“Nowhere else,” she gasped, her * clenching around him so tight, nothing could stop him from ramming into her spasming flesh, over and over, unable to hold back an ounce of his strength. Electricity shot down his spine, into his lower back, between his legs.
He momentarily panicked when his eyes went blind because he couldn’t see her, so he concentrated on her fingers riffling through his hair, her clean scent.
Burying his face against her neck, he pushed deep inside her and let the mind-blowing orgasm drag him under. “Sera, Sera, Sera. Feels so fucking good, baby, take it. Take it all for me. See what you do to me? You and that sweet *? I can’t breathe.”
For long moments, he stayed like that, crushing their bodies together as his pulse returned to a semi-normal rhythm, since it never completely steadied with Sera
around.
Reality
came
back
gradually, like a Polaroid coming into focus, but he was still afraid to move.
Afraid he would step back to find himself
huddled
on
the
ground,
imagining her. “You okay, Ladybug?” he mumbled and then held his breath, waiting to hear her voice.
Her open mouth pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’m okay. I’m better than okay.”
He pulled back to take in the sight of her flushed face. She looked as if she’d been attacked, and even knowing he’d put her in this state, even though she’d wanted it, he still felt irrational worry.
“I wish I could tell you it won’t be like this every time, but I can’t. You do something to me, Sera. You change me and once that happens…I need that feeling too much to hold back.”
“Bowen.” She laid a finger over his lips. “Let’s go home.”
Oh, God. Was it possible for a man’s heart to explode in his chest? “I like you saying that.”
Hands brushing, mouths seeking, they pulled their clothing back into place.
Alarm pricked the back of his neck when he realized they’d been vulnerable for— how long? Jesus, anything could have happened while he’d been lost in her.
He needed to be more careful. Hogan was set to return early for the shipment tomorrow, and the threat to Sera would skyrocket.
Bowen would handle it. He would.
He’d keep her safe, protect her with his life without a second thought. Could he finally walk away from Brooklyn? Yes.
Yes. In a heartbeat. As long as he had her, anything was possible.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
Walking into Bowen’s apartment, Sera felt resolved. For the first time in recent memory, she’d made a decision based o n her needs, not the needs of others.
Making the decision to throw herself into his arms had been scary, until those arms had closed around her and his energy had wrapped her inside it. She craved the need he felt for her. She wanted him to need her, because with every second that passed, her own attachment cemented itself. As soon as everything was out in the open, no secrets littering the ground in front of them, the connection she felt to him could only strengthen.
She wasn’t ready to think about what her actions meant. What repercussions they might have in regard to her future.
One that now included Bowen. Her uncle, the serious problems presented by what she’d done…those would need to be dealt with. Soon. She hoped, prayed, Bowen would want to help her solve those problems. But not tonight. After what she’d learned from her uncle in the alley, her brain couldn’t process any more. Months of preparation, years of pain, had been funneled into this mission to avenge her brother, and in the end, the whole thing had only been part of a cover-up to protect a corrupt man. A man she’d obviously never known. It had been one big illusion, a relationship she’d created with the charismatic man on television.
“Hey.” Bowen tipped her chin up, a frown marring his brow. “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking I’m hungry.”
He focused on a spot past her shoulder.
“You’re
not…you
don’t
already regret—”
“No.” She shook her head, laying a hand over his. “I just want to be here with you tonight. I don’t want to think about anything else. Can we do that?”
Oh, boy. He wanted to argue. She could see it. Sera had no doubt that if he could pin her to the floor and demand to know every thought in her head, he would do it. Bowen didn’t sit back and wait for explanations, and this was new to him. Instead of pressing, though, he squared his jaw and nodded. “I haven’t been to the store in a while. Been a little distracted.” He winked at her on the way to the refrigerator. “Egg sandwich? Or I can order something…”
“Egg sandwich, please.” She leaned on the counter, utterly delighted to watch this rough-hewn man with visible battle scars cracking eggs into a bowl with enough masculine grace to flush her skin.
As he performed the task, he threw her somber glances over his shoulder.