Page 62 of Dangerous Devotion

She leaned in and brushed her lips over his in a gentle caress that sent shivers through her body. He didn’t move at first, as frozen as one of those sculptures they’d seen earlier that night.

With a gasp, AJ came alive. Jerking her against him, he slammed his mouth over hers and tunneled his tongue inside.

Claiming her…maybe for the last time.

THIRTEEN

With May cradled in his arms, Henner swept to his feet and turned for the bed. In three steps, he reached the side and gently let her slide to her feet.

She kept one hand anchored on his shoulder. When he searched her face, he saw why—she appeared stunned by the kiss they shared.

Her dark eyes gleamed with emotion that he didn’t understand. But he wanted to know everything May thought, felt and did. There was so much they didn’t know about each other, things he couldn’t wait to tap into and store away in his vault of secrets about the beautiful woman.

How much longer would they have together? He’d been on ops like this enough to follow his gut, and his gut was telling him that things were coming to a head. Soon they would get inside that hangar and take care of the bomb.

After that…he and May would part ways. She would be off to the next government contract and take care of another explosive.

And he’d return to ghost status.

She brushed her thumb over his jaw in the most tender caress, then turned to the bed and drew down the covers to reveal the clean white sheets.

His gut clenched with need at the sumptuous view of her ass. Unable to help himself, he grasped her hips and tugged her flush against his groin.

Issuing a soft gasp, she twisted her head to peer at him over her shoulder. “AJ…”

His lips quirked. He released her.

She climbed between the sheets and reached out for him. He didn’t immediately move, watching her closely.

“I didn’t mean to make this about sex, May. I intended to offer you comfort.”

What he offered her comfort for seemed to hover in the air between them, an unaddressed weight.

She flicked her fingers to urge him into bed with her. He eased himself down beside her and she rolled directly into his arms, her body pressed against him.

He drew a deep breath of her sweet scent. “I know what you found out tonight is difficult for you.”

When she nodded, strands of her hair caught on his beard stubble, the fine threads linking them.

The brush of her sexy body against his left him aching for more, but this wasn’t about getting her to sleep with him.

“How did someone like you end up single for so long? I’m not allowed to have a family, but you? You can have it all.”

She drew back enough to see his face. Lying this way with a woman, just talking, wasn’t something he’d ever done before.

“It’s complicated. I’ve been in committed relationships, but they never last. It didn’t help that my father put two of my boyfriends through a test.”

He studied her. “What sort of test?”

“If he offered them money to leave me, then they weren’t for me.”

Too stunned to formulate a response, he stared at her for a long beat.

“I can see you getting angry, AJ. Before you say anything, I’ll tell you that my father was only looking out for me. After that, I was in a couple more long-term committed relationships, but at some point…I realized those people didn’t add to my life.”

“It doesn’t sound like any of them deserved you.”

Her eyes softened, the depths blooming with a quiet warmth. Henner had watched the sunrise all around the world, but the dawn of emotion in May’s eyes beat them all.

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