Page 22 of Protected By the SEAL
“I’m not pulling back this time.” His tone sharpens, leaving no room for argument. “I’m done pretending I don’t think about you every day. I’m done pretending it doesn’t wreck me to see you date someone else. I’m done pretending you’re anything less than the love of my life.”
Tears sting my eyes before I can stop them. “How do I know this time is different?”
He releases my hands only to cradle my face, his thumbs brushing away the tears before they fall. “Because this time, I’m not walking away. I’ve already crossed the line, and I’m not looking back. I have absolutely no regrets about last night, other than I was a goddamned fool for waiting so long to show you how I’ve felt. I want you. I want us.”
I try to breathe, but everything inside me feels full. “I’m scared.”
“I know,” he murmurs, his forehead lowering until it rests against mine. “But I’m more scared of a life without you. Of waking up one day and realizing I lost the love of my life because I was too scared to admit I’ve always been in love with you.”
My heart aches at the quiet certainty in his voice.
He pulls back and looks at me, his green eyes burning with emotions. “I love you. Not as my best friend. Not as someone I can’t lose. I’m in love with you. With every fiber of my being.”
My throat trembles. “Promise me you won’t change your mind tomorrow.”
“I promise,” he says without hesitation. “And I’ll keep promising until you believe me. You’re it for me, Morgana. There will never be another woman like you.”
Something in me finally breaks. The fear, the guardedness, the ache I’ve carried for years, it all gives way to something else. Hope. Joy. Love so sharp it feels like relief.
I reach up and touch his face, my fingers tracing the line of his jaw, rough and warm beneath my fingertips. “You’re mine too,” I whisper. “You always have been. You were too stubborn to admit it.”
His smile flickers. “Guess I finally caught up.”
Then he kisses me.
It’s not the desperate kiss from last night, full of heat and hunger. This one is slow, deliberate, like he’s trying to make the moment last as long as possible. His lips move against mine, gentle at first, then deeper, surer, until I’m melting into him completely.
His hands slide down, tracing the curve of my back, pulling me flush against him. The warmth of his body seeps through my dress, and I feel it everywhere. My fingers tangle in his hair, and the low sound he makes against my mouth sends a shiver straight through me.
When we finally break apart, I’m breathing hard, my pulse fluttering against his chest. “You’re really not going to pull back?” I whisper, still not trusting this moment to last.
He brushes his nose against mine, his voice filled with promise. “Not even if the world burns down.”
His mouth finds mine again, hungrier this time, his hands skimming my hips, my waist, my shoulders. The kiss deepens until thought dissolves. I gasp when his lips trail down my throat, his breath hot against my skin, and the sound that escapes me doesn’t sound like fear.
It sounds like joy.
CHAPTER 9
KANE
She’s mine. I know it like I know my own name. And I need her to feel that in her bones.
“Come here,” I say.
Her chin lifts. “Kane…”
“Come here,” I repeat, softer.
She crosses the room, slow like she’s not sure what version of me she’s about to get. Fair. I’ve earned that. I let fear call the shots for too damn long. That ends tonight.
When she’s close enough, I reach for her face, and she lets me. Her skin is warm under my palms, soft. I tilt her head up so she’s looking at me.
Her eyes flicker, and I feel her breath catch against my wrist.
“I’m not walking this back. I’m not waking up tomorrow and pretending I didn’t say it. I’m not pretending last night didn’t happen. I’m not ‘just friends’ with you ever again. We’re past that. I’m yours. You’re mine. We’re together.”
A sound slips out of her, quiet, wrecked, shocked. Her hands grab at the front of my shirt.
