Ruthless Game (GhostWalkers, #9)(39)

Her blush deepened. “We don’t really need to talk about this, do we?”

Now he was really curious. She actually bit her lower lip, one of the few signs of nervousness he’d ever detected in her. He leaned toward her and took the sleeping baby right out of her arms, leaving her without armor. “Yes, I really think we need to talk about it. That was a huge decision, Rose, that affects the entire rest of your life. You knew we might not get you out of Whitney’s facility, and I was never going to be stationed there permanently. I’d like to know why you chose to tie yourself to me like that.”

She rolled her eyes and heaved a long-suffering sigh. He snuggled the boy closer to him. He was so small it was terrifying to hold him, but Kane was determined to get comfortable with the process. The child—and Rose—certainly brought out his protective instincts. He waited while she wrestled with herself. Rose wouldn’t lie. He knew she wouldn’t. She would tell him the strict truth, even if it embarrassed her—as it so obviously did.

“We were already tied together if I was pregnant,” she pointed out, “so really, it wasn’t like a huge risk.”

His eyebrow shot up as she ducked her head, turning slightly away from him. Her body language said more than her words did. “Rose, I do believe you are evading the question.”

“Give me back the baby, and I’ll tell you.”

He cuddled his son closer, pressing one fingertip into the little soft palm. Tiny fingers closed around his. He drew in his breath sharply. “Giving him up for even a few minutes is difficult. Your answer had better be good.” He carefully placed the baby in her arms.

Rose looked down at the baby and then back up at him and smiled. She wore her smile like beautiful music; it didn’t come often, but when it did, his heart sang. He often just sat watching her, the way she moved, so graceful, like a ballerina. She was incredibly beautiful to him. Everything about her appealed to him. He liked to watch her expression when she bent over their son. So loving. So perfect. Soft and intimate when she looked up and shared that same smile with him. He felt complete in a way he never had and never had expected to.

Rose cleared her throat and looked him steadily in the eyes. He could feel his heart accelerate. The bantering was gone, and she was going to impart something of great importance to him. He felt as if everything inside him stilled—waited. He needed something from her and he wasn’t even certain what it was, but he knew this moment might be the one moment that meant everything to him, and he didn’t want to miss even the smallest nuance.

Rose swallowed again and, not taking her eyes from his, brushed a kiss over the baby’s head. “I didn’t want to ever accept anyone else in my life,” she announced softly. “You’re my choice for a life partner, and that isn’t going to change because we’re not together.”

For a moment the roaring in his ears nearly drowned out her declaration. His heart beat so hard he pressed his hand to his chest. What was she saying? She wanted to be with him? Even now when she could walk away from him and the entire GhostWalker program?

“I made the choice before you ever came to my room, Kane,” she admitted. “I watched you for weeks and maybe became a little obsessed with you. I’d never seen anyone like you before. Maybe our time together wasn’t memorable to you, but I remember every single detail. I remember the way you touched me, how your skin felt against mine, how careful you were with me. I hear the sound of your voice at night, and it comforts me. Nothing has ever made me feel the way you did. If I only had that one night with you, it was enough for me.”

Kane stood up abruptly and turned his back on her, uncertain whether he could keep emotion from his expression. She humbled him with her courage. She was an extraordinary woman, and he couldn’t believe she’d tied herself to him, especially after one night of sex with him. Granted, he had wanted her first time to feel as if a man loved her above all else. He didn’t want her to feel forced or afraid, and he’d done everything in his power to prepare her body to accept his, but the bottom line had been, if Rose hadn’t allowed him to have sex with her, then Whitney would have sent another man in his place. That man—Carlson—would have used brute force.

“I guess I’ll have to spend the rest of my life proving to you that you made the right decision.” If his voice was a little too husky, he chose to ignore it. He wasn’t a man given to emotion, and being in such close proximity to Rose and the baby made him feel as if he could spend a lifetime right there in that house in the desert, even knowing the threat hanging over their heads.

“Kane.”

The way his name was a caress turned his insides to jelly. Damn, women had power, so much more than he’d ever considered. Rose could turn him inside out with just her tone of voice. He turned a little reluctantly to face her.

“I would have gotten on the helicopter if you’d come too.”

Trust. There it was. Stark and honest and handed to him when he wasn’t altogether that deserving. Why he’d been so lucky he had no idea, but she’d taken a cynical, hard man and created some kind of knight in shining armor out of him.

“We’ll keep the baby safe, Rose,” he assured.

If there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that Whitney would never get his hands on the boy or Rose. Whitney would have to go through Kane to do it, and Kane had a hell of a team standing behind him. He might not believe in many things, but he believed in his unit.