Sensed her fears. Sensed her needs.
Now.
And somehow he heard her. His hand rasped lower to cup her bottom, guiding her forward. Meeting her. Moving inside her, deeper, until she forgot about logic and concerns and just felt. Felt and moved, heat tightening, building low and intense. Enough, and at the same time there could never be enough to make her stop wanting more. More of him.
His hand slid between them, palmed her breast before sliding down, touching, finding, bringing...
Completion.
Max sat with his back against the headboard and watched the glowing numbers on the bedside clock blink away the night—2:00 a.m.
Darcy lay on her stomach sleeping, her face turned away from him as if she wasn't ready to see the morning or him yet.
True enough.
The hurricane shutters might be blocking out parking lot lights, but it couldn't stop morning from arriving, anyway, in another few hours. He knew Darcy well enough to understand she would likely start running. Soon. She would rebuild her boundaries before facing him again. If she came back.
He needed more time and they didn't have any, not with a case to close. But he sure as hell wasn't letting her climb back in another plane until they had the people responsible for her emergency landing in custody.
So he watched the clock and counted down the minutes until he would have to leave her.
Darcy stirred, burying her nose in the pillow before turning to look at him with blurry eyes.
I'm the guy who loves you, damn it.
His words from earlier hovered between them.
Yeah, he'd meant it. He just hadn't meant to say it. Not yet when he wasn't even comfortable with the idea himself. How could he expect her to be? But the words were out there waiting to be dealt with.
He picked a strand of hair from her lips and tucked it behind her ear. "I meant what I said."
A tight smile flickered across her face and he recognized Darcy-the-buddy trying to slide between them and a real discussion.
She slugged his shoulder lightly. "Your delivery could use a little work, then. That was a helluva romantic way to say it."
He gripped her chin in a grasp not as gentle as he'd planned and tipped her face up to his. "That's because love isn't always pretty. It can tear you up inside. I've been there. Done that. Got a few scars to show for the effort. Love is a damned scary proposition, Darcy."
She flipped to her back, her sad eyes staring up at him. "You want me to say it, too."
Did he? Hell, yes. And no. Part of him wanted a safer, easier life for her than whatever he could offer. "I don't think you're ready."
She grazed her fist over his shoulder again, her fingers unfurling to caress him. "I should slug you again for telling me how I feel. Except I'm too tired tonight... and you're right."
Her hand fell away. She sat up, elbows on her knees and shoved her hands through her tousled hair. "I'm such a mess, Max. I do want you. I want more of everything, not just—" she waved a hand over the tangled sheets "—this, but everything. Talking. Not talking. Being together. I want it all with you. But you're right. This is damned scary, and more than anything, I hate being out of control and afraid."
Max resisted the urge to drag her into his arms and insulate her. Letting anyone—him—get close seemed to top her list of fears. He couldn't fight that one for her.
She picked at the lightweight blue cover. "After they found me, I really thought I was handling it all. I mean, damn. It wasn't like anyone had assaulted me. I should be fine, right?"
He stayed diplomatically silent, trailing one finger down her delicate spine. So rigid even now.
"Three months later Alicia chewed out our dad, told him I needed help processing what had happened. She made him drag me to a counselor on base to talk through everything." She smiled over her shoulder. "Nobody says no to Alicia. Not even the General."
"She sounds like her sister." Max tapped her stubborn chin.
"I went for about six months, and it helped. I really thought everything was okay for years. I even stocked up on sunflower seeds in defiance of the terrorist who chowed down on the things while guarding me."
Max worked to hide the protective urge she wouldn't want or welcome. "Sounds to me like you did a damn fine job at coping."