out without any kind of emotional bond. He wasn’t just a hired hand, he was a part of a team, but while he had a strong bond with his teammates, what was between him and Eden far surpassed what he felt for KGI—his family.
KGI—and his team—would always have his loyalty, and until now he would have said that nothing would ever be stronger than his commitment to his team. But Eden had changed all of that for him. He supposed this was what had happened to Rio and Steele, the leaders of the other two teams. They’d given KGI their absolute loyalty and the team came first, but after meeting their women, now their wives, he could understand why KGI now came second to their own families and to the women they loved.
It had happened to the Kelly brothers as well. Donovan had just met and married his wife and he was taking a more administrative role, as were Sam and Garrett since they had new babies. More and more the three brothers who’d founded KGI were giving more responsibility to the teams led by Rio, Steele, and then Nathan and Joe, the two men Swanny served under with Skylar and Edge.
And he did consider them family. They’d taken him in and offered him acceptance. He’d never forget that or take it for granted, just what all they’d done for him. They’d given him purpose again when he was at loose ends and had no direction after coming off that last tour that took him out of active duty.
But now he had Eden, and he wasn’t at all sure where this would take them, but he knew without a doubt that she was a complete game changer for him. Already his priorities were shifting. He’d basically taken over her protection, although Nathan and Joe were technically in charge. But they seemed to realize that there was something between him and Eden, and they’d let him take the lead without argument—and thank God for that, because for the first time ever he would have openly defied their command when it came to Eden. He wanted this done his way. He wanted to be the one in charge of Eden’s safety, and it wasn’t that he didn’t trust his team, but they didn’t have the personal stake in this job that Swanny had. He wanted to be the one who shielded her, kept her safe. With him at all times. Such possessiveness was completely alien to him.
It wasn’t that he was ever an asshole to the women he’d been with, but neither had he felt an overwhelming sense of possessiveness. The urge to keep her with him at all times. Not to let her go.
It hit him with startling clarity that in his mind she was his. She belonged to him. Not that a woman was some thing or chattel to “own,” but his reaction to her was staggering. He also realized that this shoot was only a few days, and that might be all the time he had with her.
Panic surged because he hadn’t given thought to the longevity of their relationship, and it occurred to him now that he wanted more. He didn’t want to be a fling, her first lover, and then have her move on to someone else.
Their careers would take them to opposite corners of the world and he had no idea how they could possibly work that out. But damn it, there had to be a way. He didn’t want to let her go.
If this was what being in love was all about, then he knew he’d already fallen hard for her. But the big question mark was how did she feel about him? He knew she cared for him. Hell, she’d gone out of her way to assure him that his scars and appearance didn’t bother her. And she’d wanted him to be her first lover, so that had to mean something. But what?
All he knew was that he was already dreading the end of the shoot when she no longer needed KGI’s services. Although the threat to her, according to her father, was still out there, so if that threat wasn’t eliminated by the time the shoot was over, he might well want to keep them on.
He wanted any threat to her to be eliminated no matter how it was done. He wanted nothing to ever touch her or hurt her, but at the same time, as soon as the threat was eliminated she’d