“I’m sorry,” Tina whispered.
Drew shook his head. He wasn’t telling her the tale because he wanted her pity. Pity was the last thing he wanted from her. “I wanted her to be proud, not to be holding her head down in shame because of what I was doing.”
Then Drew realized why he was telling Tina about his past, when he’d tried to bury those Mississippi memories as deeply as he could.
He wanted Tina to know that he couldn’t be bought, not anymore. That he wasn’t going to trade her for money.
That he was better than that.
He pulled in a deep breath. “I joined the army. I sent her my checks. She used them for the girls.” Kim, Heather and Paige. “Things started to change for my family. Things changed for me.”
Did she understand?
“I’m not the same boy I was back then.”
Tina shook her head. “I never thought you were.”
And it was still there. That blind trust in her eyes. When she’d been on that godforsaken rooftop and Lee had put his gun to her head, Tina had looked over and seen Drew. She’d recognized him, even when he’d had on that damn ski mask.
Trust had been in her stare then, too.
“Why do you have so much faith in me?” She shouldn’t. It was dangerous. He was dangerous. “You know about my missions.” She’d dug the bullets out of him, seen the scars from the knife attacks. “You know everything I’ve done.”
“Yes, I do.” She pushed up onto her tiptoes then. Her mouth brushed against his.
She knew, and Tina wasn’t afraid. She wanted him—good, bad and everything in between.
And he just wanted her.
His mouth pressed harder on hers. Need and desire twisted within him. He licked her lower lip, and loved the little moan that she gave in response.
They weren’t dancing any longer. They were at the edge of that too-small bed.
Tina’s hand slid down his chest, rested over his heart.
“Before I get my safe life back,” she whispered against his lips, “I want to be with you again.”
Nothing could have stopped him from being with her.
The bed groaned beneath them, the old mattress and springs buckled. He didn’t care. He stripped her, kissed her, caressed every silken inch of her body.
She put her mouth on his neck. Sucked. Licked. Made him shudder and ache.
He’d used all of his control before.
This time, in this moment, knowing that she was going to slip away from him soon...
There was no control.
There were frantic hands. Deep kisses. Clothes that were tossed to the floor.
He stroked her everywhere. Couldn’t stop touching her. He had to see all of her.
He tasted Tina. Every single inch of her. Her fingers sank into his hair and she arched against him.
When the first release hit her, he tasted her pleasure.
When the second hit, he was in her, driving as fast and as hard as he could. He’d pulled away from her only long enough to grab protection from his wallet, and even leaving her for that long had made sweat break out on his forehead.