The SEAL's Secret Heirs(43)

He’d clearly been asking Hadley questions and soaking up her baby knowledge. Much more so than Grace would have given him credit for. “You’re taking fatherhood very seriously.”

He halted and whirled so fast that she smacked into his chest. But he didn’t step back. “What’s it going to take to convince you that I’m in this for the long haul?”

Blinking, she stared up into his green eyes as they cut through her. Condemning her. Uncertain all of a sudden, she tried to take a step back, but he didn’t let her. His hands shot out to grip her elbows, hauling her back into place. Into his space. A hairbreadth from the cut torso she’d felt under her fingers earlier today.

“What will it take, Grace?” he murmured. “You say something like that and it makes me think you’re surprised that I’m ready, willing and able to take care of my daughters. Still surprised, after all I’ve done and learned. After I’ve become gainfully employed. After I’ve shown you my commitment in site visits like you asked. This isn’t about me anymore. It’s about you. Why is this all so hard for you to believe?”

“Because, Kyle!” she burst out. “You’ve been gone. You didn’t come home when Liam called you about the babies. Is it so difficult to fathom that I might have questions about your intentions? You just said the military was a part of you. What if you wake up one day and want to join up again? Those girls will suffer.”

I’d suffer.

Where had that come from? She tried to shake it off, but as they stood there in the kitchen of Wade House with his masculinity pouring over her like a hot wind from the south, the emotions welled up again and she cursed herself. Cursed the truth.

Sometime between his coming home and now, she’d opened her heart again. Just a little. She’d tried to stop, tried asking for space, but the honest truth was that she’d never gotten over him because she still had feelings for him. And it had only taken one kiss to awaken them again, no matter how much she’d tried to lie to herself about it. Otherwise, that scene with Emma Jane would have rolled right off like water from a duck’s back.

And she didn’t trust him not to hurt her again. It was a terrible place to be stuck.

“Grace,” he murmured. “I’m here. For good. I didn’t get Liam’s messages, or I would have been back earlier. You’ve got me cast in your head as someone with my sights set on the horizon, but that’s not true. I want to live my life in Royal, at least until my daughters are grown.”

He wasn’t aiming to leave the moment he changed his mind. He was telling the truth; she could see it in his eyes. Maybe she wasn’t such a bad judge of character after all. Maybe she could let her guard down. Just a little.

The tightness in her throat relaxed and she took the first easy breath since smacking into him. “Okay. I’ll shut up about it.”

“Just to make sure, let me help you shut up.”

He hauled her up and kissed her. His mouth took hers at a hard, desperate angle that she instantly responded to. Maybe she didn’t have to resist if he wasn’t going to leave again. Maybe she didn’t have to pretend she didn’t want more. Because he was right here, giving it to her. All she had to do was take it.

His hands were still on her elbows, raising her up on her tiptoes as he devoured her with his unique whole-body kiss. Need unfolded inside, seeking relief, seeking Kyle.

Yes. The darkness she sometimes sensed in him lifted as he dropped her elbows to encompass her in his arms, holding her tight. He backed her up against the counter to press his hard body to hers, thrusting his hips to increase the contact.

A moan bloomed in her chest, and her tongue vibrated against his as he took the kiss deeper, sliding a hand down her back, to her waist, to her bottom, molding it to fit in his palm. His touch thrilled her even as she pressed into it, willing him to spread the wealth. And then he did.

His hand went lower, gripping the back of her thigh, lifting it so that her knee came up flush with his thigh, which hiked her dress up, and oh, my. She was open to him under her skirt, flimsy panties the only barrier between her damp center and his very hard body.

He thrust his hips again, igniting her instantly as the rough fabric of his jeans pleasured her through the scrap of fabric at her core. Strung tight, she let the dense heat wash through her, mindless with it as she sought more. His mouth lifted from hers for a moment and she nearly wept, following him involuntarily with her lips in hopes of reclaiming the drugging kiss.

“Grace,” he murmured, and dragged his lips across her throat to the hollow near her ear, which was so nice, she forgot about kissing and let her head tip back to give him better access.