brushed the still-damp hair off her cheek.
“I had help.” I pressed my lips against her forehead. “You feeling okay?”
“I feel fine. Stop worrying about me.”
I curled my fingers through her hair. “Don’t ever walk through a door first again, okay? And don’t argue with me about it or accuse me of being chauvinistic. I don’t ever want to see you in that kind of pain again.”
I waited for her to argue with me, but she scooted over and placed a hand on my bare chest. Static jumped across her fingers as she kissed me. I returned the kiss with a soft one. The kiss was more of a benediction, sweet and tender, but the kisses changed. I don’t think either of us planned for that, but the residual adrenaline from tonight kicked back in, heightening our senses.
Kat shifted onto her back, and I followed. There wasn’t a moment where we lost contact with each other. I settled over her, her softness welcoming me, undoing me. In mere seconds, our failure at Mount Weather was shoved out of this room, locked away.
I smoothed my hand down, catching the borrowed shirt and baring her shoulder. I blazed a trail of kisses down her throat, shuddering when I heard her soft moan. When I kissed the smooth skin of her shoulder, Kat lifted up and raised her arms.
There wasn’t a moment of hesitation for me. God. There never was, not anymore, when it came to Kat.
I tugged her shirt off and I was struck motionless by the beauty of her.
My hand trembled slightly. I shook as I stared down at her. Since all of her clothing had been soaked, there’d been nothing under that shirt. I don’t know why I didn’t think about that until now.
Damn.
Kat undid me in ways she’d never know.