“This is what you wanted to know, yes?”
Gunner stood and walked over to her. “No,” he said, pulling her close to him.
“Petrov has my mother.”
Gunner took a deep breath and kissed her forehead. “You want to go back and get her.”
Raketa rested her head against his chest and nodded.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
She pulled away from him. Was he serious? As easy as that? She doubted it, but what other angle could he be working?
“I’ll arrange a meeting.”
“With?”
“Let’s start with K19. We’ll determine what help we’ll need from there.”
“Why?”
“You’re asking why I’m willing to help you extract your mother?”
Raketa nodded, waiting for him to answer, but he didn’t right away. Instead, he kissed her.
Would she ever get used to how it felt to really be in his arms instead of fantasizing about it? What she’d once thought was simple attraction to a man whose body spoke to hers on a basal level, in reality, was so much more. She felt grounded and safe as much as she felt sexually aroused.
His hand wove into her hair and his fingers dug into her scalp as his kiss intensified. Raketa pressed her body against his, wishing neither of them were wearing so many clothes. When Gunner put his hands on her bottom and lifted her, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as he carried her into the bedroom.
“Gunner?”
“Shh,” he said, lowering her body to the bed.
—:—
If she asked, Gunner wouldn’t be able to explain why the only way he knew how to tell her why he was willing to help her risk her life and his by going back into Petrov’s compound, was by joining their bodies together. Maybe because he hoped she realized that what they had was so much more than sex.
From undressing her to bringing her to the brink of ultimate pleasure again and again, Gunner took his time. This wasn’t sex. He was making love to the woman in his arms. Did she know that this was different without him having to say so? If he spoke now, his words might terrify her because when she wanted to know why, the only answer that came to mind was that he loved her.
Did she know when he kissed each of her eyelids, or the tip of her nose, or her forehead, that to him, they were the most precious kisses he’d ever given anyone?
As he ran his hands over the stiff peaks of her nipples, or down her sides, or along the soft skin of her tummy, did she know he’d never trail his fingertips over anyone’s naked flesh again?
When he felt her shudder as he brought his mouth to her sex, did she know that her taste was the only he’d know for the rest of his life?
When his hardness rested inside her, did she know that he’d never penetrate another woman’s body with his ever again?
When words of affection escaped her lips without her realizing it, did she know that he understood Azeri and that he knew she was feeling everything he was?
“Look at me,” he said when her eyes drifted closed. When they opened, their vividness burned a hole through his skin and into his heart.
“I’d die for you, Rocket Girl.”
“And I, you.”
“I…”
She rested her fingertips on his lips. “Shh,” she said, repeating what he’d told her earlier.