Katherine tucked her hair behind her ears as she watched Leem check out every corner of her small hotel room. Her head followed his frame sideways as he kneeled down to inspect the underside of the bed. She could see the strain of every muscle under his hoodie as it pulled taut over his broad back. She flinched as her eyes fell upon a bulbous scar that curved from about halfway down the back of his neck and then disappeared under the collar of his white tee. It told what could only be a stomach-churning tale. Clumsy, erratic pocks paralleled the scar indicative of shoddy stitches performed in haste to close the devastating wound. He had suffered that somewhere far from proper care and it had likely festered.
She had seen such wounds on people in Africa after neighboring villages had a dispute and took it out on each other with machetes. She felt a shudder travel the length of her body. He must have suffered. She gulped back a lump and tried to say something lighthearted.
"What do you think you'll find under there? A monster?" She asked shakily.
Leem looked up from where he kneeled. "One of our agents was done in by a bomb beneath his cot, once. It was a right mess."
She blinked a couple times. "Oh. How dreadful."
He stood and winked. "Don't feel sorry for 'im. He was playing both sides. The bad side caught up ta him."
"Still, what a horrid way to die."
Leem stood and walked towards her with a dark look on his face. Katherine quavered in place. He had a way of making her feel skittish and awkward and breathless . . . very breathless.
"It would help if I knew who ya pissed off," he murmured. "I've studied up on all the groups and their methods. I can better protect you if I know what I'm up against."
Katherine shook her head. Mycroft Holmes had been adamant – the fewer people who knew what she'd entangled herself in, the better. Anyone privy to what she'd stumbled upon was as much of a target as she.
"I'm sorry, Leem. I appreciate everything, I do, but I cannot tell you anything about it."
His brow furrowed. "Is it the Holmes? Did they say we were untrustworthy?"
Her lips parted. "No, not at all. Mycroft said you and Fil were the best, actually. It's just, this is like, the root of all evil we're talking about. Allow me to protect you in return, Leem. I would not want for you or your brother to get hurt on my account."
His cheek jerked as he clenched his jaw momentarily. He looked away briefly and then returned his gaze. His green eyes turned positively black.
"You don' need to protect me. I'm infantry, Kat, a foot soldier. You're intelligence. One of you is worth a thousand of me."
Katherine found herself reach for and then clutch his forearm. He was ludicrous to think such tripe. This man had likely saved a thousand lives. What had she done except get her mentor and half his family killed? It remained to be seen what her discovery brought except death.
"That's a terrible thing to say."
"It's the truth."
Katherine looked down to where his steely forearm flexed beneath her grasp. She was losing her nerve. It seemed such a silly thing to hope for a dalliance with this man when everything was so topsy-turvy.
"No, it's very wrong and I'll not have you repeat such nonsense," she chided. "Just thinking about it gives me an awful headache as your math is terrible. I'm two thirds your size at best. Therefore, if we were going to commoditize our value by mass, you're actually worth more than me by a factor of about 1.65."
Something flickered in his expression when she said that. His eyes scanned her face and lingered on her lips. A small wrinkle appeared in his brow.
"I've never heard a woman speak like you do," he said in a low voice.
A smile lifted the corner of her lips. "Uh, oh, do I sound like a pretentious snot?"
"No, you sound smart. I mean, you are smart but . . . you don't talk down to me."
She laughed nervously. "Should I?"
"Most do."
Katherine felt a jitter in her toes again. She suddenly realized how close they stood. She looked down at where she still held his arm and then back up to his face. Her eyes flitted over his strong brow, lingered on a faint scar just at the top of his right cheek and then skimmed down to his lush lips. They were ridiculous, really. Her hand unconsciously lifted. He caught her wrist mid travel.
"What are you doin'?"
Katherine felt heat flame up her neck and scorch her face. Oh, Lord. He must think her a lunatic. Her lips parted to say something but her words were smothered by a gurgle in her throat. She was mortified. He had the biggest look of confusion on his face. She realized right then that this weird connection she felt to him was completely one sided. Forget the assassins who had tried to off her, she was going to die from embarrassment.
"I-I . . . I'm so sorry . . .sorry. That was inappropriate."
She glanced at where she gripped him again. Why couldn't she let go? Her damn hand wasn't obeying her commands. In fact, it tightened on his arm. Another wave of heat flushed her face. It had to be purple by that time. She closed her eyes a moment. Then she felt his hand gently lower her extended arm and his thumb brush across the sensitive skin on the inside of her wrist. Her eyes flew open to see an intense look of heat on his face.
He coaxed her forwards with a slight tug on her wrist. His other hand lifted and settled on her hip with her still clinging to the arm above it. He loomed over her a few seconds, his expression full of question as her body came into contact with the hard length of his. She felt his warm breaths pulse against her skin.
"Am I touched in the head or am I right an' you wan' ta kiss me?" He asked gruffly.
She nodded quickly and licked her lips.
"Bloody hell," he muttered. "I'm goin' ta get sacked for this."
Katherine opened her mouth to contradict him but his lips came down on her like a crashing branch. The sudden fierceness of his kiss had hers parting even further in surprise. He took it as an invite and plunged his tongue into her depths. Her hold finally abandoned his arm and snaked up behind his neck and she responded to him like a wild animal released from its bonds. His large hand spread out over her back, it practically spanned her entire midsection as he pressed her to him. His other hand crept up to the side of her neck and cupped her jaw where his thumb feathered across the artery at her neck.
It was good. So good. His lips were full and supple against hers, yet firm and demanding. His tongue was greedy as it stroked along hers like wet velvet and he was hot like standing near a run-away inferno. She groaned in protest as he came up for air.
"Christ," he kissed her briefly. "Don' make sounds like that. I'll forget myself."
She stroked a hand over his closely cropped hair. It was every bit as soft as she had imagined.
"Oh, please do . . ."
He kissed her one last time then gripped her upper arms and set her away from him. His chest heaved as he looked at her guiltily.
"Kat, I'm sorry. I can't."
She pressed her lips together. His rejection stung. She was supposed to have been irresistible. He was supposed to have lost his mind, flung her down on the bed and shagged her into oblivion. She felt herself clench at the thought. She was going to have to run a very cold shower. He dropped his eyes a moment as he regained his breath. When he looked back up, his expression was remorseful. Her stomach contracted. She hated that she made him feel bad.
"God, I'm such an ass!" She thought even as she was beyond disappointed.
"Ack, don' give me that look. I . . . just can't. It's not honorable. I couldn't take advantage and then look at ma self in the mirror tomorrow."
Katherine shrugged out of his hold. "It's fine. It's okay. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have expected for you to just fall into bed with me . . ."
His eyes flew open and he stepped back uncertainly. Both his hands rubbed over his head.
"You wanted me to take you to bed?" He sputtered. "Jesus Christ!"
Katherine's face heated again. She was going to blister at this rate. She spun away. Mortification didn't even begin to cover what she felt.
"Kat . . . Katherine . . ."
She half-turned and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Leem. You can go, really. Please, don't worry about it. I won't say anything and certainly won't ask you to do anything you're not comfortable with again."
"Aarg," he sighed. "I've cocked this up! Shite!"
She looked at him one last time. She swallowed as she tried not to cry.
"See you tomorrow, okay?"
He still had a dumbfounded look on his face. He seemed to want to say something but then just nodded and backed away towards the door.
"Yeah, tomorrow. Um, night, Kat."
He was half-way out the door before she could respond.
"Goodnight."
"What the hell is wrong wit you?" Fil asked. "Ya look a little green."
Leem sat down hard on the hotel room's pull out couch. Sherlock looked up from the paper he read. Leem felt his eyes scan him. His face warmed. No doubt, the git had already sorted out exactly what had just happened.
"I believe that's his behavior you've observed, Fil."
Fil's brow twisted. "What tha hell are you on about?"
Sherlock rolled his eyes and snapped the paper back up. "I don't know why I ever worried about either one of you around Molly."
Fil redirected his attention back to Leem "Well, what's the look then?"
Leem glared at his younger brother. He wanted to punch him just to release some pent up energy.
"Why don' you go make yourself useful an' check the route."
Fil grinned. "How 'bout the teacher?"
Leem glowered at him. "I just come from there. She's . . . fine."
Fil wagged his brows. "She's that, I agree."
Heat prickled his face again. "Don't go over there."
Fil stuck his lip out. "What if she needs somethin'?"
Leem sat forward. "She don' need anything from you. Ya hear? An' don't go offerin' ta help her wit anything either."
He heard a shuffling of paper and then the sardonic baritone of Sherlock as he murmured. "Perhaps Fil's help is just what she needs."
Leem turned his gaze back to Sherlock. "Shut it, you tosser. Don' you think ta go over there either."
Sherlock's face darkened as he folded his hands together. Light glinted off the simple gold band encircling his ring finger. He had that murderous look in his eye. He didn't take kindly to the insult against him but probably more importantly, his missus. Leem bit the inside of his lip. Yup, stupid thing to say.
"I'm sorry Mr. Holmes. Sorry! Forget I said that. I'm just a fuckin' idiot . . ."
Sherlock's narrowed eyes relaxed. "Yes, you are."