The kiss he gave her was so full of love that she didn’t need him to say anything in response. Not when she already knew everything he was thinking, everything he was feeling.
And yet, when he did draw back to speak, she realized how much he needed to tell her what was in his heart. He’d spent his whole life holding everything inside—she never wanted him to feel that way with her.
“I didn’t believe anyone could love me with all my darkness, my scars, my mistakes. Especially not a woman who could have anyone. But I still couldn’t stop falling for you, couldn’t keep from loving you more every day, every hour, every second.”
His body echoed his words as he wrapped his hands around her hips and thrust hard, sending pleasure exploding through her as he gave them what they both needed. Wild, reckless, desperate, wondrous lovemaking that sent their bodies—and hearts—soaring.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Suzanne was already up and sitting at Roman’s kitchen island behind her computer by the time the door buzzer went off at six thirty the next morning.
“We’re here for Suzanne,” Alec Sullivan growled from the sidewalk below. “Let us in.”
All out of clean clothes from the bag she’d packed for Smith and Valentina’s wedding, she’d chosen to put on one of Roman’s long-sleeved shirts. She’d wrapped one of his belts twice around her waist and rolled the sleeves up to her elbows, transforming his shirt into something that looked like a dress. A dress he was already dying to strip off. Knowing she was wearing only a pair of his boxer briefs beneath his shirt didn’t make it any easier to keep his hands off her.
But if Roman was ever going to have a prayer of convincing her family to accept him as Suzanne’s boyfriend—rather than the bodyguard who had overstepped his bounds—he knew better than to be caught pawing at her in his kitchen.
He moved away from the coffee machine, where he’d been brewing them some much-needed caffeine. But instead of answering his doorbell, he put his arms around Suzanne from behind, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “So even if your brothers try to boot me all the way to hell to keep me from you, I’m not going anywhere.”
He’d said the same words to her at her father’s lake house. But that was when he’d still been trying to convince himself that saying I’m not going anywhere was only about his job to keep her safe. The truth was that he’d always meant it on a much deeper level. He’d already been in love with her, whether he’d been ready to admit it to himself or not.
Suzanne spun around on the stool to stand up in the circle of his arms. “Trust me, they won’t be booting you anywhere.” She slid her hands into his and threaded their fingers together. “Not once they realize you’re exactly the man they’ve been wanting for me all along.”
He wasn’t nearly as certain that her brothers were going to accept him that easily, but since Alec, Harry, and Drake were waiting downstairs, he lifted their joined hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of each one. The buzzer went off a good half-dozen times in rapid succession, with threatening sounds coming from Alec.
“Although,” she said with a little quirk of her lips, “letting them in before my brother busts a vein would probably be a good first step.”
He reluctantly let her go to hit the button that unlocked the thick metal door downstairs. “Come on up.”
After opening the door to his loft, Suzanne moved beside him to take his hand again. Though he knew the sight of their linked hands would be enough to rile Alec as soon as he walked inside, Roman didn’t pull away. Instead, he drew her closer.
She was smiling up at him when her family got out of the elevator, not looking at all worried about the fury heading their way. Her three brothers, her father, and Rosa were all there, along with her friend Calvin, the mayor from Summer Lake. Every one of them had come to support Suzanne.
As expected, Alec immediately snarled upon seeing Suzanne’s hand in Roman’s. And when he realized she was wearing his shirt as a dress, he looked close to apoplectic, given that it obviously wasn’t the sort of thing a woman did with a friend. Only with a lover.
Releasing Roman’s hand, Suzanne drew Alec in for a hug before he could throw any punches, and somehow managed to keep a hold on him while she hugged everyone else too. She might have told Roman she wasn’t worried about how things were going to go down this morning, but she clearly wasn’t taking any chances on fists flying either.
As soon as the group hug broke apart, she went straight back into Roman’s arms. Alec slammed the loft door behind him in fury, but before he could speak, Roman needed them all to understand what he wished he’d been brave enough to own up to at the lake, that night on the dock.