Page 23 of Protected By the SEAL
“You can’t say that like it’s simple,” she whispers.
“It is simple,” I confess. “It’s the simplest thing I’ve ever known. I love you. I want you. I’m not letting you carry this shit alone anymore. You’re not going to stand in front of people who pick you apart and smile through it by yourself. I’m right here. I’m staying right here. If they can’t see how wonderful you are, then fuck them. You’re the best person I know, and I’m never going to let you forget it, so long as I live.”
That’s what does it.
I kiss her.
Her mouth opens under mine, and I feel her melt, feel tension slip out of her shoulders like someone finally set her down. I taste wine and salt and the tiniest little sound she makes when I run my thumb under her jaw. I kiss her slow, deep, steady, until she trembles.
When I pull back, she’s breathing hard, pupils blown wide.
“Bed,” I tell her quietly. “Now.”
Her mouth curves the smallest bit. “Bossy.”
“You like me bossy.”
Her laugh is a tiny, shaken thing. “Yeah. I really do.”
She steps back, and I follow her as she sits on the edge of the bed. Her room’s got this ridiculous full-length mirror near the corner, angled so it faces the bed. The hotel probably thinks it’s sexy in a champagne-and-rose-petals way. Right now, all I can think isgood. I want her to see what I see.
“Take this off,” I say, brushing my fingers over her dress strap. “I want to see you.”
Her breath stutters. “Kane…”
“Let me see you.”
Her hands go to the zipper at her side. I watch every inch of it. The way her fingers shake. The way her chest rises and falls faster the lower the zipper goes. When the dress loosens, I help pull it down her body, slow, careful, like unwrapping something that’s mine.
She tries to cover her stomach with her hands.
Uh-uh.
I catch her wrists and move them away. “Don’t,” I say quietly. “Don’t hide from me.”
Her voice is barely there. “I…,” she starts, but her voice trails off.
“Look at me.”
Her eyes lift to mine.
“You are the sexiest woman I have ever seen in my life. Do you understand me? I could spend the rest of my life looking at you and it wouldn’t be enough. Every curve of you makes me lose my mind. You’re my dream girl.”
Color floods her face, and her pulse jumps under my fingers.
“Say yes,” I tell her. My voice comes out low. Rough. “Tell me I get to touch you.”
She swallows. “Yes.”
That one word almost knocks me to my knees.
I drop in front of her instead.
Her thighs are soft and warm under my palms. I slide them apart slowly until she’s open to me. She’s in simple black panties and a matching bra, and she’s sexier than any pinup I’ve ever seen. Fuck. She has no idea how sexy she is.
“You’re already wet,” I murmur, dragging my thumbs along the inside of her thighs, feeling the heat between them.
Her breath hitches. “You barely kissed me.”
