Page 82 of Trusting a Warrior

“I don’t have to see it to know it’s there.” She smiled. “Kind of like Tyler being at peace. It’s not something I can see, but I need to believe it exists, for my own sake.”

Geo went still. “I’ve struggled with that, too. Is Cade at peace now? Is that how it works?”

Lani’s heart ached at the thread of anguish running through his words. “A suicide-attempt survivor came to talk to our group a few weeks ago. He told us that when he finally made his plan, it was the first time in a long time he’d felt relief, that knowing there would soon be an end to his pain was a strange sort of peace all on its own.” She swallowed hard. “So yes, I believe that’s how it works.”

Geo closed his eyes, and with a pat to his shoulder, she went back to the groceries. As she stood on tiptoe to put the box of pasta high on the shelf, she heard his footsteps behind her.

“You have no idea how much you’ve helped me tonight. Thank you.”

“I’m glad.”

“You’re amazing,” he went on softly. “Wise, compassionate, patient...” A pause. “Not to mention so beautiful it hurts.”

She let out a hoarse chuckle, a pleasurable tingle going through her. “Well, as to the first part, I have a great therapist. The second? All a matter of opinion.”

“Hmm. It’s definitely my opinion that you’re beautiful.” Geo rested his hands lightly on her hips. “And sweet. Oh, and sexy. Should I go on?”

The tingle turned into a blaze of heat that pooled low in her belly. “Umm, sexy?” she quavered. “Nah.”

“Mm-hmm.” Leaning down, he brushed his lips over her bare shoulder. “Sexy. As. Hell.”

Lani’s knees turned to jelly as he placed tiny, open-mouthed kisses along her shoulder and up into the curve of her neck. Helplessly, she tilted her head to the side, and Geo let out a low growl, biting down lightly on the tendon there, his tongue soothing the tiny sting. His breath was ragged in her ear, the hard ridge pressing into her hip unmistakable.

Her heartbeat immediately kicked into overdrive, her blood racing hot through her veins. It’d been so long since she’d made love to a man she cared about, and one who cared about her in return. The overwhelming desire to be held by him, to feel him against her—inside her—swept over her in a dizzying wave.

All she’d have to do was turn around and take him in her arms.

“Lani?” he whispered hoarsely in her ear. “Do you want me to stop?”

Did she? She’d be going into this with no illusions, no stars in her eyes. Geo wasn’t right for her, and he’d made it crystal clear that getting back to his unit was his only goal.

As for her, she could handle her burgeoning feelings. She’d have to, because life with a SEAL wasn’t in the cards for her and never would be. But he was here now, and he wanted her, and Lord knew she wanted him with every fiber of her being.

So Lani drew in a deep breath...

And turned.

Chapter Seventeen

“I don’t want you to stop.”

Geo went boneless as she ran her palms up over his chest to wrap her arms around his neck. She lifted her face and, heart thumping, body aching, he brushed their lips together lightly, once, twice.

“Mmm,” she breathed. “More.”

Her kiss this time was lusher, deeper, a melding of mouths that stole every last bit of his breath. He poured all of his longing into it, his need, and he fought to keep his hands gentle despite wanting to crush her close and never let her go.

When she pulled away, he grunted a protest, but Lani just threaded their fingers together to lead him down the hall to her bedroom, where she turned and moved languidly back into his arms.

He rested his hands on her hips as she gazed up at him, her eyes soft, her face dappled by the moonlight streaming in through the blinds on the window.

“So beautiful,” he murmured. “I wish...”

That I could freeze this moment in time.

Her voice a mere thread of sound, Lani whispered, “Kiss me.”

He did, his senses awash in the heat of her lips and tongue, the yielding softness of her body against his. Linking her arms tightly around his neck, she pressed closer, and they danced their way toward the soft, inviting bed.