She responded to him like dry kindling to a lit match. Heat blasted through her, the throbbing between her legs reaching every cell in her body. She started to come, the intensity of the orgasm taking her breath and making her knees buckle. But he tightened his hold and whispered, “I got you.”
Crying out, the ecstasy blurred everything. Just pleasure. Just Tank. When he kissed her, the passion in him sent her flying higher. She clung to him, gasping for air, as the euphoria rained down on her.
Glorious seconds of absolute perfection. Every damn thing in her world was good. She opened her eyes, gazed up, and offered what she hoped was a smile.
Her reward?
His breathtaking smile, then a kiss. Boneless in his arms, she blinked up as the warm water washed over her.
“I… we… we got it goin’ on.”
“You think?”
On a chuckle, she wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him like he was a branch overhanging a raging river. Like he was the difference between life and death.
“I’m sad about Naomi,” she whispered.
As soon as the words were out, she wished she could take them back.
He kissed her temple, tilted her face toward his. “Death is the ultimate loss. It’s the line in the sand. A hard stop.”
She choked back a sob, her emotions so raw. Feeling vulnerable, she swallowed hard, fighting against the grief.
“I got you.”
When he caressed her back, she gave in to the pain, and the tears flowed. His being there, letting her show her vulnerability, was one of the greatest gifts she’d ever received. He didn’t tell her to woman-up, didn’t tell her to manage her emotions.
He accepted her as she was.
She got control of herself and breathed deep. “I’m a mess.”
Leaning back, he stared into her eyes. “You are a lot of things, but a mess isn’t one of them. You’re smart and brave. You’re gorgeous—too beautiful for me—you’re funny and bitingly sarcastic. You are loyal and loving and doggedly determined.” He shrugged a shoulder. “I think you’re fucking perfect, but I don’t want that going to your head.”
His loving words filled her with peace.
“You are an amazing man.” She stood tall, kissed him. “I just ugly-cried, and you hung in there.”
“Always.”
A shadow darkened his eyes. “What’s gonna help you the most is the anger. You lost one of the good guys to the dark side. You’ve gotta be more determined—more ruthless—than the person you’re hunting. It’s always better to be the hunter than the hunted. I don’t know much about your career—what I do know is that we go after our targets… and we annihilate them.”
She devoured his words like they were the meal she desperately needed to eat. “You’re right. So right.”
They toweled off, returned to her suite. He was strutting around naked and she was having a hard time concentrating. She’d stare at his face, drop her gaze down his granite body to his giant-sized feet, then do a return trip into those espresso eyes.
“I love the eye-fucking, but you’re making me hard,” he said before pulling on a T-shirt.
“Tank, you gotta tuck your junk away,” she said.
After he stepped into a pair of boxer briefs, they moved his bags next door. Once there, he said, “Oh yeah, this’ll fool ‘em.”
“They won’t have a clue.”
“You gonna run with that?”
“Yes. I. Am.”
“You sure you want to sleep alone in Creepy Secret Zone?”
