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"Yes?"

"You. I want you, Tyler." She licked her lips. "Unless you don't…"

"Are you kidding me? Of course, I want to be with you. But I don't want to take advantage of you. I'm supposed to be protecting you, keeping you safe, making sure you have what you need. That's what tonight is about."

"Well, if it's about what I need, then you're not taking advantage of me, because I'm telling you how I feel and what I want. I don't have any expectations for the future. I just want to be with you tonight. I don't care about tomorrow or the next day or a year from now. I could have died today. There aren't any guarantees."

"You say that now, but⁠—"

"No buts." She put her fingers against his lips. "If you don't want to, just say no. Otherwise, I'd really like to stop talking."

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her fingers away from his mouth, and then he leaned over and kissed her, and she had the exact answer she'd been looking for.

For several long minutes, they kissed, exploring each other's mouth, feeling the delicious heat and expectation building between them. And then she moved away and stood up, holding out her hand. "I think we should move this to that big, luxurious bed," she said with a smile.

He got up, took her hand and said, "I want everything you want, maybe more."

"Then show me," she said, looking into his eyes and feeling like she was also looking into his heart. And it had never felt so open before.

He drew her close and gave her another hot kiss that sent her head spinning. Then he whispered in her ear, "I'm going to show you all night long."

"That better be a promise."

"It is, and one thing you should know about me is that I never make a promise I can't keep."

A wave of desire ran through her as they moved quickly into the bedroom. But once there, Tyler's movement slowed. He suddenly wanted to take his time. He kissed her tenderly and then pulled back to study her face, to gaze into her eyes, as if he was waiting for her to change her mind. That wasn't going to happen.

When she didn't move, his mouth touched hers, and then his lips slid down her jaw, finding the bruises on her neck, and he kissed them so gently that her eyes stung with emotion. She'd seen this man in intense action mode, but she'd never seen him like this.

"You don't have to be careful with me," she whispered.

"Yes, I do," he said, looking back at her once more. "I wasn't careful with you before."

His words touched her deeply, but she didn't want him to be cautious. "That was then. This is now. I don't want to go slow, Tyler. At least, not the first time…"

The sexy grin that she'd come to love crossed his face, and then he was Tyler again, covering her mouth with his in a commanding, demanding way that made every nerve in her body tingle.

"Anything you want, Rachel," he murmured. "Anything you want."

Chapter Twenty-Two

Wednesday morning Tyler woke up with his arm around Rachel's waist, his body pressed against her soft curves, and he was more than a little sorry to see the sun streaming through the break in the curtains. The night of his life was over, and he wished he could have kept it going even longer than they had. But somewhere around three or four o'clock in the morning, they'd fallen asleep. And he had a feeling that as soon as Rachel woke up, it would really be over.

He didn't want that to be the case. Not that he had any idea where this, whatever this was, could go. They were in the middle of a high-stakes, emotionally charged, dangerous investigation, and Rachel had admitted to acting completely out of character, but damn he'd liked seeing this version of her, the one who said what she wanted and took what she wanted and then gave everything back with her innate sweet generosity. She was beautiful inside and out. And he didn't think he'd met anyone who'd made him feel the way she did, which was sometimes annoyed, often overwhelmed with desire, but always interested.

They'd spent so much time together the past week, he couldn't imagine not seeing her every day. And in some weird way, he felt like he was already missing her when she wasn't even gone. That was a feeling he couldn't remember having before.

His arm tightened around her waist, responding to the sudden fear of letting her go, and she stirred. For a moment, he thought she might go back to sleep, but then she rolled over to face him with a sleepy smile of what he hoped was pure satisfaction.

"Morning," she said. "What time is it?"

He glanced at his watch. "Eight. Do you have patients today?"

"Not this morning. But I have two appointments this afternoon that I can't miss." She paused. "Last night was amazing."

"I thought so, too."

"I'm sorry it's over," she murmured as he brushed the hair off her cheek.