Allegiances. Cynthia Eden

Celia shook her head. “You were always one fine marine, and you were incredible as a field agent.”

      Until he’d been taken. Because he’d been distracted...

      By her. No, it hadn’t been Celia’s fault. None of it had been. Sullivan had been the one who wasn’t on his game. He was the one who hadn’t taken enough precautions. And he was the one who’d been afraid of what would come in the aftermath of his capture.

      Even then, I didn’t want her hurt. Even then, I was afraid of what could happen to her...because of me.

      Her gaze was still on him. “I know that when you give your word,” she added, “you mean it.”

      His hands fisted because the urge to reach out to her was too strong. He wanted to touch her. To see if her skin still felt like silk. Her scent—sweet, light—rose and wrapped around him.

      “I’ll see you again soon,” she said. Then she opened the door. The heavy carpet swallowed her footsteps as she left him.

      He stood there a moment, fighting the past and trying to figure out what the hell he should do in the present.

      Go after her.

      His head snapped up when he heard the ding of the elevator. And then Sullivan was racing down the hallway. The rest of McGuire Securities was deserted, so no one witnessed his frantic run. And it was frantic. But he couldn’t just let her go, not like this. His hand flew out and he stopped the elevator, activating the sensors in the doors right before they closed.

      Celia’s eyes widened as she started. “Sullivan, what are you doing?”

      What he should have done the first moment he looked up and saw her standing in his office.

      “I gave you the envelope.” She sounded dazed. “Have you even looked inside it?”

      No, he’d left it on his desk, unopened. Priorities. He strode into the elevator.

      She backed up against the wall. It was the first time he’d ever seen Celia retreat from anyone.

      “I missed you,” he gritted out.

      Her lips parted.

      “And you don’t get to just vanish again.”

      Before she could respond, Sullivan leaned forward and he kissed her. His hands pushed against the elevator wall on either side of her head and he put his mouth on hers.

      Her lips were still parted, just a bit, and his lips met hers in a hot, openmouthed kiss. She tasted so sweet—even sweeter than he remembered—and Sullivan’s heart drummed wildly in his ears. He held his body carefully away from hers, only touching her with his mouth. Touching her and trying like hell to seduce her with his lips and tongue. He kissed her a bit deeper, a bit harder, savoring her because it had been far too long since he’d been with her like this.

      Far, far too long.

      Dreams weren’t enough for him. Memories weren’t getting him through the long nights any longer. He needed her. Not a ghost. The real woman.

      His Celia. But even as he deepened that kiss—

      Her hands pressed to his chest and she shoved him back.

      Sullivan’s breath sawed out as he stared down at her.

      “Do you like hurting me?” Celia demanded.

      What? “No, hell, no.”

      “My life isn’t some game. My emotions can’t just be jerked around by you because you’re in the mood to push my buttons.” Her lips were red and plump from his kiss. Her eyes glittered with fury and passion.

      “I wasn’t—”

      “In case you missed it before, Sullivan...” Her chin lifted. “Our marriage is over. You signed the divorce papers, remember?”

      And he felt that shot, right in his heart. “Yes, I remember.” He wished he could forget. I thought I was doing the right thing. I was poison. She didn’t need me.

      Though he’d always needed her.

      “Get out of the elevator. When I need you, I’ll be back.”

      He turned away from her. Exited that damn elevator. No one else was on the floor. It was way past operating hours. He wasn’t even sure how she’d gotten up to his office.

      Celia has her ways... Celia can do anything... Hadn’t he heard folks say that about her time and again when he’d been working with the CIA?

      Hell, most of his family didn’t even know about the work he’d done for the government. Most of them didn’t know a thing about Celia.

      Mac knew.

      And Sullivan...he’d tried so hard to forget her. An impossible task.

      Before the elevator doors could shut, he lifted his hands, pushing against them. His gaze held hers. “What about when I need you?” It was a question torn from him.

      She blinked in surprise. Or maybe in shock. A faint furrow appeared between her eyes.

      “You said that...when you need me, you’d be back.” Sullivan inclined his head toward her. “What about when I need you, C? What then?” Her old nickname rolled off his tongue. C. So simple, but...

      It was our link. Only I called her that.

      Back when she’d been his.

      She laughed. It was a hollow, bitter sound. Not Celia’s real laughter. He’d heard that light, musical sound once before. A lifetime ago. When would he hear her real laughter again?

      “Oh, Sullivan,” she said, her lips twisting in a cold smile. “We both know the truth. You’ve never really needed me. You wanted me for a time, but you never let me get close. When the chips were down, you turned on me.”

      Because he’d been told she betrayed him. Told again and again as his blood drained out in a dark, dank hellhole.

      “Don’t do that again,” she warned him. “Don’t turn on me. I...I don’t have a lot of options. I have to count on you.”

      “You can.” He would never betray her again, and Sullivan would do whatever was necessary to prove that to her. He exhaled slowly and backed away. His hands fell back to his sides. The elevator doors began to close. “And just for the record...I think I need you more than I need anyone or anything else.”

      He saw the flash of surprise on her face.

      Then the doors closed.

      * * *

      BREATHE. BREATHE. BREATHE. Mentally, Celia James repeated her little mantra.

      Only it was hard to breathe because she could still taste Sullivan. She could still feel his lips against hers. And when he’d dropped his last little bombshell on her, she was pretty sure her whole world had spun out of control.

      She hurried across the darkened Austin street. She could hear the distant buzz of traffic. Random horns. Voices drifting on the wind. But...

      Sullivan. Sexy Sullivan McGuire. He was what consumed her right then. And that was the problem with him—he always slipped past her guard. He always made her too nervous and aware. She couldn’t afford the way he made her feel, not now. Not with all the other craziness happening in her life.

      She was leaving the CIA. Leaving the agency that had been her life for far too long and...

      I’m being hunted. She had enough going on without developing a new addiction to Sullivan.

      Right...as if that were a new thing. She’d been craving him from the moment she looked into his green eyes. Then she’d heard the deep rumble of his voice. Seduction. Just straight-up seduction. She’d been lost before they’d even shaken hands and had been officially introduced.

      She’d never looked