She held her breath when his hands immediately dropped to his boxers. His c**k was bulging the material outward and if he moved an inch in either direction, his erection would spring free through the opening in the crotch.

He shoved downward and she sighed at the beauty of his male physique as he leaned back on the bed so he could work the underwear free and toss it aside. She hadn’t lied or plied him with insincere compliments. He was absolutely beautiful to her.

Yes, scars crisscrossed his body. No area had been left undamaged by his captors when he’d existed in hell. But to her they were a testament of his honor, of his will to live despite impossible odds. That they hadn’t been able to break him. How many men could say the same? How many men would even survive, much less survive with their sanity intact? And yet he continued on, still holding a job that put his life on the line on every single mission his team went on.

A movie title floated through her mind—it was silly, but she was so absorbed in her study of him and her thoughts, her admiration, that she couldn’t help but think of the words Uncommon Valor. It suited him, and all his teammates, to a T. But especially Swanny. Her man. The man she loved and God, he loved her too!

It was as though it were only just sinking in that he returned her feelings. Her love. A giddy rush invaded her veins, making her bold and yanking her from her perusal of his beautiful body. She leaned up, reaching for him, pushing herself up to her knees so that he was turned to the side, his feet on the floor where he’d only moments before stepped from his boxers. She framed his face, pulling him in to meet her kiss.

Hot, lush, she kissed him with wild abandon she would never have believed herself capable of. She poured every ounce of emotion, the depth of her love, into her kiss.

He wrapped his arms around her and fell with her, her back landing with a thud on the soft mattress, his mouth still fused to hers. She let out a soft moan when he slid his mouth down the line of her jaw to her ear, where he licked and toyed with the lobe before sucking it firmly between his teeth.

The rhythmic suckling motion only heightened her anticipation for when he’d do the same to her br**sts. And to her clitoris. An all-over body shiver quaked through her in remembrance of his mouth on her most sensitive flesh, how expertly he’d brought her mind-blowing ecstasy.

Whoa, she was getting way ahead of herself here. Stay in the moment, Eden. Savor every second. Don’t let it be over too quickly. This was a night she’d never forget as long as she lived. The night Swanny told her he loved her and then showed her his love in the most tangible way a man could show his woman his feelings.

“You with me?” Swanny asked gruffly, his head just above hers as he stared down into her eyes.

She cursed herself for getting so carried away with her internal reflection, because now Swanny held a look of hesitation, as though he worried he wasn’t pleasing her. That she’d drifted away from the here and now.

She reached up to touch his scarred cheek and gently caressed it. “I was just savoring the moment and thinking how I’d never forget this night as long as I lived because it’s the night you told me you loved me and now we’re making beautiful love. So yeah, I’m with you. I’m so with you. Never without you. Even when you aren’t right there by my side . . . At the shoots when we have to be apart, even though I know you’re just a short distance away, I’m still thinking about you. Wishing you were touching me. Just holding my hand or wrapping your arm around me. All those sultry sexy looks I had to give the camera? They were all for you. I imagined you making love to me, me inviting you to make love to me, and poured every single emotion I felt for you into what the camera captured.”

“Jesus, Eden,” he muttered, just before his mouth crashed down on hers again.

When he came up for air and they were both sucking huge breaths into their starving lungs, he stared down at her, his eyes boring intently into hers.

“You can’t know what that means to me. You can’t possibly know because there is no way in hell I can ever put into words what it means. There aren’t enough words in any language to describe what you mean to me.”

“Just show me,” she said simply. “Our bodies communicate much better without words.”

Without responding, he lowered his head to her br**sts and flicked his tongue out, teasing one nipple into rigidity. He circled the puckered ridge, leaving a warm, damp trail before nipping ever so gently at it.

She bowed upward, her gasp of pleasure whistling past her lips. Her body undulated, greedy, wanting more, but he didn’t respond to her silent demands. Patiently he teased and pleasured one breast before finally moving to the other to give it equal treatment. Eden was a writhing mess, nearly out of her head with desire for him to take her. To possess her. Own her. Cement the declaration of their love with the joining of their bodies.

He pressed a gentle kiss between her br**sts and then kissed a line to her navel, where he circled it teasingly with his tongue before going lower and lower still.

Eden was always careful to keep her bikini area waxed. She often modeled swimwear or lingerie. She’d always considered it part and parcel of the job and had never been concerned about upkeep when it came to a man. But now she was glad she was neatly trimmed as Swanny nuzzled through the soft tuft of curls that formed a small triangle at her groin.

With gentle fingers, he parted her folds and then swiped his tongue from her entrance all the way up to her clitoris. She nearly came on the spot.

“Swanny!” she panted. “You have to stop. I’m going to come and I want you with me. Especially tonight. It has to be together tonight.”