Today. Tomorrow. Next month. Next year. Next life.
He slid his tongue down to her collarbone, and moving her shirt out of his way, he feasted on porcelain skin. She moaned and her legs drifted open. He nestled his thigh between hers and applied a little friction to her core. Any more and he’d be stripping them both naked and keeping her in bed until morning.
Not his goal for the moment. He wanted her in bed, but for a different reason altogether. He’d kept her up late last night and selfishly woken her early this morning. After the shock of learning about Yolande and Carlos, Eve needed time to process her emotions and heal from a fresh set of wounds.
His woman needed a nap. A deep, restorative, mind and body healing that only came from a dreamless sleep. The kind of sleep that wouldn’t come unless he left the room. Beneath him, her muscles went loose, and her body softened. Objective achieved, he licked his way back to her lips where her tongue met his, submissive and yearning.
He reveled in it, not so much the giving in—okay yeah—bullshit. Her submission lit him up like his dick had caught fire, but it was the yearning, matching his in depth and intensity, that made his head spin.
She wanted him, every bit as much as he wanted her.
Not a situation he was used to finding himself in—ever.
He’d been with lots of women, but never one he wanted to claim as his. Never one who made him break out in a cold sweat at the thought of her leaving. Never one who’d become so deeply embedded in his heart, losing her would be losing himself.
Eve was it for him.
The one.
He just needed to figure out how to keep her and lead the JTT at the same time. Because now that his dream world had collided with his real one, he refused to give up one for the other.
About to go over the edge, he broke away from her lips. “Time for some z’s.”
She groaned a protest when he freed himself from her embrace. “You’re leaving?”
“For a bit.” Her pout was a sexy temptation as he reached for the switch on the bedside lamp and twisted the little knob. The light coming on made no difference in the sun-filled room, but he wanted her to sleep comfortably for as long as possible, and the sun set early in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains. “You want some company?”
She nodded and Adam had never been more grateful for the teenager who’d parked his butt on the floor outside the bedroom door about thirty minutes earlier. “Davis,” he called, and the immediate scramble of man and dog getting to their feet reached them in seconds.
“How’d you know?” Eve asked, sitting up again as Jeff shoved through the door and took a running leap onto the mattress. The big dope accepted his hug with the equivalent of a cheesy grin and then dropped his bulk beside her hip, his nose aimed at her pillow.
Leaning in for a quick kiss, Adam muttered for her ears only, “They’re not exactly quiet.”
“You called?” Davis asked, hesitating on the threshold, shoulders hunched, hands in his pockets.
“Eve’s going to nap. Can you stay with her until I get back?”
His spine straightened as he stepped into the room. “Yes, sir. No problem.” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “I can sit in the hallway, or maybe here by the door, or—”
“Davis?” His gaze swung to Eve, and she patted the spare pillow on the opposite side of Jeff. “Can you lie down with me until I fall asleep?”
“Uh…”
Wide hazel peepers shifted to Adam, and he had to work at keeping a straight face. Fearful he’d bust out laughing if he opened his mouth, he gave the kid the go-ahead he looked for with a sharp nod, and grabbing the throw off the end of the bed, he covered Eve as she settled in.
By the time he closed the door, the two of them were lying face-to-face, the dog cuddled between them, and Adam felt his heart swell in his chest.
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
When Adam walked backinto the boardroom two hours after he carried Eve out, it was as the leader of the JTT. The change was subtle. The impact enormous. Grant had taken orders from men in command before. Shit, he’d been the one in command before, and he’d been good at it.
Adam was next level.
Under his direction, the room buzzed with activity, every member of the team stepping up to right a wrong based on nothing more than a sense of moral responsibility. Born to kick ass in the name of duty, service, and self-sacrifice, these assholes were prepared to follow Adam into a situation that put them on the wrong side of the law and at risk of discovery by the people who wanted them dead.
All in the name of justice.
It was fucking awesome. Some real vigilante, cape-wearing, comic book shit.
