Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

But she hadn’t believed it was possible for him to feel the same emotions.
    “Baby,” his voice was gentle, compel ing. “You have to talk to me. If we stop talking, we’re through.”
    “I just realized that I’ve al owed Whitney to undermine my confidence in myself as a woman—as a lovable woman. When it was physical attraction between us, I was comfortable with that, because it was al part of Whitney’s experiment, part of his great plan to produce the perfect supersoldier. But I fel in love with you, and that made me so vulnerable to one of his games. He knew it. He had to have known it. After you left my room, I begged him to pair us together, and I could see how pleased he was. I knew I’d given him another weapon to use against me, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want you suffering without me suffering. At the time I felt I was being fair and taking responsibility.” Her eyes met his. “He knew it before me.”
    “Knew what?”
    “That I’d already fal en in love with you.”
    “Rose.” His voice sent a mil ion birds to flight in her stomach. “Fuck Whitney and what he thinks he knows. You trusted me to make a baby with you. You trusted me to deliver our child and to get you both out of trouble. You can trust me with your heart. God knows, I gave you mine completely. You walk away, and you take it with you.”
    She stared up at his beloved face, al those tough lines etched deep, those beautiful green eyes that could pierce like an arrow. He could shatter her so easily, it was true, but if she was going to shatter, better it be with him. In the end, he was offering her refuge, love, a home. He was al she needed if she had the courage to accept that he could love her.
    Kane was giving her everything, openly and honestly. She could see truth in his eyes. Was she real y so stupid that she’d believe what Whitney had taught her over Kane? Rose shook her head. “I’m sorry, I lost my mind for a minute.”
    He bent forward to brush a gentle kiss over her mouth. “You’re al owed.”
    Sebastian protested, squirming, giving a smal cry of annoyance at the change in position.
    Kane laughed softly. “Don’t blame me, son, your mother is the one who is al mixed up. She’s beautiful and intel igent, al right, but I’m beginning to think perhaps she has little lapses occasional y while brain cel s regenerate.”
    “You did not just tel our son that,” Rose said, desperate to suppress the laughter wel ing up. The relief at Kane’s reaction to her idiocy was overwhelming. She wanted to weep and laugh at the same time. Instead she was practical, taking Sebastian from his arms. “Clearly, the boy needs to eat. I’m going to be having a little talk with him while I feed him too.”
    Kane swept his arm around her waist and pul ed her beneath the protection of his shoulder. She loved it when he did that. She didn’t need protection, but it was thril ing al the same.
    “Eric is bringing the physical therapist with him again today,” he reminded when she would have sunk into a chair right in the living room.
    Rose rol ed her eyes. “It’s natural to breast-feed, Kane.”
    “Absolutely, and I love you to breast-feed him. The thing is, I must be some kind of a perv, because whenever you feed him, I want you so damn bad I think I’m going to have to throw you up against the wal and take you right there. It takes a lot of discipline and control to behave myself. I sure don’t want any other man getting the same reaction.”
    She felt the blush start somewhere in her toes and steal al the way up her body. She wouldn’t mind him slamming her up against the wal and taking her right then. “I wouldn’t say no,” she informed him in her best siren’s voice.
    He groaned. “That was just wrong. Now every time you feed our son, I’m going to have the hard-on from hel and think about your reaction to my throwing you up against the wal . You just can’t put images like that in my head.”
    She sat demurely in the chair across from their bed and settled herself comfortably. “I believe you put the image in my head, Kane. Which, given that the odious doctor and what I am very certain is most likely a clone of him are arriving any minute, wasn’t a very nice thing for you to do.” Deliberately she took her time unbuttoning her blouse. Ordinarily she would have covered herself a bit with a blanket, but instead, just to tease him, she unclipped her nursing bra, exposing her firm, round