She did.

“I don’t need you to baby me,” he said, struggling to stay on track. “I don’t need to be protected.”

“Of course not,” she said. “Only a crazy person would try to baby or protect you.” She took another shot, as always, matching him step for step. Then she set the bottle on the coffee table and put her hands on his arms, backing him to the couch. “You do it all, Adam. Always, no matter what.”

“Stop.”

“You stop.” She gave him a little push and he went down to the cushions. Standing over him, she kicked off the boots. Then pulled off her sexy-as-hell dress.

Beneath she wore nothing but a sports bra and panties. Simple white.

“Um,” she said, looking down at herself for a beat. “Pretend I’m in black silk.”

He didn’t have to pretend. She was gorgeous in the white cotton. Hell, she’d be gorgeous in a potato sack.

Reaching behind her, she grabbed the whiskey and drank again. She missed a drop, it slid down her throat and over her collarbone, heading south.

“Oops,” she said, and leaned back, a movement that thrust out her breasts.

God, he loved her breasts. They were full, soft. Real. And, he knew from experience, extremely sensitive. But he was no longer a hormone- and testosterone-ruled teenager, driven by his sex drive—even if he did keep his eyes on the drop of whiskey…“This isn’t going to work, Holly.”

She glanced down at the obvious erection straining the front of his jeans and went brows up.

“Okay,” he said, standing, having to put his hands on her h*ps as he did, to push her away.

Or at least that’s what he meant to do, but his hands didn’t get the message from his brain and they tightened on her. “I’m not good for you.”

“I trust you, Adam.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“Are you kidding me?” She gave him another shove.

“What the hell, Holly.”

“What the hell is”—she punctuated this with yet another shove, even harder—“I needed help finding my dad. And did you say you couldn’t be bothered? No. You were willing to do whatever it took. You were injured and exhausted, and you still dropped your own work and responsibilities without hesitation and took me all over hell and back. You were, are, the one man I can trust. With anything.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. Hell no. “I’m not up for that level of blind trust.”

She glowered at him and took another sip of the whiskey, until he removed it from her fingers. “Jesus,” he said, “what’s gotten into you tonight?”

“Well, not you,” she said, and made him choke on his own long pull of the Jack.

She was flushed, her eyes glossy. Half-baked from the alcohol and gorgeous with it, she pointed a finger in his face. “You, Adam Connelly, are a big, stupid…man.”

He choked back a laugh. “Is that the worst you’ve got?”

“No. I have lots more.” She crawled into his lap and kissed him.

He let her do it, kissing her as she wanted, catching her tongue with his like he wanted, rubbing up against her when he needed. He felt her tremble and held her close, letting go of his will to resist her, allowing his hunger for her to take over and pour out of him.

But then she shocked the hell out of him by gripping his arms and giving him a helluva shake for a willowy, partially drunk woman.

“You have it all wrong,” she said.

“What part?”

“The not-coming-into-my-cave part.”

He blinked. “Huh?”

She made a face and waved a hand. “No wait. Can’t say it like that, I’ll scare you away again.”

He had a feeling he was going to have to kill his brothers, but before he could move, she was in his face, her own deep and intent. He looked into her shiny blue eyes and saw…everything.

It was staggering.

“Who did I go to for help?” she asked. “You. Who has everyone always gone to? You.” She tossed up her hands. “Do you think it’s because you’re cute or something?”

He opened his mouth at that but she stabbed a finger into his chest again. Since that was starting to hurt, he grabbed her hand.

“Come on, Adam,” she said. “Even Thing One and Thing Two know the truth. When anyone needs someone to count on, you’re the one. You’re not magical, you’re no superhero, but you’re enough. More than enough. And…”

It took him a moment to find his voice through a throat that was thick with things he didn’t want to put a name to. “And…?”

“And…” She cupped his face and stared at him some more. Then she shook her head. “You know what? You’re not ready for this conversation.” And with that, she climbed off his lap and headed for the door.

Twenty-one

Holly got to Adam’s door just as he grabbed her, whipped her around, and pressed her back to the wood. She stared up at the tall, built, hot man holding her pinned, and shivered in anticipation. “Adam—”

“Hell no are you leaving now.”

She melted and cupped his jaw. “I wasn’t leaving.” And then, instead of fighting him as he’d clearly expected, she pressed up against him, nuzzling her face into his throat. “I was just making sure the door was locked.”

He went still at that revelation, still as the night, so she reached behind her and locked the door herself. Then she reversed their positions, pressing him to the wood, sliding her hands up his chest and into his hair.

He closed his eyes, as if just the touch was too much to take, and that one small tell squeezed her heart. Letting her thumbs trace his beautiful jawline, rough with at least a day’s growth, she sighed with pleasure. No, he wasn’t a superhero, but he was, she’d begun to fear, the man for her.

The only man for her.

Gliding her fingers into his hair, she tugged him down and kissed him. He got right with the program, no hesitation, taking over in his alpha way. This was no tentative kiss. It was demanding, full of pent-up passion and tension and years and years of emotion all tied into one.

She loved it.

She loved everything about it, and she was desperately afraid she loved everything about him as well. She’d loved the teen he’d been, the one who hadn’t left her for the military, or another woman, or for shits and giggles. He’d left her because he’d had to go to make something of himself.

He’d done that, in spades.

Clearly, he wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded, if he was good enough. But he was. That was something she could fight, and she would. She’d fight for him. For them. “Adam?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s something more I want to say. Okay?”

His laugh was soft, ruffling the hair along her heated temple. “Since when have I ever been able to stop you from doing what you wanted?”

It was all the invite she was going to get. “You always do whatever it takes to make things right,” she said quietly, using her hands on his face to tilt it down so that he was looking right into her eyes. No missing the point, not this time. She wanted him to know exactly how she felt, wanted him to get the meaning of every word. “You’d have gone to the ends of the earth to save my dad, and I want you to know you’re the bravest man I’ve ever known.”

“Holly,” he said, sounding staggered as he dropped his forehead to hers.

“It’s true, Adam. You’re a hero to me. You always were. Even when you left me, which you did out of some misguided, stupid attempt to protect me from you, of all people, you big, stupid man.”

“You’re repeating yourself.” But his arms came around her and he remained quiet. He was listening. He wasn’t necessarily buying what she was saying, but he was listening.

Usually it was the other way around. Usually he drove their conversations. Their fights. Their…everything. They were in uncharted waters without a navigational system now, and she didn’t have a clue as to what she was doing, she honestly didn’t. She just knew she had to make him understand how much he meant to her. She rocked up into him, giving him her best try-to-resist-me gaze as she slid her arms up around his neck. “I’m done talking now.”

“If only I could believe that.”

She smiled and smacked him in the chest. He caught her hand in his. “If we do this,” he said, “it’s going to last all night.”

She came undone. “Yes, please.” Up on tiptoes, she kissed first one corner of his mouth and then the other. And then full on. If it was possible to take Adam unaware, she did it in that moment. She felt it in every line of his body, and knew she’d done the right thing, making the first move. He’d always been the aggressor. Well, she was done with that. She was her own woman now, and she went after what she wanted.

And what she wanted was to make Adam feel even a fraction of how good she felt when she was with him. He deserved that. She nipped at his lower lip. Not hard, just enough to make him hiss in a breath and have his arms tightening on her as he kissed her.

Deep.

Wet.

Hot.

He kissed her as if nothing else in the world mattered but her, pulling the very breath from her lungs, sending shock waves to her very center, so strong that she had to hold on to him for dear life. He kissed his way up her jawline and licked the shell of her ear, and she lost track of her bones. Her balance shifted, and with a low laugh, she lurched against the door and fell into him. He easily caught her up, taking all her weight.

He wouldn’t let her fall. He’d never let her fall. Instead, he turned them and pressed her into the door now. She shifted enough to rub up against the front of his body, which was heaven. She couldn’t help herself, and she peppered his jaw with kisses, everywhere she could reach.

Growling out her name, his big palm cupped her breast, his thumb brushing over her nipple, which instantly tightened in response, begging for more contact. Bending low, he kissed her through her sports bra before gently using his teeth to worry the turgid tip. With a gasp, she wriggled her hips, desperate for more contact. Feeling how hard he was, she moaned a little. Maybe a lot. She couldn’t control herself.

Adam tugged her bra down, freeing her br**sts to the cool air and his hot breath, dragging an “oh please” from her, a desperate, hungry plea.

He sucked her into his mouth, pressing her between his wet tongue and the hot roof of his mouth, and gave her a rush a millimeter short of an orgasm. Needing more, her hands slid south past his rock-hard abs and exposed hip bones, all of which were perfectly cut. She dipped into the loose waistband of his jeans but couldn’t access enough of his goodies. And damn, he had amazing goodies, so she worked at getting the button free.

He caught her face in his big hands, pressing her into the door so that she couldn’t move. “Holly. Jesus.” His voice was tight, barely controlled.

“I’m trying to be a bad influence,” she said, breathless. “Is it working?”

“Yeah. It’s working.”

Giddy, she kissed him again, soft and sweet this time, snuggling into him. “I like taking point,” she whispered, and his rough laugh caused goose bumps to ripple along her skin. “I’m not doing it wrong, am I?”

He smiled against her. “Hell, if you do it any more right, we’re going to finish this right here.”

“That’s my plan,” she said.

Adam’s gaze met her. “That’s not my plan.”

She leaned into him, laced her hands around his neck, and stared up at him. “Well, I don’t like your plan. Besides, you’re…uptight. I have the solution for that.”

He didn’t say anything to this but his gaze dipped to her breasts, bared now, one of which was still wet from his mouth.

“It’s a really good solution,” she said enticingly, and gave him her best smile. “Admit it, I’m irresistible. And kinda cute.”

“The f**k you are. Puppies are cute. You’re hot as hell. Hot enough to inspire acts of complete stupidity on my part.”

She smiled and he groaned, dropping his forehead to her shoulder. “Tell me what you want from me, Holly.”

“I would, but I’m more of a show-not-tell sort of girl.” She slid her hands over his shoulders, down his sculpted chest, past his delicious abs. The muscles jumped beneath her fingers. He’d lost a few pounds this past week, but he was still ripped as hell. “Stop fighting it, Adam.”

The button on his jeans undone, she helped the zipper along and then slid her hands down the back and cupped his perfect butt in her hands, pulling him flush to her.

They both sucked in air at the sensation of skin to skin. Raining openmouthed kisses over his chest, she stopped to lick each of his nipples, registering his low growl just as he fisted a hand in her hair. “When you touch me,” she murmured against him, “I feel it all the way to my soul.” She tipped back her head. “Tell me you don’t feel it, too.”

His eyes darkened and she knew she’d hit a nerve. She pressed her lips to his heart and it kicked hard. She felt her own heart flip-flop in response as she looked up at him through her lashes. “Or maybe you’d rather keep ignoring it.”

Ignoring exactly nothing, his mouth covered hers as he pushed her back up against the door. She rubbed up against him, knowing she’d lied. She was here for more than this, and she’d have to live with that. Later. “I want you,” she whispered. “So much.”

“And I want you. That’s never been the problem.”