She made a little sound of protest, but loosened her arms.

Very gently, Trap allowed his body to slide away from Cayenne’s as he put her on her back. She watched him as he got out of bed, her gaze drifting over his body. There was evidence of her innocence on his cock and thighs. He liked the way she looked at him, that dark green creeping into the vibrancy of the emerald.

“You told me that once I was in your bed, when I was yours, you were going to share some things with me, Trap.”

He cleaned himself thoroughly, taking his time, wincing at her words and trying to think what he could say to her to keep her with him. He had promised that to her and he was a man of his word. She gave him honesty, and he couldn’t give her less. He ran hot water onto a cloth and carried it back to the bed.

He sat beside her and gently drew her knees up. He opened her legs, using his hands on her thighs. He used the washcloth gently and very intimately to clean her. “I did say that, didn’t I?” Happiness slid away to be replaced by knots in his guts. Hard, tight ones that told him the ice in his veins wasn’t going to protect him. If he told her the truth about what was waiting for her, and that he knowingly dragged her into danger with him, what would she think of him? She already had enough danger surrounding her with Whitney sending his soldiers after her.

“Trap?”

“Give me a minute, baby.” He needed more than a minute. She’d given him her body. Surrendered completely to him, just as he’d asked of her. He actually liked being in her company. Before, with any other woman, ice had come back, and sometimes, even when his body wasn’t sated, he had to leave. Get away from the woman, because the moment she opened her mouth she made his head want to explode. He’d never had this before – this desire that had grown into a need and now was pure determination. He wasn’t going to lose her.

He took his time getting rid of the washcloth before padding barefoot back to her. Sliding into bed, he drew up the covers, turning to her to slip his arms around her and pull her small body close to his. “You certain you want to hear this now, baby? You need more sleep. I’m not going to be through with you for a very long time. I plan on feeding you, fucking you and sleeping with you, for the next few weeks until neither of us can move.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she agreed softly, “but you promised me. I need to hear what you have to say.”

He sighed and dropped his chin on the top of her head.

“Why don’t you want to tell me?”

“You know why, Cayenne. You may not have been with any other man, but you’re intelligent and you can also see the difference between a man like Wyatt and me. He’s a good man and he’s going to be a fantastic husband to Pepper. I’m going to drive you insane with my personality. I’m going to hurt you when I’m not thinking before I snap at you. I don’t like a lot of people around me, which means you aren’t going to be attending a lot of parties and have tons of friends around you all the time because I’m going to want you with me, not out gallivanting around with your friends. I’m bossy and demanding and I’ll expect sex whenever the fuck I want it. Adding more to my long list of sins isn’t conducive to making you want to stay.”

She slid her hand down his forearm to his hand – the one splayed possessively over her stomach. His belly knotted more. He hadn’t even told her he was already trying to plant his child in her. She was new to all this and she wouldn’t be thinking about getting pregnant, but he was determined they would have children right away. He was going to have a family with her. His own family. He planned to give her everything she wanted, make her his princess, surrounded by every protection he could give her. He didn’t know how to give her sweet words, but he knew he could show her – eventually. He needed time though. Time to hook her and keep her hooked.

“So breaking this down, Trap, I will admit to being intelligent and to having studied the members of your GhostWalker team for the last four months. I visited Wyatt’s home nearly every day, watching all of you.”

He didn’t like that. Her watching the other men. Maybe wanting one of them. He pushed his hips tight against her bottom. That beautiful, curved ass that swayed when she walked. An invitation, just like her soft, sexy voice and her lush mouth. The ass that was his, not belonging to one of the other men.

“Wyatt wouldn’t suit me. Neither would any of the others. I’m a little obsessed with you, in case you haven’t noticed. It was your bedroom I went to when I couldn’t stand it and had to be close to you. I had to be close to you. You’re the only person in the world who showed me kindness. More, you saw me. As a human being, not an insect or a threat.”

“Cayenne.” He murmured the protest against the top of her head. He didn’t want her to ever have that image in her mind.

“At the risk of making you even more arrogant than you already are, you’re the most handsome man I’ve ever laid eyes on. I love everything about you. Your height, how strong you are. Your eyes. The set of your jaw. I can describe every inch of your body, Trap. Every single inch. I love how you taste and how you make me feel. I love that you have a mind, and with that, comes a sexy, hot man. I want that for me. I don’t want any of the others. They wouldn’t suit my personality.”

She was silent a moment and he felt her lips whisper across the back of his hand. His cock jerked hard and he pushed deeper into the cleft of her ass. She was warm silk and her body just melted deeper into his.

“I like your personality, Trap, and it’s one I understand. I’m not easy, and I doubt that I ever will be. Yes, it hurt when you were so cold when we were in town, but you explained that and I understood. Now I know what to expect and why you need to be that way. I don’t need you to be anything but who you are. If you’re rude to me and I don’t like it, I’m going to say so. We’ll probably exchange hot words, and then I’ll probably fling myself at you because I like to see all that ice melt and I know I can melt it.”

He closed his eyes tight. He’d been alone so fucking long. Never had he ever considered that he might fall so hard so fast or even that he could fall. But there she was, the woman who could match the wild in him. She really would understand his driving needs in the laboratory, and he was fairly certain she’d be there with him, working right alongside of him.