Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

What was she saying? She wanted to be with him? Even now when she could walk away from him and the entire GhostWalker program?
    “I made the choice before you ever came to my room, Kane,” she admitted. “I watched you for weeks and maybe became a little obsessed with you. I’d never seen anyone like you before. Maybe our time together wasn’t memorable to you, but I remember every single detail. I remember the way you touched me, how your skin felt against mine, how careful you were with me. I hear the sound of your voice at night, and it comforts me. Nothing has ever made me feel the way you did. If I only had that one night with you, it was enough for me.”
    Kane stood up abruptly and turned his back on her, uncertain whether he could keep emotion from his expression. She humbled him with her courage.
    She was an extraordinary woman, and he couldn’t believe she’d tied herself to him, especial y after one night of sex with him. Granted, he had wanted her first time to feel as if a man loved her above al else. He didn’t want her to feel forced or afraid, and he’d done everything in his power to prepare her body to accept his, but the bottom line had been, if Rose hadn’t al owed him to have sex with her, then Whitney would have sent another man in his place. That man—Carlson—would have used brute force.
    “I guess I’l have to spend the rest of my life proving to you that you made the right decision.” If his voice was a little too husky, he chose to ignore it. He wasn’t a man given to emotion, and being in such close proximity to Rose and the baby made him feel as if he could spend a lifetime right there in that house in the desert, even knowing the threat hanging over their heads.
    “Kane.”
    The way his name was a caress turned his insides to jel y. Damn, women had power, so much more than he’d ever considered. Rose could turn him inside out with just her tone of voice. He turned a little reluctantly to face her.
    “I would have gotten on the helicopter if you’d come too.”
    Trust. There it was. Stark and honest and handed to him when he wasn’t altogether that deserving. Why he’d been so lucky he had no idea, but she’d taken a cynical, hard man and created some kind of knight in shining armor out of him.
    “We’l keep the baby safe, Rose,” he assured.
    If there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that Whitney would never get his hands on the boy or Rose. Whitney would have to go through Kane to do it, and Kane had a hel of a team standing behind him. He might not believe in many things, but he believed in his unit.
    Each night when he left the house to scout, he scattered signs for Mack and the others to find. They knew him, knew what to look for, and they would know he was alive. They would come for him—for Rose and his child. He buried the evidence of birth deep in the tunnel where no animal would uncover it and possibly give away to the sentries that Rose had already had the baby.
    “I feel strong enough now to help more,” she assured, shifting a little to ease her sore body into a new position.
    He knew she didn’t even notice she was stil sore. Rose was determined to pul her weight. It mattered little that he’d already made the big mistake of pointing out he was the man and it was his place to protect them both. That hadn’t gone over very wel . He searched for something more diplomatic to say.
    She laughed softly. “You look like you might implode, Kane.”
    “Talking with a woman is like walking through a minefield,” he admitted and immediately realized that statement was probably one of those truths that would be better left unsaid.
    Rose’s laughter rang out again, that music that haunted his daytime dreams. He had no idea a man could fal so damn hard for a woman. He reached down and circled her bare ankle with his hand, his fingers stroking over the petals of her tattoo, needing some kind of personal contact with her, no matter what it was. He spent a good deal of his time studying the complex tattoo on her ankle. He’d real y grown quite fond of it. He knew every petal intimately, stroking and caressing her soft skin while she fed the baby or just sat holding him.
    Rose never objected to his touching her, nor did she now. She shook her head at his comment. “Women are easy to talk to, Kane, if a man just uses logic.”
    He opened his mouth, then thought better of entering into a discussion on the logic of women with her. He bit down hard