I listen.
“Phoebe, I’ve spent my whole life making sure I’m never in this position.By paying close attention to the details.By being overly prepared.By focusing on the next deliberate and/or strategic step that will move me closer to my objective.”
“Okay.”Is he trying to equate being a Navy SEAL with matters of the heart?That seems odd, but I’m no expert in either of those areas, so how would I know?
But that’s what he’s talking in circles about right now—love.
Evander doesn’t know what to do with my love for him.I understand that.But now I see the same goes for the love he might be feeling for me.
Is Evander admitting he loves me?
“We’ll figure it out together, then,” I say.“There’s no cutoff date or deadline or final exam for this sort of thing.We’ll just do our best as we go.”
Evander nods, pulling me tight to him, his arms wrapped all the way around me.I reach up and cling to his broad shoulders.
He moves in me with steady, rhythmic strokes.He puts his lips to the side of my neck, my shoulder, my upper arm.His breath is hot on my skin, and I shudder with delight when I hear my own name against my ear.
In Evander’s deep, rumbly whisper.
His heart beats against my breasts.I’m tucked into him, sheltered, and adored.He just told me so.
I have no idea how long we stay this way, embracing one another, our bodies as linked as two people can be.I’ve never felt closer to anyone in my life, and I’m lucky enough that it’s happened with Evander.
Recognizing this breaks something open in me.Hot tears sting my eyes.
Evander pulls back and grabs my face with both hands.
“You’re mine, Phoebe.I’m yours.So that’s where we’ll start.”
He kisses me.Hard.
It feels like a promise.
And with his mouth on mine and his cock buried in me, hard and insistent again now, another orgasm builds in me.I don’t know how that’s even possible.
It’s a slow and steady climb to the top.I feel it, like that instant at the peak of a rollercoaster, when eternity gets compressed into a sliver of time and you simply hang there.
Waiting for it.
We wait together, and then we soar, shattering in each other’s arms with a fierceness that seems to come out of nowhere.
In fact, it feels as if the world itself is a ball of rolling thunder.I’m feeling the earth move.
Without warning, Evander pulls away, twists, and throws himself on top of me, covering me with his body as he crawls low to the floor.For a moment, I have no idea what’s going on.And then I understand.
The earthismoving.Because the cabin is collapsing.And he’s just dragged me under the table.
CHAPTER 43
Phoebe
“Do everything I say.”
His voice snaps like a whip.
“Put on all your clothes.Stay under the table until I say it’s safe to move.Understood?”
“Yes.”
