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"Six o, maybe, but not anymore" His voice was so deep and quiet it took a ister in Noelle'sshe already knew the answer

"You only need to know that the sa to happen to you"

"Tellto know but not wanting to hear the bleak truth spoken aloud

His hand stroked over her arded her with a stare that was fierce deter them"

CHAPTER FOUR

David watched Noelle from the corner of his eye as she fell back asleep in the space of a few seconds The tranquilizer was still affecting her, but not asto kill her It was up to hi else did, either

She was a s effects of the drugs They couldn't stay here ive her every minute to recover that he could He could tell by the panic in her green eyes just how much it scared her not to be in cdhtrol of her own body

David doubted that Noelle had fully grasped the concept that her name was at the top of a terrorist hit list, Four men had been on that same list, and each had been kidnapped by the Swar obscure codes Either those roup or had simply been unable to break the code because all four had been executed He just couldn't bring himself to tell Noelle she was next The poor woh too much already today and a person could only take sohis isolation ruined, Monroe had been right to call him back into Delta David knew just ould happen to this young woht Mistakes were one hell of an effective teacher

He only wished that Noelle didn't appeal to him so y clothes and her face devoid of any hint ofShe was so daet the way she smelled, all sweet and warm, or the way she made these little, faint noises while she slept Every ti excited, anxious like some fifteen-year-old boy as about to see his first naked wo Sure, he'd been more than two years without sex, but he should have been able to resist touching herher a drink, yes Feeding her the pain pills, sure

Putting her under the blankets, fine But stroking her hair? Touching her face? Completely unnecessary

But really nice

Maybe it was just his protective instincts on overdrive, but he had to keep fighting off the urge to pull her into his ar to be okay

The truth was, it wasn't going to be okay Even in the best-case scenario, she'd have to walk away from her life, cut all ties and never look back if she wanted to live Either that, or sign on with the Arht security where they would protect her in exchange for her brainpower

Her co that she would rather die than choose any option that would put her at the disposal of the military

Noelle shifted in her sleep At least the drugs earing off enough that she ht be able to walk out of here under her oer That would keep hi to touch her more, which was for the best

Their new vehicle was due to be dropped off within the hour The track he'd been driving would be taken away to in a different direction than they were headed By then he and Noelle would already be long gone

With luck, he'd be able to convince her to cooperate with the CIA before they ents would no doubt be ready to pounce Monroe hadn't given David the code they needed Noelle to break, since it was strictly classified, but he had said that the infor e still burned hot in David's gut, even though he kneouldn't change the past He needed to completely wipe out every member of the Swarm from the face of the earth Only then would he be satisfied

And for that, he needed Noelle's total and cooing to get

There were a lot of things that Noelle could handle, but letting David help her use the bathroom was not one of them

She had her pride That was the drive that finally pushed away the last of the gooey cobwebs in Noelle's brain and got her legsShe wasn't completely steady on her feet, but with a wall nearby, she'd be fine

Noelle pushed herself off the bed, hoping that David would just keep watching out thethrough a crack in the plastic drapes and not notice her at all

She wasn't that lucky He noticed and strode over the gaudy carpet to her side "How are you feeling?" he asked, his eyesevery little detail

"Like I need to pee"

If her bluntness bothered hiular face "Dizzy?" he asked

"A little Nothing I can't handle"

His hand gripped her upper arh that if she took a spill he'd be able to hold her up It was coer-and-possibly-a-crazed-maniac-but-at-least-you're-here sort of way