He somehow managed to swallow. “That’s the one.”
“Are you going to sleep with me?”
He hit the breaking point right there. They were both adults, but she was so hot and tempting and...forget control. He dragged her off the step and down beside him. Before he could think it through or come to his senses, he lowered his head.
His mouth covered hers, and the ground shifted. He’d thought to wipe out the years of need with a quick kiss. Once and move on. Get back to work.
That backfired.
His mouth crossed over hers in a blinding kiss that had him wrapping his arms around her as his heartbeat hammered in his chest. Heat built between them, and a strange energy pulsed through the room. Forget staying detached and moving on. He fell in deeper. Tasting her, holding her, had every nerve ending zapping to life.
The noises she made went straight to his head. He debated taking her to bed and wondered how much they’d both regret it in the morning. The last thought had him lifting his head. He saw a flash of light off to his right and let go of her while he reached for his closest gun.
She stiffened. “What is it?”
“Visitors.” He’d caught the beam from the flashlight, thin and bouncing as the holder walked. His gaze zipped to the front door and he saw another beam right before it blinked out.
Two attackers with enough training to know to come in quietly and simultaneously. This was going to get loud.
Her fingernails dug into his arms. “How is that possible?”
Good question. The place didn’t trace to him and no one had followed them, so Shane had the same question. But he’d worry about that later. “Go upstairs.”
“Shouldn’t we run to the car?”
Time to fill her in on the bad news. “The easy ways out are blocked.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I think you do.” He didn’t have time to explain and she was smart enough to know exactly what was happening. She just didn’t want it to be happening...and that made two of them. “Go upstairs and hide in the closet in my room. You’ll see an extra weapon in the box on the floor. The bullets are hidden in the opposite corner.”
“You keep a weapon in your closet just in case?”
All over the house, but now wasn’t the time to go into that. “Go, Makena. Stay in there unless you see or hear me or one of the other members of the team.”
“Right.”
He grabbed her before she could spin and run up the steps. His hand cupped the side of her face. “I’m serious. Do not be a hero here.”
Some of the haze cleared from her eyes and she nodded. “I get it.”
The thump of her feet against the stairs echoed as Shane put his back against the wall. He had a knife and two guns within easy grabbing range, and that was just counting what he carried on him. Other weapons sat, hidden, nearby. Whatever he had to do to keep the attackers from getting upstairs and to her, he would do.
After a soft click, the front door opened. That would trip the silent alarm and send a scramble code back to Corcoran headquarters. On cue, the phone started ringing, but Shane waited. Not answering would have Connor moving in reinforcements even faster.
The entire team could come. Shane didn’t care. He hoped to have the situation neutralized before then. One peek of a human and he’d shoot.
The crash of the glass from the back door shattering caught him by surprise. He ducked, unsure what had caused the break, a bullet or something else. When he lifted his head again, he spied the man stepping into his house. Shane came off the wall firing. The attacker’s shoulder flew back as if he’d been hit, but he kept coming.
They had Kevlar vests on and he didn’t, which put him at a distinct disadvantage. Shots rang out as he ducked. A second man came through the front. They had him pinned down and trapped. He couldn’t crawl away or bore through the wall. That meant going upstairs. Bringing the fight to her. He hated the idea, but he had to keep moving. Standing still guaranteed he’d be shot.
In a crouch, he spun around the railing and started up the stairs, firing covering shots as he went. A simple mantra kept running through his brain—aim for the head.
Plaster kicked up around him and more glass shattered. He reached the top of the stairs just as one of the attackers started up behind him. Shane ducked around the wall for protection and concentrated on the steps. The thudding sound grew closer. He waited until the last possible second, then shifted and fired. Nailed the attacker right in the head and sent him sprawling backward.
Shane’s breaths came out in steady pants as he scanned the downstairs, looking for the second attacker. The quiet hit him. The banging had stopped and nothing moved except for a curtain that caught the breeze from the broken window.