Page 20

R hae lay on her side, her head resting on Denver’s muscled arm. He lay on his side behind her, emitting a furnace’s worth of heat. The moonlight sliced through the bedroom curtains in silvery ribbons, painting the room in a silver glow.

Navy had been asleep for hours. The space was quiet.

She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so much peace.

Denver shifted slightly, and his lips grazed her nape. The scrape of his rough beard against her sent a shiver dancing over her skin. “You still awake?” His voice was heavy with meaning.

“Mmm.” She arched not-so-slyly, pressing back against the thickening steel pressed against her backside. “Barely.”

“Barely, hm?” He slid a hand up her thigh, beneath the sleep shirt she wore. His shirt. The one she stole on a whim during one of their encounters and stuffed into her own bag to take home as a souvenir of their time together.

That shirt might just be faded gray cotton with a Navy logo across the front…but to her it was a testimony that when they were together, they were something . Something good, warm and beautiful.

She’d never held out hope that their encounters would lead to something permanent. Now her view had shifted.

Her mind hit pause as his fingers spread over her belly, splayed like he was claiming every inch of her.

“You wore this on purpose.” His voice was low, rough. “You knew I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you.”

She twisted to face him, gaze roaming over his rugged features, sharp and handsome. She cupped his jaw. “I was hoping,” she whispered.

“You know, I’m going to be conditioned to get an erection every time I hear a whisper.”

She burst into silent laughter, shoulders shaking.

He flipped her onto her back, hovering over her, his gray eyes deep pools of want…and something else.

Her breath hitched at the sight. God, it stole the air from her lungs.

He looked at her like she was his from top to bottom, left to right, and beginning to end. Like everything in his life had led him here to her and Navy.

To a them.

“You’re so damn beautiful, Rhae,” he murmured, so much reverence in his tone.

He kissed her, deep and slow, taking all the time in the world. He slipped his hands under her shirt, pushing it upward, skimming his fingertips over her bare nipples. Then he dipped his head to taste them.

She gasped at the liquid heat of his tongue stroking around her hardening bud. Arching into him, she threaded her fingers in his hair. “Denver.” There was urgency in her whisper.

“Shh. Let me take my time with you tonight.”

Just like that, she was gone, swallowed by sensation and the love pulsing inside her.

He stripped his shirt off her before he worked his way lower, dragging her panties down her thighs. When he spread her legs, his gaze locked on hers. Slowly, he brought his lips to her inner thigh and pressed a tender kiss there that made her pussy squeeze with need.

He went down on her, hands holding her right where he wanted her. She lost herself to the rhythm of his mouth working over her slick pussy, tracing a path from clit to opening and back again, until she was squirming. Aching.

“Oh!” Her back bowed off the mattress as he sank his tongue inside her again.

His answering moan vibrated to her core. He tongued her shallowly before slithering up to suck on her clit again. The building pressure became a wild pulse low in her belly.

“Please!”

He worked her faster, with more insistence, driving her toward the explosion she knew was so damn near.

She latched on to his shoulder, anchoring herself to the world. To this man. She never wanted to be parted from him again.

He flashed a look at her face, hunger in his gaze.

Her body shot upward. She bucked into his mouth as her release struck hard and fast, stealing over her like a tidal wave.

When the contractions ended, he was hovering over her, licking his lips. “I love watching you come apart for me, baby.”

Without a word, she wrapped her thighs around him and pulled him into her. He plunged deep in one slick move that ripped a groan from both of them. Navy slept deeply and didn’t rouse at the noise.

She clung to him as he rocked inside her. Pleasure sparked up her spine with every thrust, but she wasn’t on fire just from the way he made her body feel—it was the way he looked at her.

“You feel so damn good,” he grated against her lips.

She kissed him, frantic, nails raking over his shoulders and down his back.

He let out a growl and pinned her arms over her head, bracing himself over her. The dominant action sent a new flood of need straight to her pussy. He took her deep, hard. Her body responded with a shudder. Her eyes fell shut.

“Denver!”

“Look at me. I want to see your eyes when I make you come.”

Her stare locked on his, and their bodies ground together with a wild tempo as they both let go. Wave after wave crashed over her. His hot cum soaked her as he buried his cock to the hilt.

He pulsed inside her, muscles rigid, a guttural groan rumbling in his chest. For long moments, neither of them moved. His heart thundered along with hers.

She tucked her head against his chest and drew lazy circles on his muscled spine.

“I’ve never felt anything like that,” she whispered.

“I have. Every time I’m with you.”

* * * * *

When Rhae buried her face against his chest, he felt her tremble with the aftershocks of their lovemaking.

Denver tightened his hold on her. The feelings his mouth hadn’t yet figured out how to say rattled around his brain.

He rolled off her, catching her hip and bringing her onto her side into the wreath of his arms. He tucked her head under his chin and listened to the sound of the wind at the windowpane.

He would do anything for Rhae and Navy. Nobody and nothing would ever hurt them as long as he was alive. Even after, they’d have to go up against his family.

He thought of his other brotherhood, his SEAL team. Blackout Charlie. His leader, Constantine, Julian Chase, his closest friend who had just found love himself before Denver was released for medical reasons.

Denver had tried to warn Chase of the dangers of loving a woman—because he already knew the pain of leaving Rhae behind in all those hotel rooms.

It damn near killed him.

Now he was never letting her go.

Her breath ghosted over his neck, leaving a streak of warmth through his chest.

“I didn’t really want to leave the ranch after I found the flowers.”

He smoothed his hand down her spine in a soothing stroke. “I know, baby. You don’t have to run. I’ve got you and Navy.”

She tipped her head back to look at him, the moonlight bathing her beautiful face in silver-blue. Damn if the way she looked at him didn’t make his chest ache.

“But what if—”

He pressed two fingers to her lips, silencing her. “No what-ifs. He’s not getting anywhere near you. There’s a small platoon of men prepared to fight—”

He saw the alarm on her face and hurried to add, “Not that it will come to that. Rhae, I would die to protect you and Navy.”

She issued a soft noise.

He traced a finger down the curve of her cheek. “More than that, I will live for you. The military might have thrust me back out into the world of the living, but it’s you who brought me back to life.”

“Denver.” Her eyes pooled. “I’m in love with you.”

“I know, baby. And I’m in love with you.”

Hearing the words broke something wide open inside him. He wrapped her tighter in his arms and kissed her with all the love and passion exploding inside him. His chest burned with everything she made him feel.

They fell into a comfortable silence, still after their stormy past.

“Do you think it will always feel like this?” she whispered after a long time.

“No. I think it will be better.”

She moved against him, lips brushing over the skin of his chest. She let out a sigh that sounded with hope. “Better than last night’s chocolate souffle?”

He chuckled. “Now I don’t know. Maybe I’ve changed my mind.”

She batted his arm lightly, and he grinned.

Their legs tangled together, and they drew even closer in the darkness.

“Denver?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you. For everything. For loving me. But most of all, for Navy.”

He brushed his thumb over her chin, drawing her gaze to his. “I was going to thank you for giving me the family I needed all along.”

Two tears slipped from her eyes, and she didn’t try to swipe them away or hide them from him. She let them fall.

With Rhae in his arms and Navy sleeping a few feet away, his world finally felt real. His future solid.

He was never letting go.