" She swallowed, blinked quickly a couple of times and it twisted his heart to know she was battling tears on his behalf.
“So you’re going to what, sacrifice yourself? Stand out there and offer yourself up as human bait so they can bring him in—”
Wade stepped up close and curved a hand around the back of her neck to silence her. She bit her lip and lowered her gaze, hitching in a ragged breath that tore through him.
“It has to be me. Can you try to understand? The risk he poses outweighs everything else.” Even his life, if necessary. He tightened his fingers slightly, desperate to get through to her, to make her see why it had to be this way. But he hated leaving her, hated going with all this uncertainty left between them. He pushed out a breath and leaned his forehead against hers as the emotions bombarded him. Anxiety. Longing. An overwhelming sadness that this might be the last time he got to touch her. He didn’t know what to do with it all.
“I never expected to fall for you,” he whispered, his throat tightening. Her head jerked back and she stared up at him with those huge green eyes swimming with tears. “I didn’t,” he insisted, feeling awed and bewildered at the realization that this woman meant so much to him.
“You’ve made me feel things I never thought I’d—” He broke off, swallowing. Caressing her nape with his fingers, he cradled her cheek in his other hand and stared into her eyes.
“It didn’t matter to me before if I lived or not, so long as I got him, but it’s different now. You matter to me, and I’m going to do everything in my power to come back for you. Okay? "
― Kaylea Cross , Danger Close (Bagram Special Ops, #4)