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Chapter 46 - "If you don't kiss me now, I'll punch you."

"Once the school is secure," Townsend said, "you can enter with a team of my men and retrieve your charge."

"Thank you, sir," Donovan said.

When Townsend gave a nod, Donovan walked away. He navigated his way through the chaos of vans and military men, heading towards the line of ambulances. Every inch of him was bone weary and in some level of pain. But when he rounded a truck and spotted Carter sitting on the edge of an ambulance, he was able to push it aside. Her hair was falling out of its usual pony tail and there was a blanket draped over her shoulders.

When he stopped in front of her, the edge of her mouth tugged upwards. From her spot on the back of the ambulance they were almost at eye level.

"Link?" she asked.

Even with all the pain he knew she must be in, she thought of Link. A part of him loved her for that.

"They are still doing a sweep of the school. I won't be able to get in until they are done. I came to see how you are doing." His studied her, trying to see anything he had missed before. "How are you doing?"

For a second she didn't reply, as if doing the same to him.

"Better now."

A quiet moment slipped by as the world continued to rage on around them. It was as if they were a stone in the center of the stream, untroubled. A breeze gusted by whipping up stray pieces of Carter's hair.

Before it could obscure her face, Donovan reached out and pulled the strands away. He held them down, letting his fingers become tangled in her hair. Her eyes held him in place, making him forget all about the world storming around them. His eyes broke from hers, moving over the bruises on her face. With light fingers, he traced the mark on her cheek, then the one on her jaw. Each one was a reminder that he hadn't been fast enough to stop it.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"Hmmm?"

She didn't seem to have ever heard what he was saying, her gaze locked on his. Smiling, Donovan found his thumb moving over her lips, knowing their softness and remembering vividly the fire behind them.

"If you don't kiss me now," she said, "I'll punch you."

The shock of her words widened his grin. He leaned in, his lips hovering just above hers, their breath intertwining.

He kissed her slowly, savoring each and every second. In that instant everything disappeared and nothing else existed except Carter and her lips pressed against his. Contrast to the last kiss they shared, this one was deep with meaning and promises. He broke from her, his mouth barely an inch from hers.

"I've been wanting to do that since the second day I knew you, when you almost broke Finch's wrist," he said. 

A breathless smile pulled at Carter's lips.

"Then why didn't you?"

"Conflicting interests." 

"Well," she said, "since I just got beat up trying to protect Link, I say the interests are no longer conflicting."

He kissed her again, smiling through it. She placed her hand on his chest, gripping his shirt, and pulling him closer, as if needing to know that he was all hers. Feeling the same need, Donovan dropped his hand to her waist, tightening his hold.

When she winced, he jerked away, fear darting through him. Carter didn't let him go far, keeping a firm hold on his shirt. She leaned her head against his chest, taking in a steadying breath. Donovan wondered if she could feel the pounding of his heart, as guilt racked through him.