Burning Intensity Read Online Free PDF

air. James’ mouth thinned as he pressed his lips together. “No, I never complained. But then, it was your lack of words that hurt me. You never called.”
    El fluttered her eyes closed. She could hear the weight in what he said, the depth of feeling clear behind each syllable.
    Opening her eyes, El frowned. “I didn’t mean to cause you pain. I know that doesn’t help, but it’s the truth. All of this, the feeling of betrayal, it was the last thing I wanted.”
    “You promised to call and I believed you. When you said it was complicated, that it would take time to sort out, that didn’t bother me. I understand a lot of what you do has a forest of non-disclosure statements attached to it. That’s part of the package that comes with you and something I can accept. Do you know how stupid I felt, rushing home every night to check my messages, hoping and being deflated day after day? I always thought people who stuck close to the phone, moping because a lover didn’t call them, were pathetic. I have a healthy amount of sympathy for them now.”
    James looked up and their gazes met. El didn’t turn away or flinch as he finished, His pain was clear to see, both in his features and within his speech. She waited a moment when he was done, assimilating everything he’d showed her, but also probing her own heart. She promised herself she wouldn’t hurt him again, not if she could possibly help it.
    If that meant she needed to walk away, regardless of the price she’d pay for that action, she would. James already knew the bare basics of her work. He was aware that she was employed by an agency of the government to investigate people and situations the police and other, more public faces couldn’t sully themselves with. James’ connections with many gray area artists, business people and the fringe elements of higher society had drawn them together on a previous case.
    The fact that she’d discovered he had a wide range of skills as a thief, that he had knowledge of security systems and how to get around them, had only deepened her interest in him. After almost a month of dancing around each other—physically and verbally—they’d fallen into bed together, and El had found her heart on the brink of being stolen by his fast, slick, delicate and talented hands. James thrilled and scared her on many levels. Their passion and lust burned with an intensity she’d never experienced before. Being with him, the intimacy of their growing relationship was akin to being in a free fall.
    Powerful, terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time.
    James was addictive, but the complexities woven between them made her feel like she had lost her mind to open herself to him.
    But he was a trustworthy man. El never doubted that for a moment.
    James was a gentleman to his core. When he gave his word, he stuck to it no matter what the cost.
    She needed to be honest with him—or as open as she could be.
    El shifted closer to him on the couch, so their knees were only a few inches apart. Folding her hands in her lap, she then linked her fingers, her gaze down but unfocused. She collected her thoughts, took a deep breath and lifted her face. Meeting his gaze, opening herself as much as possible, she groped for the words to explain without breaking her promise to the Agency and telling him too much.
    “You know I was messaged and then called in that afternoon. It was my day off, but I knew something big was going down. My team leader added in a code word to the text he sent. A single word can’t come close to explaining the complexities of what was really happening, but it indicated there’d been an internal betrayal, a traitor. I’d heard murmurs already, but still I was shocked by the messy web we’d been dragged into.”
    El tightened her fingers together as she recalled the nightmare of paperwork, distrust amongst colleagues, and the level of paranoia for months that had skyrocketed almost out of control. Spies were naturally