“You can’t know what that means to me. You can’t possibly know because there is no way in hell I can ever put into words what it means. There aren’t enough words in any language to describe what you mean to me.”

“Just show me,” she said simply. “Our bodies communicate much better without words.”

Without responding, he lowered his head to her breasts and flicked his tongue out, teasing one nipple into rigidity. He circled the puckered ridge, leaving a warm, damp trail before nipping ever so gently at it.

She bowed upward, her gasp of pleasure whistling past her lips. Her body undulated, greedy, wanting more, but he didn’t respond to her silent demands. Patiently he teased and pleasured one breast before finally moving to the other to give it equal treatment. Eden was a writhing mess, nearly out of her head with desire for him to take her. To possess her. Own her. Cement the declaration of their love with the joining of their bodies.

He pressed a gentle kiss between her breasts and then kissed a line to her navel, where he circled it teasingly with his tongue before going lower and lower still.

Eden was always careful to keep her bikini area waxed. She often modeled swimwear or lingerie. She’d always considered it part and parcel of the job and had never been concerned about upkeep when it came to a man. But now she was glad she was neatly trimmed as Swanny nuzzled through the soft tuft of curls that formed a small triangle at her groin.

With gentle fingers, he parted her folds and then swiped his tongue from her entrance all the way up to her clitoris. She nearly came on the spot.

“Swanny!” she panted. “You have to stop. I’m going to come and I want you with me. Especially tonight. It has to be together tonight.”

He lifted his head, his eyes filled with so much warmth and understanding. “We’ll go together, honey. I guarantee it. I just want to make sure you’re with me and prepared fully for me.”

“I’m so ready.”

The words were nearly a groan. Her body was strung tight, seemingly pulled in opposite directions as the tension increased, her orgasm building and swelling until she felt completely out of control.

As if sensing she was hanging just off the edge, Swanny rose up over her, his big body covering hers, his heat scorching against her skin. He nudged her thighs wider apart and then he slid his hands down, burrowing between her body and the mattress so he could cup her behind, lifting her as he pushed inside her.

The angle he held her at made it possible for him to slide all the way into her. They both let out strangled sounds and she realized he was just as precariously close to release as she was.

She slid her hands up his muscled arms to his broad shoulders and then stroked and caressed his back as he lay there above her, his face creased with strain as he held himself still inside her.

“It’s okay, Swanny,” she whispered. “I’m there. Don’t hold back. Don’t worry that this isn’t perfect. Perfection isn’t marked by time or length of a special moment. It’s marked by the effort made. Take us both over. I’m ready.”

He let out a loud groan and then lowered his head so their foreheads touched, their mouths a mere inch apart, their breaths mingling. There was something decidedly intimate about them simply being. The gesture was warm and affectionate and spoke far more words than could ever be said.

“You ready?” he whispered, adopting the same tone she had.

“Yeah,” she whispered back, her eyelashes fluttering as their gazes molded together from being such a short distance apart.

He shifted, withdrew and then thrust forward. Deep. Hard. Like iron coated in velvet. Her breath hitched and her fingers dug into his shoulders, anchoring herself for the impending storm. She closed her eyes and surrendered to the magnetic pull of ultimate release.

Each time he thrust forward, he hit just the right spot in the inside and out. Her clitoris was straining and every brush of his groin over the hypersensitive flesh was like experiencing an electrical surge.

“Please,” she begged.

“Never have to beg,” Swanny vowed. “I’d give you the world at your feet if you wanted it. Anything that is in my power to give you will always be yours.”

He kissed her, sealing his vow, his body moving hotly over hers. Limbs tangled, hearts entwined, they both climbed and fell at the same time, spiraling into the vortex of dizzying ecstasy. Eden was only aware of Swanny. Swanny who loved her. Swanny who would protect her with his life.

He settled over her like the warmest of blankets, his chest heaving, an exact match to her own. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, effectively putting her stamp, her claim, to this gorgeous—inside and out—specimen of a delicious alpha male.

No one could possibly be more satisfied or happier than she was right now. There was no feeling in the world to match this sense of completion. The future looked so incredibly bright. Nothing was impossible. She and Swanny would find a way to stay together. It was a vow she made to herself, one she fully intended to see through.

CHAPTER 31

SAM Kelly immediately answered the secure phone, anxious to get a report from Steele or Rio. After what had happened in Paris, Sam was more determined than ever to use any and all resources he had at his disposal to rid Eden of the threat to her.

“Sam,” he said shortly.

“This is Steele,” Steele said curtly. “Someone got to Sanchez before we did and Jesus, it’s a bloody massacre. Everyone is dead. Sanchez, his men. The place is trashed. It’s a complete clusterfuck.”

“Goddamn Hancock!” Sam swore. “I should have seen this coming after he reared his head in Paris and promptly disappeared and fell off the radar. I’m one hundred percent sure he’s behind this. He has close ties to Eden and her family, and it’s just like him to take matters into his hands and take out any threat to what he considers his family.”

“Well, he fucked us on getting intel,” Steele said, obviously as pissed as Sam was. “I’m having my team go through the pieces to see what, if anything, we can learn, but I have a feeling Hancock took anything pertinent to our investigation. What do you want us to do now, boss man?”

“Complete your sweep,” Sam replied tersely. “I’ll call Rio up and tell him to stand down. I’ll report in with Nathan and Joe. Tell them the developments. If Sanchez hired an assassin, he’ll quickly discover that he’s not going to get paid, so I think they can breathe a little easier. I’ll tell them to continue their security until the shoot is over but that they can relax a little. It should take a lot of pressure off Eden as she winds this down.”

“Will do,” Steele said. “We’ll let you know if we discover anything, and then we’re pulling out and heading home unless you need us for something else.”

“Things are quiet right now,” Sam replied. “All we have going on right now is Eden’s protection, but I’ll let you know if things change. I know you’re anxious to get back to Maren and Olivia.”

There was a pause before Steele gruffly responded, “Yeah, I am. But we’ll get the job done and report in with anything we find.”

Sam disconnected and then sucked in a deep breath. Fucking Hancock. At times it seemed they couldn’t move for tripping over him. He always popped in from nowhere and they never knew what side he lined up on, despite the fact that he’d saved Maren, Steele’s wife, at much risk to himself.

He shook his head. Who knew Hancock had actual human ties to anyone? He was more machine than man. The news that he considered Eden and her father and brothers “family” had been a shocker because Hancock was most certainly a lone wolf. Always going his own way and answering to no one. He was definitely a wild card. Someone Sam was always wary of, no matter the circumstances.