Secret Weapon

Pleasure rippled through her, then swelled. She gasped again at his next thrust and moaned.

“Oh, God, Janine.” He kissed her again. “I love you.”

His cock drove into her again.

“I … Oh…” God, what could she say?

She gasped as he drove deep again. Her thoughts melted away.

Another thrust and joy blasted through her. “Oh, God, that’s so good.”

“Good, huh?” he said with an unreadable grin. He thrust faster and deeper. Her joy turned to ecstasy as she clung to him and catapulted to heaven.

He groaned and thrust forward one more time, pinning her to the bed as he shuddered, releasing inside her. Finally, he collapsed on her and they clung to each other, gasping.

After a moment, he rolled to his side and drew her tight to his body. He kissed her. Tenderly. Sweetly. As the fire subsided and Janine caught her breath, his words echoed through her mind.

I love you.

Oh, man. What was she going to do now?

Twenty

Janine set down her cell phone, having just finished typing in a text message to Sloan. One of several this morning. She wrapped her hands around her warm coffee cup and took a sip as she gazed out the big living room window, not seeing the view beyond.

She was worried about Sloan. He’d disappeared into the night, out in the middle of nowhere. Something could have happened to him. He could have been hit by a car, or murdered, or …

Her heart thundered in her chest and she sucked in a deep breath. She knew she was being silly. Sloan could take care of himself. He was a cop, for heaven’s sake.

But then, Ben had been, too.

Her chest compressed. God, if anything happened to Sloan … She couldn’t lose him, too.

She picked up her cell and checked for messages again, to ensure she hadn’t missed his response. Nothing.

Maybe he was just mad at her. Or, more likely, he was hurt and needed some space.

Damn it, had she screwed everything up?

“Hey, you look like you’re deep in thought.” Liam sat down beside her and laid his arm against the back of the couch so his hand curled around her shoulder.

“I have a lot to think about.” She stared at the black coffee in her cup.

“About us … or about Sloan?”

She hesitated. Both. But she didn’t want to tell him that.

He drew her close and captured her lips. “You and I should talk about last night. How we feel about each other. And where this is going.”

She smiled. “Gee, a guy who’s willing to talk about the relationship. That’s novel.”

Except that Sloan wanted to talk about the relationship, too. Unfortunately, she had no answers for Sloan. At least not ones he wanted to hear.

Not that she knew what answers she’d have for Liam. Why did relationships have to be so complicated? Up until now, she’d been able to keep them simple. Casual.

But now that Sloan and Liam had started to pursue her, her whole sense of what a relationship should be—at least for her—was spinning out of control, like a merry-go-round on steroids, leaving her dizzy and disoriented.

“Okay, let’s talk,” she said. “But first I need to ask you something.”