Taking the Bait: An ARC Operatives Romance by Audrey Noire Read Free Book Online Page B

becoming an Augmented.
    Regardless, his place beat the pants off of her tiny bachelor bedsit, and hands down any day she'd prefer to be sprawled on his bed watching the city lights. Plus his place had soundproofing, and given her and Nico's rather active night-time habits, they needed it.
    “ Mila , you had best sit up, I am coming,” the man in question was walking up the black metal spiral staircase, a mug of coffee in one hand, a plate balanced in the other, and a sweet smile lighting his face when he saw her. Daria bit her lip as her heart thrilled in her chest and she sat, bending her knees under the sheets and leaning forward to wrap her arms around them. He put her coffee cup and plate on the bed-side table and then leaned down into her. She tilted her head up and he dropped a slow, warm kiss over her mouth.
    Daria let out a happy sigh, curling an arm up around the back of his neck and tugged him in closer. Just a month in and the newness of him and their relationship still hummed in her veins every time they kissed. The first week back had been a tangle of figuring out what exactly their relationship was, and then the inevitable awkward conversation with their senior operatives, Anastasia Rykov and Frank Balfour, about fraternization with your op partner. Balfour had been all for them hooking up (not that his enthusiasm had been a surprise, the older man was like a barely-contained drunken ball-pit party on a good day), but Rykov had urged discretion. Discretion... that was more Nicolai's problem than Daria's. He was the kind of guy to wolf whistle, throw a cheesy line out, wink suggestively, and always had been before Daria had collided into his life. Being flirty at work didn't phase him in the slightest, but he'd never shown her that kind of attention there before and starting to do so would raise eyebrows. There had been a few close calls, but Daria figured they’d been cautious enough.
    “You are always the most beautiful in the morning light, Daria,” Nicolai whispered against her lips, two of his fingers playing with a rebellious curl of her hair that spiralled down her cheek. Speaking of cheesy lines, she thought and pulled away with a wry smile.
    “Already made me breakfast there, Secretariat, you don't need to lay on the charm to get me in your bed. I'm right here.” She pressed another kiss to his lips and then pulled away, eyeing up the peculiar breakfast offering. A waffle, with tomatoes, avocado and some sort of white sauce? It had tiny orange flecks of something crumbled over it too. She raised a speculative eyebrow at it and then looked at him. “This isn't one of your weird high-metabolism foods is it? Because unlike you I have to watch what I eat. I just bought new bras and I want to wear them out, not out-grow them.”
    It was a blessing and a curse that most of her weight piled on her breasts first, not that being curvy was bad, just that bras were damn expensive. Nicolai snorted and passed her the plate.
    “Do not underestimate the restorative power of crumbled Doritos on a waffle,” he said as she took it from him, and he pointed to the orange flecks. “You will like those, I can promise you.”
    She gave him a suspicious look and then prodded her fork into the odd morning concoction before taking a bite. A surprisingly good explosion of flavor danced over her tongue and she swallowed her mouthful before begrudgingly nodding at him.
    “It's good. But I have, for the record, never ever heard of anyone putting Doritos on a waffle. That's weird. I don't care who you are, that is really weird.” She used her fork to shovel another bite into her face – sex with Nicolai could be a little enthusiastic given his high-speed ability, and he'd damn near wore her out the night before. Her stomach was demanding sustenance, even as strange a mix of taste and texture as he'd whipped up for her.
    She had to admit it though, it was good. Weird as hell, but good. That seemed to sum up Nicolai though,