The east corridor sitting room was rarely used this late. Yet when he’d walked past it the previous evening, he’d seen her tucked into the corner of a sofa, nose in a book and her glasses sliding down her nose.
When he found her there, she was waiting near the window, hands loosely clasped and her lips parted on a sigh.
The oxygen sucked out of the room the way it did before a blast.
In measured steps he crossed to her, gut clenching when he saw she’d changed into a simple gray T-shirt and a pair of loose gray sweats.
He didn’t know how it was possible for her to look even sexier. The way her glasses perched on her pert little nose had his cock stiffening with every step.
Her lips were pinker than usual, as if she’d been biting them instead of her glasses stem, and that only made his fists clench in an attempt to control the surge of need.
He stopped close enough that he could see the faint flush climbing her throat.
“Everything okay with the team?” Her voice held a note of concern.
He nodded. “They’re good.” He wanted to share just how damn relieved he was that they’d returned safe under hiscommand, but now wasn’t the time for such things. If he would ever share it.
Edging closer, she tipped her head up to search his gaze. The tiny crinkle above one brow made his insides tighten. Lifting a hand, he stroked the pad of his thumb over the spot.
The crease smoothed under his touch, leaving a pink glow in its place and want burning in her eyes.
He held out a hand for her, and she placed hers in it without hesitation. Her fingers twined around his, warm and her grip certain.
Without a word—as if they’d done this a hundred times already—he led her up the stairs to his room. When the door closed behind them, the silence felt different than it had back in that hallway. It enveloped them in a private cocoon.
He turned to face her fully.
Neither of them spoke.
He drank her in. Strong. Intelligent. Composed. And sexy as hell.
She could dismantle financial empires piece by piece, and yet he’d seen her pulse jump for him. The woman was terrifyingly competent and unapologetically sensual. He never imagined the combination could rock him so much.
He was pulled in by the wave of her hair and the look in her eyes.
“You watched me in the war room.” His tone roughened.
“I was watching the mission.”
His lips curved slightly. “Not what I saw.”
She sucked in a breath. “I like seeing you in command. You didn’t flinch.”
He brushed that loose strand of hair back from her cheek, his knuckles grazing her skin. It was barely a touch, but her eyelids fluttered.
“You didn’t either,” he said quietly.
She brought her hands to his chest, tentative at first, then flattening her palms.
He covered them with his own. “If we do this, we’re not doing it halfway.”
She darted her tongue over her sweet bottom lip. “I don’t do anything halfway.”
He lowered his head and kissed her, taking it slow and giving her time to change her mind.
She didn’t.
Her lips parted under his with a soft moan, and the restraint he’d barely held on to all night grew threadbare. Angling his head, he deepened the kiss. The first taste stole his mind and the second pass of his tongue ripped away his control.
