“No. He’s a full-blooded coyote shifter through and through. I’ve known since we went on that mission to Tajikistan together months ago.”
Across the gym, it looked like Diaz had finally agreed to do what Landon and Ivy wanted, because he nodded.
Alina looked at Trevor. “You mention that mission to Tajikistan a lot. You ever going to fill me on the details?”
His mouth edged up. “As soon as the situation here is stabilized, why don’t we head back to your place? That way, we can lie around in bed for the next few days and spend a lot of time filling each other in on all the things we haven’t got around to.”
She liked the idea of spending a few days in bed with him. But there was one thing that made her hesitate.
“Are we going to find that other bug Thorn mentioned first?” she asked. “Just in case there’s still someone listening on the other end.”
Trevor chuckled. “We can do that. Or we can give them something really good to listen to.”
“I vote for option one,” Alina said.
He shrugged. “Whatever you say.”
Chapter 20
Alina collapsed forward on Trevor’s chest, trying to catch her breath as the tremors of orgasm continued to ripple through her body. Molly hopped up and put her two front paws on the side of the bed, apparently checking to make sure her mom was okay after all the moaning and groaning. After confirming Alina was fine, the dog dropped back down to the floor and wandered off to the living room.
“I’m never going to get enough of this,” Alina whispered in Trevor’s ear, loving the way his muscular body quivered beneath her as her warm breath tickled him.
He chuckled, his arms coming up to wrap around her and keep her pressed tightly to his chest. “I certainly hope not. If you did, you might stop coming back for more.”
She nipped at his ear. “Never. I’m your partner—you’re stuck with me.”
Trevor weaved his fingers in her hair and gently lifted her head to plant a firm kiss on her lips, slipping his tongue in and making her tingle all over again.
“There’s no one I’d rather be stuck with,” he murmured. “You already know that. Just like you know we’re much more than partners.”
Alina smiled down at him, knowing that was true. She and Trevor had spent a lot of time together in the three weeks since the battle with Thorn at the DCO training complex, and while they’d talked a lot about what their combined future might hold, they hadn’t spent too much time putting a name to what they had going on between them. That was probably on purpose. In her case, she was afraid to jinx the situation by saying the words too soon. She had the feeling it was the same for him. They’d both lived most of their adult lives in a world where secrets were never revealed and the truth could only hurt you.
Maybe it was time for both of them to move beyond that world.
She pushed herself up a little so she could look at him. She was still straddling his waist very comfortably but now giving herself a little more perspective. Trevor certainly didn’t seem to mind the view. He lay there with his hands behind his head, gazing up at her with heat in his eyes. She’d better get on with this before he distracted her with more orgasms.
“You’re right. We are much more than partners,” she said, carefully focusing on his face and not the other parts of his body that were begging for her attention. “Which poses an interesting question. If we’re partners who are more than partners, what does that make us?”
Alina held her breath a little. She knew in general that guys tended to get a little squirrelly when these kinds of conversations came up, but she hoped Trevor would be different.
One second, she was straddling his waist, regarding him warily with a silly knot of worry growing in her belly, and the next, she was on her back with Trevor between her legs. Leaning over, he slowly kissed his way up her neck and along the curve of her jaw, then covered her mouth with his.
“I guess that makes us two very lucky people,” he whispered in that soft, sexy voice of his as he gazed into her eyes “Because not everyone in the world gets a chance to find the person they’re meant to be with, much less have the chance to work with them every day.”
She smiled up at him. “Meant to be with. I like the sound of that.”
He grinned. “If you like the sound of that, how about this? I love you, Alina Bosch…as my partner, as more than my partner, as the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.”
Something warm and altogether pleasant swirled in her belly and slowly spread throughout her whole body upon hearing him say those three little words. She’d known for a while they were in love with each other, but she was still surprised at how amazing it made her feel to hear him say it out loud.
“I’m kind of new at this, but I’m pretty sure this is the part where you tell me that you love me too, then declare your undying devotion or something like that,” Trevor teased, a twinkle in his eye.
Laughing, she reached up and yanked him down, kissing him long and hard. “Of course I love you. I think I probably loved you from the day I met you. I’ve just been scared to tell you. I didn’t want to pressure you to feel the same way before you were ready. I’m sorry if that meant we wasted time.”
Trevor kissed her again. “We didn’t waste a second. It simply took us a little while to get to where we needed to be. But we’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”
