Justice for the Matthews’ victims fell on her shoulders and hers alone.
Adam leaving for LA in the morning left her with no choice.
Once he gave her the keys to the truck, she’d be heading straight for the nearest police station. They had to believe her. She’d make them believe her. Now that her fever had gone and she could think straight, going to the authorities seemed like the most sensible thing to do.
Yolande and Carlos were her only concern. She didn’t want to cause them any more trouble. They’d sacrificed too much already. She needed to keep them out of this, it was the least she could do for the woman who saved her life.
Too wired to sleep, Eve rolled over and stared at her new knife on the bedside table. Adam had given it to her after dinner. A black box with a white bow, the gift had been unexpected, the contents a surprise.
Similar to the one he carried, he’d spent an hour showing her how to use it. Her wrist was still sore from the repeated attempts to flick the blade open, but he refused to let her quit until she mastered the technique. Next, he showed her how and where to strike, making her jab at him while he corrected everything from her stance to her grip.
An hour of practice wasn’t nearly enough, but it gave her confidence, or more to the point,hegave her confidence. Then he made her promise to carry the knife always and find someone to train her properly.
It had been a stark reminder they were about to go their separate ways. Even if she managed to circumvent his plans for the Matthews, he was still leaving. He’d said so himself, LA was merely a pit stop on his way to his final destination.
Eve and her problems were a momentary diversion.
Adam had a life. A family. A business to manage. The broken woman he rescued off a backwoods road in rural Montana didn’t factor into any part of his future. She hadn’t expected she would, but it stung just the same.
Lord. She’d miss him, every second of every day, until she got him out of her system. Until she forgot the sound of his voice, and the way he looked at her when he called her princess.
A misplaced sense of loss filled her.
After tonight, Eve would be on her own.
Until then, she wanted the peace that came from having Adam asleep next to her. Tired of waiting for him to come to bed, she tossed the covers aside and set her feet down on the chilly floor.
Elbows on the table,palms pressed against his orbital bones, Adam was aware of Eve’s approach before she even left the bedroom. A sixth sense? A shift in the atmosphere? Instinct born of advanced military training and extensive field experience?
No.
When it came to his warrior princess, he subconsciously monitored every breath she took and every sound she made. Easy enough to do in the small four-room cabin. Quiet as a mouse she came up behind him.
He lifted his head, and she surprised him by putting her arms around his shoulders. Hands on his chest, she leaned into him and whispered in his ear. “Tension headache?”
“I’m fine.”
“Yeah, and I’m a badass ninja with a blindfold on.” She slid her hands up his pecs, resting them on his shoulders. “I can help you.” Her fingers smoothed over to the base of his neck, and the lightest of touches on bare skin left him craving more. “Will you let me if I promise not to hurt you?”
“Princess, you could stab me in the heart with a steak knife, and I’d die a happy man.”
“Well, I hardly think bloodshed is required, but I’ll keep it in mind. Guns off.” Fingers hooked beneath the leather straps crisscrossing his back, she shimmied them over his shoulders. “Jesus, these are heavier than they look.” She set his Berettas on the table. “Shirt too.”
“Bossy much,” he grumbled, but did as told, tossing his shirt beside his weapons.
She snorted. “You’re one to talk.” She walked around him, trailing her fingertips over his forearm and up his bicep, leaving a tingling sensation in her wake. He dropped his gaze to watch her slow caress and loved the way the light of the fire licked along her skin.
If wishes were kisses, his lips would be doing the same.
Fuck, what he wouldn’t give for a taste of her.
He’d already pictured making love to her countless times. Her naked on the fur rug in front of the fire. His hands lifting her ass, his head between her legs, his tongue worshiping her until she begged him to make her come and called him by name when she did.
His golden goddess mid-orgasm—he couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful.
Or more dangerous.
Intimacy with someone as special as Eve was bound to change the course of a man’s life, and Adam’s course had been set in stone. Violence haunted his past, consumed his present, and stole his future.
