The pressure lessened. Too soon. “Oh God, Adam. Please! Don’t stop.”
Holy fuck,Eve was killing him.
His instincts were to defend and protect. Hurting her, even at her request, went against his nature, and it took the last ounce of strength he possessed to increase the pressure of his thumb against her back.
She yelped, and because she had pressed herself closer to him than ink on paper, he felt every twinge, every twitch, every tremor her body made. Her heart pounded against his ribs. Her heat raised his temperature. Her moan vibrated through his chest, a low rumble, spreading out and filling his empty spaces.
Outside of his comfort zone, Adam wasn’t sure how much more he could take.
The depth and breadth of her emotions had destroyed him. Pulled him to pieces. Cut him to the bone. From her unfettered tears to her hysterical laughter, she slipped past his barricades and blew up his defenses.
Despite the guns he wore, she disarmed him.
He felt…
Helpless.
Not a situation he was used to finding himself in—ever.
Adam was a problem solver. Put a weapon in his hand. Give him a target. Set him loose.
Violence and death. Past and present. It was all he knew, the only thing he was good at, and now, he had multiple objectives. One on either side of the country. Johnson in Washington. The Matthews in Los Angeles. But in the low light of the bedroom, with Eve in his arms, he couldn’t imagine leaving her.
Not yet. Not tonight. Not while she still needed him.
With both hands on the bare skin of her back, he knew the exact moment the knot causing her pain let go. Relieved, he offered a silent prayer of thanks as he released the pressure. She sighed against his neck, and tension draining from them both, they slumped together, rumpled heaps of sweaty flesh.
“You okay?” he asked, his nose buried in her hair.
She rolled her shoulder and nodded. “Never better. You?”
“I’m wrecked, thanks for asking.”
She snorted. “Painful for you, was it?”
“Horrible.” He trailed his fingertips along her spine, up and down, out to her shoulder blades and back. Both hands seeking reassurance she was whole, intact, and knot free.
“Find anything?” she asked, stretching under his palms like a cat demanding attention.
“Are you asking me a question you already know the answer to?”
“Yes.”
“Am I going to find anything?”
“No.”
“Should I stop?”
“Not if you value your life.”
If heaven on earth existed,Eve had found it. Or rather, heaven on earth had found her. Either way, she didn’t care, so long as Adam kept his hands on her skin.
“You’re quite the ball of sass, aren’t you?”
Eve huffed. “Well, that depends.”
“On what?”
