Mine to Keep (NOLA Knights #3) - Rhenna Morgan Page 0,62

save the one he wanted. The one he needed.

When she finally spoke, pain painted her voice in a thready rasp. “The future covers a lot of ground. You barely know me. No way can you promise me that much.”

He could. He knew himself. Knew what he’d waited for and was smart enough to appreciate that he’d found it. But he respected her caution. Her wisdom and experience. “Then give me tonight. Take tomorrow and the days that come after it one at a time. But do not keep this from us.”

Her gaze drifted down and to one side, her focus distant as if remembering. It sharpened again almost as quickly and she coasted her hands up and down his arms. A gesture that seemed as if she were trying to assure herself of where she was. That he and everything he’d said was real. Her breath came faster, and she lifted her gaze to his. “For tonight. After that, we’ll see.”

It was all he needed. One day—one night—at a time could be strung together. It was how Sergei had earned Roman’s trust. Earning Bonnie’s would be no different. Now he could show her. What it meant to be safe. Protected. Appreciated for who she was and encouraged to reach for what she wanted.

But tonight he would show her pleasure. Would stake his claim and forge a physical bond between them. He traced her lower lip with his thumb, and her kiss-swollen mouth parted on a sigh. Her eyelids slipped closed.

All the better. Her eyes had always been his undoing. The depth and expressiveness behind them. So much passion boldly displayed in their mossy depths.

Dragging his touch lower, he skimmed the pulse at her throat. Then lower, slowly dragging the moment out until the top button of her fitted white blouse blocked his path.

“You know...” Surrendering the direct contact with her skin, he made quick work of unfastening the buttons of her vest. “Watching you work tonight, I decided perhaps it is time for me to rethink our uniforms.”

Her eyes snapped open just as he pushed the vest over her shoulders and sent it floating to the floor. “It looks bad?”

“Quite the contrary.” He slipped her shirttail free of the tailored black slacks and worked each pearl button free. Sliding his hand inside the placket, his fingertips grazed the bare flesh of her stomach. Up, up, up he went until the beat of her heart hammered beneath his touch. “On you, it is too appealing. Too many men admired you for my taste, and my vor would advise that plucking their eyes from their heads would be bad for business.”

She tried to throw her customary sass, but missed the mark entirely, her words too breathless. “That’s a little over the top, don’t you think?”

A barely contained growl rolled low in his throat. One that only gained momentum as her shirt went the way of her vest. “You have no idea of what I’m capable of.” He traced the line where her bra covered the swell of one breast. Such a simple garment. No silk. No lace. No bold or pastel designer colors. Just a basic tan made of a soft but lasting fabric.

But it didn’t detract from the mounds beneath. Rather drove home how exquisite and natural the woman beneath really was. He met her eyes and found the clasp between her shoulder blades. One flick of his fingertips and all that stood between him and his first glimpse of her breasts was a single tug and gravity. “I protect what’s mine.”

He guided the straps down her arms and let the bra slip to the floor between them. Looking away from the glory that awaited him was impossible. A feat no more achievable than keeping at bay the words that came next. “Make no mistake, malen’kaya koroleva. You are mine.”

Her whole body trembled. Quivered beneath his gaze as sure as if his fingers already stroked between her legs. Her breasts were full. A perfect fit for his hands, with dusky tips already jutting for his attention. He couldn’t wait to get his lips on them. To tease and torment the tips with his tongue and teeth and explore exactly what manner of play excited her the most.

“For tonight,” she said.

For forever.

There was no point in denying it. She might not be ready to admit as much yet, but he’d owned it. Would fight for what he wanted as he had for every other precious person in his life. He released the