“Uh-uh.” The tension inside him increased another notch, making it hard to keep his eyes open. He relinquished her ass and sank his fingers into her hair, brought her forehead to his. “I love you, Eden. I love you.”
Now she stilled. Stared at him with big, unblinking eyes. “Swain…”
That’s as far as she got, because those incredible little muscles inside her squeezed tight, hugging his cock, rippling over him from tip to base. Long lashes fanned over hazy eyes, a flush swept into her cheeks, and a low, grateful cry shuddered up from deep inside her.
The sight of her surrendering, the sounds and the sensations shot him headlong into his own orgasm, and he was gone—a bullet in the wind, flying God knows where at twice the speed of sound, causing all kinds of damage because he sure as hell would never recover. He’d never recover from Eden. He never wanted to.
A long time later a slightly slurred, highly satisfied voice reached his ears. “Glad we talked that out.”
He eased himself into a sitting position, bringing her with him simply by roping an arm around her, loving the feel of her lax against his chest, her legs straddling his lap, his cock still nestled inside her. “I got a little more talk in me, choux, and this time I want you to listen.”
“We’re good,” she murmured against his throat. “If you give me an explanation, you’re not trusting my trust.”
“This is starting to hurt my brain.” Bracing himself on one arm, he tipped her head up until he could see her face. “I know Dobie showed you a video he took from the motel.”
“He did, and yes, it gave me a moment of doubt. More than a moment,” she admitted when he simply raised a brow, “and I’m sorry for it.” She touched his hair. Brushed her fingers through the front. “I thought about luring you to Rawley’s once it reopens and giving you my version of the patented Swain grovel.”
“I’d pay to see that.”
“I couldn’t wait that long. I missed you too much, and once I had a chance to sit down and examine my feelings, I realized I didn’t have room for that doubt I’d felt. I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?” Her soft lips trembled.
He leaned in and kissed them. Did his best to kiss the guilt away before responding, “Forgiven, on one condition.”
Now her brow lifted. “What condition?”
“Well, I didn’t see Dobie’s video, but I can do a general reconstruct in my mind on what it depicted—or seemed to depict. So, you’re going to have to accept my apology, too, for not just telling you Malone had tapped me to meet a whistleblower, pick up evidence, and deliver it to the department. When that meet finally happened, the whistleblower was tired, nervous, kind of cracking under the strain, and grateful to be one giant step closer to done with the whole thing. I think you got an eyeful of all that tired, nervous, and grateful, choux, but that’s all it was.”
“Dammit, Swain.” She swatted his chest. “You’ve gone and given me the explanation anyway.”
He caught her hand. “That was my condition. How’s the wrist?”
“What?” She raised her head. “Oh. It’s fine. All better.”
“How ‘bout us? Are we all better?”
“You tell me.” She smoothed her hand along his raspy jaw. He turned and pressed a kiss to her palm.
“Almost. I owe you one more explanation. No, I do,” he insisted when she started to shake her head. “This one’s a little tougher, so just bear with me while get it out, okay?”
Curiosity shown in her eyes, but no doubt. “Okay.”
He took a deep breath before drawing back the curtain over his own insecurities, but it had to be done. He loved her and he needed her to understand this part of him, even if he wasn’t proud of it. “I let you believe you shouldn’t trust me. I let you think it because I knew you didn’t, and I was afraid you wouldn’t, and I’d never earn it because…I don’t know. Genetics, I guess. I’m the son of a grifter, and my most impressive quality is my facility to manipulate people and situations. On some basic level, I figured I wasn’t good enough for Eden Brixton.”
She leaned in and kissed him, very gently, very softly. “You really are the biggest cooyon of all time if you believe that. You have many impressive qualities, including the very admirable one of taking that quick brain of yours, and your shady street smarts, and using them to do good. That’s just one of the reasons I fell for you.”
Fell for him? His heart stuttered, then raced. “What’s that, choux? You’ve fallen for me?”
“I have. It’s given me a lot of bad moments, because you can also be a total cooyon sometimes, but if you give me the chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life proving I love you.”
“The rest of your life, huh?”
Her cheeks went pink. “Figure of speech, Swain.”
“No, no.” He didn’t bother hiding his grin. “You said the rest of your life. They’ll be no backtracking now. Hold on.”
“Swain!” She gripped him tighter as he lunged to his feet with her in his arms.
“Trust, remember? Doncha trust me not to drop you?”