Kane could shatter her with the wrong look. The wrong touch. One word. He owned her. Shared her skin. Her heart. Even her soul. She touched her head to his heaving chest, inhaling him. This man. Her man. Her body came apart and flew. Her soul did the same. She’d never considered, all those months ago, that he would become such a part of her that she wouldn’t want to have to find a way to live without him.
It all came down to trust. She’d trusted him with her body. And with her son. And now with her heart. She had just given herself to him. All of her. Every inch. Was that what love was supposed to be? Handing the very core of your being into another’s keeping? The doing of it was terrifying. Exhilarating. So unexpected.
Kane’s arms were comforting, as was his scent. She stayed right where she was, straddling his hips, her thighs hugging his, feeling safe, even as she felt totally exposed. He stroked her hair, his hands gentle. She always found his gentleness surprising. He was a big man and looked as dangerous as hell. She wasn’t used to gentleness or caring. She hadn’t known she could feel the way she did about anyone, let alone a man.
Because of Kane, she had Sebastian. She had a home. A life. At least the opportunity for those things if she had the courage to see it through.
“Are you crying, sweetheart?” Kane asked.
His tone, unfailingly understanding, made her want to weep the tears that remained gathered behind her eyes. “Not exactly. It’s just that you’ve given me so much, Kane.”
His hand stilled in her hair. “It’s the other way around, Rose. I wasn’t fully alive until you came into my life. I wasn’t unhappy, but then I didn’t know enough to be. You showed me what life could be like.”
Rose’s heart took a slow, somersaulting turn. He’d described in words exactly how she felt about her life. She knew the few soldiers she’d met felt sorry for her, but neither she or her “sisters” felt that way about their lives. They didn’t know any other way to live. They had enjoyed many aspects of their childhood. It had been harsh and even at times cruel, but they had been close and enjoyed the physical activities they excelled in.
Now, after feeling an alien in a strange world when she’d been on her own, she realized she hadn’t known real happiness. Kane had shown that to her. He had brought her so much, and if he ever betrayed her ...
A small sob escaped, and she clamped down on it immediately, ashamed of her weakness.
“Baby,” Kane soothed. “Listen to me. You have to look at me while I tell you this. I know when you look into my eyes, you know when I’m speaking the truth.”
Baby. He’d never called her by that specific endearment. She wasn’t a baby, but she felt newly born. The caress in his voice shook her almost as much as the tenderness. Rose took a deep, steadying breath and forced herself to lift her head. If he hadn’t heard what her body had said to him, he would see it when he looked into her face. She loved him with every breath she took, and she was terrified. She’d put herself into his hands without meaning to do so, and now he had all the power.
Kane’s green eyes searched her face for what seemed a long time before meeting her gaze steadily. “I can only guess how scared you are right now, Rose. I am too. Not of Whitney. Not of being a father. I can handle both of those things, but of you—us. I’ve never felt so vulnerable to another human being. You have my heart, Rose. It sounds stupid and corny and I’m not that kind of man to say pretty words women like to hear, but if I could—if I could find the right way to say you terrify me without sounding like an idiot—I would.”
Happiness swept through her. He was right; she could see the na**d truth in his eyes. She liked that he deliberately made himself so vulnerable to her, exposing his feelings and trusting that she wouldn’t ... betray him. He was telling her he understood, taking the chance before she could find the courage.
She found his mouth almost blindly, melting into him, uncaring that her milk was beginning to flow, something that embarrassed her and made her feel decidedly not glamorous or sexy. She felt his firm lips heat, and her heart skittered in her chest. Kissing him was rather like tumbling into a beautiful dream. She could kiss him forever, for always. His hand bunched in her hair, sending a thrill down her spine. There was an instant response, his arms turning to steel, caging her, his mouth moving over hers, deepening the kiss until she thought her heart might explode from her chest.
She raised her head slightly and looked down at him, the tip of her tongue sliding along his bottom lip, savoring the taste of him. “I’m scared too, Kane,” she admitted. “I thought you were a logical choice for the father of my baby.” A slight smile welled up. “You’re very good-looking, and you have strength of character and integrity. There’s no cruelty in you. No subterfuge. I thought we’d live together and be happy and comfortable.”
She watched the smile soften his beautiful mouth and creep into the vivid green of his eyes. “Comfortable?” he repeated and squirmed a little so that she felt him, semi-hard, moving deep inside her. “That might not be the best word to describe us together.”
The sensation along with that teasing, suggestive grin, set off tiny explosions throughout her body. “My point exactly. My body’s reaction to you might be more than I expected, but with Whitney pairing us, I knew we’d be compatible sexually. I just didn’t know how deeply I would feel about you. I thought it was too soon. Too fast. But I realize it’s been growing in me since the very first day I saw you.”
“We’re in this together.” His voice was so tender, so gentle, she almost felt the sound like a caress washing over her skin. “And it will get rough, Rose. Whitney isn’t going to let up just because we found each other. If something happens, you know I’ll never stop looking for you. I would find both you and Sebastian. I’d come for you.”
She studied his face. He hadn’t raised his voice. There was a quiet strength in Kane. A core of steel. He would never back down, never swerve from his chosen path. She shivered, thankful that she was his chosen path.
“I know that,” she replied, surprised that the conviction was strong in her.
“You have to trust me, no matter how bad it gets, Rose. We can do it if we’re together. That’s the entire point of a pairing. We should have all the tools to defeat anything or anyone in battle together. He manipulated our DNA and enhanced us both physically and psychically to fit together in every conceivable situation, so together we’re strong.”