Tempted & Taken (Men of Haven #4)(82)
Still reeling from the sudden shift, Darya braced her hands on Knox’s back and tried to lever herself up. “Knox, put me down.”
He palmed her ass and strode through the darkness. “No way. Been waitin’ all night to feel you next to me. This way’s faster.”
She tried to get vertical again, but Knox counterbalanced the move by ducking forward and flipping her onto her back. He caught her head just before it hit the bed, the rest of his king-size mattress taking her weight with a soft whoosh.
As natural as water moving over a pebble-lined stream, he slipped between her thighs, his hips resting comfortably in the cradle of her hips.
She blinked her eyes into focus.
Moonlight and the soft glow of lights from the other warehouses streamed through the huge windows and highlighted his handsome face just inches from hers. “Waited my whole life for you.”
Whatever she’d expected him to say, it hadn’t been that, but the beauty of it pierced straight through the fatigue and worry that had needled her through the long night. Aside from their accelerated breaths, the only sound was the muted drone from the cars on the freeway and the steady thump of her racing heart.
He kept going, raining his uncensored words over her like morning sunshine after a month-long stretch of darkness. “After Tami and a string of bad decisions after her, I convinced myself it wouldn’t happen. Shut myself down so I couldn’t get hurt again, but deep down, I always wanted someone of my own. Someone smart. Passionate with a soft heart. Watching my brothers fall nearly killed me. Made the want deeper. Sharper.” Elbows braced on either side of her, he framed her face, the ferocity of his gaze echoed in the reverent touch. “Hearing the words you gave me, every day I waited—every second—was worth it.”
Her lungs seized. So many times she’d been blessed. Been given countless opportunities and seen amazing things at a high price to those who’d sacrificed and risked on her behalf. But in that second, every other moment of her life paled in comparison. She splayed her hand against his chest. “I’m not sure I deserve that. Not after what I’m putting your family through.”
The softness in his gaze shifted, replaced with enough heat her skin grew flush in seconds. He covered her hand on his chest with his own. “You feel that?”
Beneath her palm, his heart beat a steady rhythm, as strong and powerful as the man he’d proven himself to be.
“It might as well have been empty before you,” he said. “Yeah, Beckett and the rest of my brothers gave me the family I never had, but there’s one void they couldn’t fill.” He tightened his grip on her hand and lowered his voice. “Swear to God, sometimes I think the reason I couldn’t sleep all those years is because a part of me was afraid I’d miss my chance if it ever came.”
But with her, he slept. Had done so every night from the day he’d brought her home and done it deeply, curled up tight behind her.
He smiled as though he’d actually seen the realization materialize inside her head. “I didn’t miss my chance. I came close by bein’ a stubborn idiot, but now that my head’s out of my ass, I can tell you unequivocally you deserve it all. My skills, my contacts, my money...anything up to and including my life if that’s what it takes to keep you safe.”
She fisted her hand in his shirt, all the lightness of the moment surging to a fine point of fear. “Please, don’t say that. I’ve already lost too many people I love in my life. I don’t want to lose you, too.”
With a tender smile, he tugged her hand free and kissed her knuckles. “Sweetheart, I just claimed you for my own. You couldn’t shake me if you tried.”
Claimed her? The part of her who’d seen one too many women lose their independence, if not their life, under the dictatorial hand of men balked at the statement. Made her want to scramble for distance and give her mind a chance to think and process.
The other, far more instinctive part of herself, blossomed beneath the idea. As though he’d wrapped her very spirit in the finest silk and laid the world at her feet.
He guided her hand to the bed and pinned it beside her head. “Now, I’ve waited all night to show you how much your words meant to me. Any questions that can’t wait until I’ve shown proper gratitude?”
Oh, she had questions. Tons of them. Though, with the hungry way his gaze devoured her, few seemed important enough to warrant air—save one. “What do you mean, you claimed me?”
For a few, heightened moments he studied her, his shrewd gray eyes undoubtedly taking in far more than she wished. “I’m not him. Ruslan wants to put you in a cage. I want you to be free. With me. Beside me. Part of me.” He released her wrists, slid his palms flush with hers and laced their fingers together. “I won’t lie to you, though. If you ever run, I’ll be right behind you. Not to lock you down against your will, but to win you back. Everything that happens between us is because you choose it. Because you deem me worthy.” He paused a beat, eyes roving her face. “You understand?”
“I think so,” she whispered, her throat too clogged with emotion to manage more.
“Good. Then I’ll cover the other worry I figure is dancing around in your head while we’re at it.” He dipped closer, his voice nearly as hushed as her own. “You shared the kind of life Yefim lived. His involvement with dangerous men. So, I think you understand how men like that operate. Their mindset, what they’re capable of and how they operate.”