“I saw him as he got out of his bird the night of the CSAR mission,” Honor said. “I was standing on the tarmac. Just…do you know if he’s okay?” She felt awkward even asking, but she needed to know. It made her heart ache to think he was hurting from the loss of his SOAR brothers. He’d never tell anyone, just suffer in silence.
“He wasn’t injured,” Cam said, probably to put her mind at ease.
“I know, but I heard about the KIAs he knew and Ace just told me about the wounded pilot.”
Cam exchanged an unreadable look with Ace before looking back at her, his blue eyes full of empathy. “Maybe you should talk to him yourself before you leave.”
“Yeah.” Not gonna happen.
Honor looked down at her plate, knowing there was no point in even trying to track him down and talk now. Best to just leave well enough alone and see if time and distance would help her move on this time. Even when they’d been at their closest Liam wasn’t one to talk about friends he’d lost in combat. There was no way he’d open up to her about it now.
“No, seriously, you should try and talk to him,” Ace said. “Tonight.” She had a tendency to be bossy, but in this case Honor sensed she was just trying to be helpful. Because she didn’t know what a mess Honor had made of things with Liam.
“Maybe, but I gotta go get some work finished up first,” she lied, pushing her chair out and standing. “I’ll see you guys later. And hopefully I’ll see you at the end of the aisle waiting for your gorgeous bride in a few months,” she said to Cam.
Breathing in deeply as she stepped outside, she walked back to her hut. Seeing Erin’s bunk stripped and all her stuff missing was freaking depressing. She grabbed her toiletries and headed across to the showers to get cleaned up.
Freshly showered and changed into her nightwear, she settled on her bunk to read a while. Footsteps outside alerted her that her solitude was about to be interrupted so she set down her e-reader and looked at the plywood door, expecting to see either Ace or their new roomie, Barb, come in.
The door slid open and she stared in shock as Liam walked in instead.
He shut it tight behind him, his green eyes locked on her. Honor stood slowly, aware of her heart pounding in the sudden silence. He looked tired but too sexy for words standing there in his desert camo pants and light tan T-shirt that hugged his muscular chest and upper arms. A slight shadow of stubble covered his jaw.
He raked that intense green gaze over her, taking in the Night Stalkers T-shirt he’d given her when they’d been together. Maybe she’d been stupid to keep it but when she wore it she felt less alone and it helped her remember all the good times when they’d been together.
Liam’s eyes stopped at her breasts, where the font read Death Waits in the Dark above the Night Stalker logo. Her nipples tightened instantly against the soft cotton as heat punched through her.
Crossing her arms over her breasts, she found her voice. “What are you doing here?”
His gaze shifted to hers. “Heard you’re going back stateside soon.”
“Yeah.” And? She felt vulnerable as hell standing there in nothing but his shirt and a pair of sleep shorts. Then realization dawned and she narrowed her eyes. “Did you set this up with Ace?”
Looking totally unapologetic, he nodded.
Honor didn’t understand. “Why?”
“Wanted to see you.”
Arms still clamped across her chest, she cocked her head, refusing to allow herself to feel hopeful. Didn’t matter how much she felt or how much she still wanted him, because she couldn’t have him. “Why’s that?”
He didn’t answer, only stared at her with those hungry green eyes.
Her belly flipped as she imagined them on her bunk, his hard body on top of hers as he pinned her to the bed. Irritated, she scowled at him and raised her chin. She didn’t have time for games. “Seriously, what do you want, Liam?” Why show up here, now, when there was nothing left to say and she was leaving in two days?
Rather than answer, he reached out one hand to snag a chair set against the wall and slid the top of its back beneath the door handle, barricading the door. She tore her gaze from the powerful muscles shifting in his arms and chest to find him watching her with that hot, piercing stare.
His expression was hungry. Predatory.
“Closure,” he rasped out.
Chapter Twelve
Liam had no fucking idea what he was doing here.
He’d been lying in his bunk, trying to get some rest before the upcoming mission brief when he’d received the text from Ace saying Honor was heading to her hut. Alone, already feeling raw from the one-two punch of his fellow Night Stalkers’ deaths and Honor’s impending departure, he’d made a snap decision and headed over without stopping to think it through.
Now that he was standing twelve feet away from her, he still didn’t know exactly what he wanted. She’d hurt him too badly and he couldn’t trust her not to do it again, so for him there was no going back to the way things had been. All he knew was, he couldn’t go on this way. He couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t stop thinking about Honor, or the fact that she was leaving and he might never see her again. He’d already lost her once without the finality of a real goodbye. This time he needed one.
She stared back at him with those wide aqua eyes, arms crossed over the front of his old shirt, wearing a pair of shorts that hit her at upper thigh and left the length of her toned legs bare. Strong, sexy legs she’d wrapped around his back and shoulders as he buried himself inside her and made her come. “What kind of closure?” she murmured.
Fuck if he knew. “The definitive kind.” It was the only thing he could think of that would end his torment. A clean cut this time instead of the jagged, messy wound he’d endured before. He wanted to walk out of here knowing once and for all that they were done, so he could move forward again.
When she stood there stiffly he wondered how sore her shoulder still was. “So what do you want me to say?” she asked.
Liam resisted the urge to drag a hand through his hair. Christ, he was losing his mind being torn about her. Even now, part of him wanted to strip her naked and claim her in the most basic way possible. But the other wanted to hear her verbally acknowledge that they were over, so the decision would be made for him and he could finally put her behind him. He’d told himself on the way over that all he needed was to see her one last time. That once he did he’d be able to let go, on his terms.
Now he realized that was bullshit.
The connection between them was too strong, the pull too hard to resist, and there’d never be anyone else like Honor. The hell of it was, he still cared about her, still wanted her, even if he goddamn knew there was no future for them. At least he wasn’t the only one affected. Going by the way her eyes turned molten as she watched him, she still wanted him too.
At the moment that was more than enough.
His heart beat faster as he stared at her. He remembered exactly what her naked body felt like against his, what drove her crazy in bed and the sounds she made as she came undone for him. He wanted all of it again now.
The air grew heavy with anticipation as they continued to stare at each other across the small space between them. Liam was fighting a losing battle and he knew it. They were alone, no one but Ace knew he was here, and they had more than an hour until he had to be at the briefing. His heart thudded hard against his sternum, his body primed and ready to take.
Honor continued to watch him with a conflicting mix of wariness and heat that tied him in knots. Her gaze roamed over his face like a physical touch before settling on his mouth. Then her tongue darted out to slide across her lower lip. As if she wanted to taste him.