Hard Pursuit (Cobra Elite #6) - Pamela Clare Page 0,1

on all seven continents and see the world while her parents, both doctors, were still in good health and didn’t need her help.

He grinned, his dark eyes looking straight into hers. “You’ll get a lot more sleep.”

No man had eyes as penetrating or as intense as Malik’s.

“You say that like it’s a good thing.” She willed herself to smile. “Are you excited to see sunlight again?”

If she kept the conversation light, maybe she wouldn’t cry.

“Make sure you’ve got all your shit,” Isaksen called from the hallway. “Anything that’s left behind stays behind. We won’t be coming this way again.”

“Copy that.” Malik shouldered his duffel, glanced around the tiny room that had been his home for the past month.

When he’d arrived at the South Pole, he’d wanted to finish their mission and get home as quickly as possible, away from twenty-four-hour darkness and the bone-chilling cold. Now, he found himself wishing for another week, a few days, even an hour.

Kristi.

The thought of saying goodbye to her put a hitch in his chest. Yeah, he was going to miss her. He wouldn’t lie. She was beautiful, smart, funny, sexy as hell—and fucking incredible in bed. He’d gotten laid more in the past month than in the previous six months combined, and still he burned for her.

Get a grip, man.

They had agreed from the start that this was sex with no strings. She’d wanted that arrangement as much as he had. He couldn’t go back on his word now. Besides, there was no way for them to be together.

He had his life, and she had hers. She would spend the next six months here, take a short vacation, and then head to Nigeria—not a good idea, in his professional opinion—while he flew back and forth from Denver to the company’s next job site.

Still, he wished he and Kristi had spent a little less time screwing and a little more time talking. There was still so much he didn’t know about her, so much he’d love to discover. Would she miss him, too?

He’d thought they might get time to talk this morning, but he’d gotten word during breakfast that the plane was arriving ahead of schedule. That had cut short what little time he’d had left with her. He and the guys had to be ready to board when the C-130 Hercules Globemaster landed. Any delay might result in the fuel or propellers freezing, and that would have fatal consequences.

Malik stepped into the hallway, closed the door to his room.

Segal did the same. “I can’t wait to feel the sun on my face again.”

Isaksen chuckled. “So, cold is your kryptonite, huh, Segal? I didn’t think you had any weaknesses.”

“I don’t.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

The three of them left the berthing area and walked toward Destination Alpha—the station’s main entrance. Kristi stood near the door, wearing blue scrubs, Samantha beside her, the two of them waiting to say goodbye, neither of them looking happy.

“There’s your collateral damage from this mission,” Segal muttered. “I hope you’re both satisfied.”

Isaksen ignored him with his usual Viking detachment, but Malik’s temper flared. “Sounds to me like you’re jealous, brother.”

Segal hadn’t hooked up with anyone on this mission, not even when the work was done and they were just waiting for a flight home. “Is that what you think?”

Segal rolled his eyes and walked outside into the cold. The man must really want to get out of this place.

While Isaksen walked over to Samantha, Malik headed straight for Kristi, doing his best to seem casual and upbeat. He lowered his duffel to the floor. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She slipped easily into his arms, her cheek resting against his chest. “I wish you could stay a little longer. I’m not tired of you yet.”

He chuckled, kissed her silky, dark hair. “I’m not tired of you, either.”

For a moment, they stood there, neither of them speaking, Malik inhaling her scent, doing his best to memorize the feel of her.

She was trembling.

He caught her chin, lifted her gaze to his, saw tears on her cheeks, the sight striking a tender place inside him. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

She sniffed. “Sorry. I’m just having an emo moment. I hate goodbyes.”

He could understand that. “Don’t apologize.”

Malik drew her against him once more and held her while she wept, her sadness cutting at him, making it harder for him to keep his own emotions in check.

Then from outside the station came the sound of the approaching plane.

Segal stuck his head through the door. “He’s landing. Let’s move out.”

“They have to refuel,”