Her words had the effect of a whip, galvanizing him to action. He slid his hands down her breasts, cupping them gently before caressing a line down her sides to her hips. Then he slipped his palms beneath her ass and lifted her to meet his more forceful thrusts.
At the very first plunge, he was lost. A haze fell over him, sucking him into a violent vortex of pleasure and desire such as he’d never experienced. He powered into her, retreating the barest of inches before planting himself as deeply as he could go. Until they were one person, joined intimately, him taking up where she left off.
There was no Swanny. No Eden. There was only Swanny and Eden. Together. One person. Two pieces of a whole. Finally complete.
She clung to him tightly but gave no indication that she was in any pain. Her soft moans and cries of ecstasy reassured him that she was with him.
He removed one hand from her bottom and worked his thumb between where they were joined to stroke her clit. Her entire body shook and then tightened and he knew she was as close as he was.
“Hang on, honey. We’re almost there. Stay with me. I’ll get us there. I swear.”
“Hurry,” she whispered. “I’m burning up, Swanny. I can’t take this any longer. I feel like I’m going to break apart.”
He began thrusting hard and fast, as much as his strength would allow. His vision blurred as his orgasm rose and flashed and he began spilling into her silken depths. She arched upward with a violent cry. A frenzied noise of utter satisfaction and completion.
He continued to stroke in and out of her, slowing his movements, even after he’d finished pouring the last of himself inside her. He couldn’t bring himself to leave her yet. He felt cold without her. Only with her did the parts inside him that had remained untouched by warmth for so very long begin to thaw.
He needed her. In a way he’d never needed another person in his entire life.
And that scared the holy hell out of him.
He settled into sleep, his last fleeting thought that he’d never brought up the topic of their “relationship” as he’d planned to do.
CHAPTER 26
THE night of the soiree, Swanny dressed while Eden donned her evening finery, and instead of leaving her gorgeous hair down, she arranged it in an elegant updo with tendrils floating delicately down the slender column of her neck.
She’d done her eyes in a dark smoky look with a hint of glitter on her eyelids and affixed dangly diamond earrings to her ears, and she wore a matching choker around her neck.
She looked every bit the supermodel she was. The heels she wore made her nearly as tall as he was, and he was a tall man, but he liked the idea that she fit him just right. He could tuck her underneath his shoulder and he didn’t have to lean down to kiss her.
She checked her watch. “Can you see if the others are ready? Fashionably late is one thing, but late-late is altogether different. I don’t want to piss off the Aria representatives by showing up when the party is nearly over.”
Swanny gave her a small salute and then went next door to check on his teammates. Nathan and Joe were inside Edge and Skylar’s room and Skylar was laughingly helping her male teammates with their suits and straightening their attire.
“You guys ready?” Swanny asked from the door. “Eden’s ready to go. Everything in place?”
Joe nodded. “Yeah, we’ll take the lead. You follow behind with Skylar and Edge.”
Swanny shook his head, unease creeping up his neck. “No, Skylar rides with you. Edge is with me. Put Skylar between you. Too much exposure up front.”
Joe and Nathan gave him a concerned glance but didn’t argue. “Okay, man, we’ll play this your way,” Nathan finally said.
Swanny nodded and then walked back toward Eden’s suite with the others in tow. He slipped his key card in and then cracked the door partway.
“Everyone’s ready if you are.”
“Perfect! Let me just get my clutch.”
Eden collected the beaded, sequined small purse off the bar and then went to meet them.
They immediately fell into step around her and escorted her down the stairs to the back entrance where the cars waited.
The drivers on hire were big burly men, well versed in personal protection. Swanny had no doubt they were packing as well, and it gave him a measure of relief that they