"I HAVEN'T SLEPT with Anthony." They were back in the hotel suite, safely enclosed together, and Dawn turned to face Tucker. "We went out a few times," she continued, making sure to keep her voice low and steady. "But that was it. I'm very, very careful with my lovers, and I knew that Anthony and I would be working together. I don't like to mix my professional life and my business life."
His gaze seemed to burn as he stared at her.
"Anthony wanted more. I didn't. Simple."
He gave a grim nod.
"I want to fall in love."
She saw his shoulders give a little jerk. Determined, Dawn continued, "I want to trust someone completely. I want to share my life. I want to have a normal relationship, but normal hasn't exactly been in the cards for me."
///
His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. "Believe it or not, I wanted all of that for you. I know I'm a fucking jealous bastard where you're concerned, but I wanted you to be happy. I kept thinking I'd hear of you marrying. Having a family. I knew it would rip my guts open, but I wanted that for you."
He didn't understand... Her problem was that everything she wanted was twisted up in him. "I want to know your darkest secret."
His gaze became hooded.
"You and I are the only ones here. Whatever you tell me won't leave this room, but I want to know."
His hand reached out to her and his fingers skimmed over her cheek.
"I can touch you," he rasped, "without you flinching away. Do you know how long I wanted that one thing?"
Her hand rose and her fingers caught his. "You don't trust me." She felt him stiffen. "You think I'll turn away from you again. I get it. But I'm not the same girl I was then. I fought and clawed my way to the life I have now. I'm stronger."
"You've always been strong." His body came closer to her. His chest brushed against hers.
"Then tell me. No more secrets...not from you, not from me. I need this, Tucker. I need to know that you're the one person who shares everything with me." Because she wanted to share everything with him.
"I...don't want to lose you again."
His words had her heart squeezing in her chest.
"Not that I have you." His smile was bittersweet. "One night. That was what we had. We had-"
"We can have anything." She rose onto her toes, knowing that she had to be the one to take the first step. She had to show him that she could trust completely.
If she could do it, then so could he.
"Anything." Dawn's lips brushed over his.
And they were lost. Both of them. She felt the shudder that worked its way down his body. His lips parted beneath hers and his tongue thrust into her mouth. That wild desire-the fierce passion that would always connect them-surged to the surface. She tasted his need, the desperation, the lust.
And she wanted more.
Her hands shoved between them as she yanked at the buttons of his shirt. He'd removed his holster when they'd first entered the suite, so that wasn't in her way. She thought she heard a button pop. But Dawn didn't slow down.
She'd been going slowly for years. Playing things safe. She didn't have to play with Tucker. She didn't want to play at all.
She just wanted him.
Her hands touched his chest. That hot skin. She could feel his muscles and the power beneath her touch. Her fingers slid over his stomach, those incredible abs, and then she was fumbling with the button on his pants.
He pulled his mouth from hers. "Dawn."
Such hunger in that word. Raw need. She loved it.
"Baby, I want to be careful with you..."
No. She gave a shake of her head. "Enough of that." She slid away from him and hurried toward the light switch on the wall. She hit it, plunging them into darkness, and then she was yanking at her shirt because-
"No." He caught her in the dark. Pulled her close. "I told you before, there's no more hiding." And he backed her up against the wall. He pinned her between that wall and his body. His head lowered and she felt the stir of his breath against her neck. "There will never be any more hiding for either of us." His mouth pressed to her skin. He licked her. He sucked her. He had her moaning.
And he turned the lights back on.
She blinked against that sudden brightness and fear trickled through her. "Tucker..."
His head lifted. He stared into her eyes. "No hiding."
Her breath panted out.
"Do you want me?"
His eyes were a brilliant blue, his face etched into tight, hard lines. His body pushed against hers, and there was no missing the hard length of his arousal.