Kata knew in that moment that this man had changed her forever.

Hunter tore his mouth away, the breakneck speed of his thrusts steady as he fused his stare to hers, his eyes so blue in his flushed male face. Sweat dripped from his temples. Every muscle in his shoulders bunched with the effort of each thrust. The cords in his neck strained with every slide deep against her cervix.

“Again,” he demanded. “Come with me now.”

God, once she’d started climaxing, she’d never stopped. But when he swelled inside her, Kata’s breath caught. He bit her shoulder, groaning against her skin, and shuddered above her. A flood of heat scorched deep inside her, sending her over another cliff with a scream.

“Hunter!”

Fire poured through her all over again. As he drove deep, his pace slowed until every measured glide against her wet flesh was a pleasure all its own. Her body convulsed again. She gave a last wail and went limp against him.

Moments later, he shifted. She heard a snap, then a click. Her wrists were free. He spent a long minute massaging each with strong hands, trailing kisses across her shoulder, her cheeks. Wearily, she closed her eyes and snuggled against him in contentment as he petted her softly.

“Put your arms around me,” Hunter requested. His voice sounded deeper, gravelly, almost desperate. “Will you?”

Their gazes met in the shadows. A zing of awareness burst over her. He’d been as affected by their lovemaking as she’d been. Inside, she sang chorus and verse of Hallelujah.

Hunter lifted a shaking hand to her face, caressing a stray curl from her cheek. “Please.”

Wow, after that, no way she could deny him a simple embrace—or anything, she feared.

Lifting her heavy arms, Kata wound them around his neck, pressing her fingers into his shoulders, her body so close to his. And God, more tears welled up. He’d shaken everything inside her, forever ruined her for anything simple or casual, for anyone other than him.

“Kata,” he murmured, his voice more like a growl. “You have to know . . . I love you.”

Those words sent a shock wave through her. She gasped, her eyes going wide. Love? In less than thirty-six hours? Insane. Unheard of.

Her heart stuttered, lurched. Unfortunately, she feared she wasn’t too far behind.

“You don’t have to say anything right now,” he whispered, his mouth lifting in an exhausted smile. “That look tells me everything I need to know.”

Kata knew what he saw—a woman on the precipice of losing her heart. It scared the hell out of her. She’d rather give a public speech to millions just before she jumped off a skyscraper with no safety net. But she didn’t think even fear was going to stop this plunge.

She swallowed, hid her face in his neck, but even then she was surrounded by his musk, his sweat, his strength. And as he caressed her hair, lips whispering over her temple, she felt his love most of all.

A shrill ring sliced through the breathless silence. Hunter cursed and leaned toward the nightstand, refusing to withdraw from her body. That meaning wasn’t lost on her.

He glared at the display. A scowl tightened his face, and he cursed again, longer, uglier. “Barnes. What?”

This close to Hunter, Kata couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. “I know you’re on leave, buddy, but we just received critical intel. You know that development we discussed about your last mission? We have a problem.”

Chapter Eleven

“KATA?” Hunter reached across the cab of the truck to caress her shoulder.

She pulled away and looked out the passenger-side window.

Son. Of. A bitch.

Jerking his hand back, Hunter wrapped it around the steering wheel of Tyler’s truck as he drove east into the rising sun. The last thing he wanted to do while on leave and this spontaneous “honeymoon” was to report for duty, especially after coaxing Kata’s stunning surrender. She’d also revealed sensitive information about her family. Now, with his pending departure, she probably felt abandoned. But he and Barnes and other members of SEAL Team 4 had spent years trying to take down Venezuelan prick Víctor Sotillo and his arms-dealing gang. If there was even a chance that the prick’s brother, Adan, had reorganized the group after Víctor’s demise and was trying to do a big deal with his Iranian contacts in the next twenty-four hours, then Hunter had to do whatever necessary to stop them, hopefully for good.

So he’d promised Barnes that, after returning his wife to Lafayette, he’d be on a plane to the base in Virginia Beach by noon. No doubt, he’d be out of the country before nightfall.

Beside him, Kata looked shell-shocked and hurt. All his plans to make her safe, well sated, and head over heels in love had swirled down the toilet with that one call. Fuck.

His timetable to persuade Kata to fall for him would run even shorter now that he had to take an unexpected detour to a jungle shithole. He heard the damn ticking clock in his head. Worse, he’d blurted out his feelings before she was ready to hear them. And this morning, all her defenses seemed to be back in place. Hunter began to wonder . . . He might be able to compel her body, but her heart? The sinking dread in his gut warned him that this might be one mission he couldn’t complete in time. Her stepfather had fucked up her psyche good. The question was, how could he fly a continent away to fight tangos, then heal her during the precious little time of his remaining leave so she could be free to love? It sounded fucking impossible, but Hunter refused to give up.

“You okay, honey?” He reached across the cab of the truck to grab her hand.

“Where are you taking me?” She tensed and tried to tug away.

Hunter held firm. “Back to Lafayette. I’m hoping to be gone two days, three at most. While you’re there, you’ll be guarded by friends, men I have no doubt will do everything possible to protect you.”

Kata scowled at him. “You’re dumping me on your buddies’ doorsteps and asking them to babysit? Hell no. I’ll get some of my cop friends—”

“We’ve already discussed this. With your assassin killed so quickly in jail, we don’t know if we can trust the police. I usually only dominate in the bedroom, but when it comes to your safety, all bets are off. While you showered, I made some phone calls.” This part pissed him off most, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. “You’ll stay with Tyler for the first day or two.”

“Tyler? The flirty beefcake who called me ‘baby’?”

Hunter strangled the steering wheel, wishing it were Tyler’s neck. “Yes. He’s a former detective who’s done some bodyguard work. He’ll keep you safe. I’d rather leave you with Deke, but my sister went into labor about two this morning.”

Which was a fucking shame. Not only would he miss the birth of his niece or nephew, but the worry that Tyler was hitting on Kata would be niggling in the back of his mind. His brother-in-law would never touch her. Hunter had no such warm fuzzy about Tyler.

“I’m happy for Kimber, but—”

“Jack Cole is due home tomorrow night, so he’ll relieve Tyler of duty. Jack is the best.” And the guy was so deliriously in love with his gorgeous submissive wife that he’d barely notice Kata was female.

“I know you’re trying to keep me safe, but I don’t know any of these people. I wouldn’t be comfortable camping out at their place and having them hover. There must be another way.”

He leveled a stern stare her way. “I’m going to be halfway around the world, up to my eyeballs in terrorists and their illegal shit. I’ll be more focused if I know you’re with professionals who can and will do whatever necessary to protect you. I get that it’s awkward, but I need to know that you’re safe while I’m gone.”

She leveled a get-real glare at him. “In other words, do what I say or I might be so unfocused that I’ll die? That’s blackmail.”

Hunter flashed her a grin. “Is it working?”

“Ugh! You annoying son of a . . .” She shook her head, glossy black curls skimming her back. “Fine. I’ll stay with your pals for a few days.”

He squeezed her hand, smoothing his thumb over her knuckles. “When I come back, I’ll have a bit of leave left. We’ll work on us. I want to meet your parents, help you with your concerns. I want you to feel free to give yourself to me without fears or worries.”

Kata yanked her hand from his grasp. When Hunter slanted a glance at her tight face and downcast gaze, his guts seized up. Uh-oh.

“What’s on your mind, honey?”

“I saw your brother’s living room, if that’s what you want to call it. That hardly put me at ease. What the hell? Is regular dating just too bland for you guys?”

Hunter had dreaded this discussion. As he’d led her through the predawn shadows of Logan’s living room, she’d finally gotten a firsthand peek. No sofas or big screens for his younger brother. Instead, a St. Andrew’s cross, a spanking bench, a restraint table, spreader bars, and chains dangling from the ceiling beams filled the space.

To a woman terrified of giving up control, Logan’s living room would be a nightmare. Hunter’s thoughts whirled as he tried to figure out how the hell he could do damage control.

“So Logan and I are both dominant. His décor has nothing to do with you and me.”

“Are you going to try to tell me that you’ve never used any of that equipment?”

No, he was well versed, and she was too astute not to know it. “I prefer restraint tables and spanking benches. Not as fond of the crosses.” He shrugged. “But it doesn’t matter what I use. I’d never hurt you.”

“You’d just restrain me and do whatever the hell you wanted so you could turn me inside out. Both you and your brother are intent on locking down the women in your lives. What the hell is that about?”

He’d already explained his need to protect and sate her . . . yet push her to take all of him in any way he felt necessary to truly connect them. He’d been over this—and over and over it. He definitely wasn’t going to explain that he’d discovered BDSM the summer after his mother’s desertion. Okay, so the two were probably linked, but at this point, why explain it? It was what it was.

“That was you screaming in my ear a few hours ago while I restrained and satisfied you, right?” Hunter challenged her. “Did you think, for even one minute, that I was going to force any act on you that your body didn’t fully respond to?”

“No, but my body and my brain are having one hell of a disagreement about what I need in a man for the long term, and you’re trying to push past my boundaries faster than I’m ready.” She looked out the passenger window.

That, he believed. If not for this mission, he’d spend more time reassuring her . . . before putting some of the items in Logan’s living room to good use and giving her a darker taste of his dominance. She needed to experience more of the deep, incredible power exchange between them so she could see that she had nothing to fear. His mission put all that on hold. No wonder she felt a little lost.

“Kata, listen to me—”

“No, Hunter, you listen to me. We have awesome chemistry. I won’t deny that, but . . .” She sighed. “I liked last night. I won’t try to say I didn’t. You make me feel adored and aroused in a way I never believed possible. But I don’t think I can handle this. Getting married was a stupid impulse. You want something I can’t give you. We should be smart now and end it, before we both get hurt.”

Fear sent dread resounding all through him. She wanted a divorce? “I’m not letting you go.”

“Be reasonable. We’ve known each other for less than two days.”

He shook his head. “Not happening. I love you.”

She shook her head, gaze falling away. “You don’t mean it. You don’t know me.”

He gritted his teeth together, wanting to strangle her “logic” with his bare hands. The only thing running her brain was fear. “Honey, I meant every word.” Hunter had no idea how to explain what he knew in his gut was true. He shook his head, sorting through his thoughts. “Why did you invite your sister to your party?”

Kata frowned like he’d lost his mind. “She’s my sister.”

“But she’s married and has kids, and this wasn’t her sort of party.”

“Yeah ... but the celebration wouldn’t have felt complete without her.” Her mouth turned down a moment later.

“You wanted your mother there, too.”

Now Kata looked downright unhappy. “Fucking Gordon wouldn’t let her come.”

Another strike against the asshole in Hunter’s book. Little wonder Kata hated him. “I’ll bet you called your brother as well.”

“Joaquin didn’t answer,” she shrugged glumly. “Guess he’s undercover.”