Page 94 of Guarding Colton’s Witness

There was reverence in every touch, but also possession. He touched her like a man who knew exactly how to make her tremble, how to unravel her with a single drag of his fingers down her spine.

When he laid her back on the bed, his body followed, covering hers with slow, aching precision. His hands splayed along her ribs, her stomach, her thighs as he touched her, learned her, worshipped her. He kissed her shoulder, then the curve of her breast, her stomach, her hip, trailing heat with every press of his mouth.

Her breath came in shallow gasps, her back arching. “Ryan…”

“Let go for me,” he said, his lips brushing her skin. “Just feel me.”

She ran her hands through his hair, threading her fingers tight because she didn’t want to let go. Not now, not ever.

“Ryan,” she breathed, the word almost a prayer.

“I’ve got you, pretty girl. I’ve always got you.”

They moved together in a rhythm that felt like theirs. Like music only they could hear. His hands never stopped touching her, setting her on fire and soothing her all at once. Every look, every word, every caress was an unspoken vow. I have you. I love you. You are mine and I am yours. Words his touches said.

Their bodies were pressed so tightly together, she couldn’t tell where she ended and he began. They’d made love before, but everything about this felt different. Not rushed. Not desperate. Just…right.

“Matti,” he whispered, then kissed her as if he couldn’t get enough.

The tension built between them until it snapped, and she gave herself to him, completely. They shattered together, gasping each other’s names. And as they lay tangled in each other’s arms, hearts still racing, skin still warm, she knew something inside her had shifted. She felt it. Utter peace. She felt…whole.

* * *

Something was up. Ryan was having secret phone conversations, and every time Sam had looked at her today, he’d giggled. She’d tried to get him to spill, but he’d run to his room and closed the door. Those two were up to something, and she wanted to know what.

Her mother walked in, there to pick up Sam for the night, something Ryan had arranged without telling her. “Where’s my boy?” Emily said.

“Hello, Mom. How are you? I’m fine, thank you.” Jeez, did she not count anymore?

“I’m great.” Emily hugged her. “And I already know how you are. You’ve got a wonderful man and an amazing boy in your life now, so you’re great, too.”

That was true, but still. “Sam’s in his room, trying to stuff every toy he owns into his suitcase.”

“No need. We’re going shopping this afternoon for toys to keep at my house.”

“You’re spoiling him.”

“If anyone needs to be spoiled, it’s that boy.”

Also true.

“Need I remind you that’s what grandmothers do? Spoil their grandchildren?”

It was a losing battle. “Fine. Go tell him he can leave his toys here.”

“Before I do that, what are you wearing tonight?”

“Haven’t thought of that yet.”

Emily sighed. “One of the sexiest men on the planet is taking you out for a nice dinner. You want his jaw to drop to the floor when he sees you.”

No man’s jaw had ever dropped to the floor for her, but suddenly she wanted that to happen. After her mother left with an excited-because-he-was-going-toy-shopping Sam, Matti went to her closet.

Ryan had said he was leaving the hospital promptly at five thirty and would pick her up at six. That gave her time to shower and shave everything that needed shaving, blow-dry her hair, put on a little makeup, and get dressed.

At exactly six, her doorbell rang. Why didn’t he just come in? She went to the door and put her eye to the peephole. Yes, it was him. Weird. She opened the door, and it was her jaw that dropped to the floor.

She’d never seen him in a suit, and whoa! The man standing in front of her in a dark gray suit, lavender shirt, and a swirly patterned gray-and-purple tie belonged on the cover of a billionaire romance novel.