Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

winced. “What the hel .” He frowned at her, slightly offended at her pragmatic approach. “I’m not a science project, Rose.”
    “Real y?” She tilted her head to look up at him, her dark eyes running over his frame, dwel ing for one long moment on the hard evidence of his arousal.
    “I rather thought of you as a very delicious science project.”
    Maybe the idea of being a science project wasn’t so bad after al . He liked the way she was looking at him with such interest. Yeah. He could definitely handle being her project, especial y if she thought of him as delicious. He was stil cupping her breast in his palm, his thumb sliding back and forth over the firm mound. He felt the shiver of awareness going through her.
    Rose deftly switched the baby from her right side to her left. He kept his hand supporting her breast while the baby latched on. “There’s something real y beautiful about a woman feeding a man’s baby,” he murmured, grateful she didn’t hide her body from him.
    “Do you think so? I was afraid that after having a baby you wouldn’t find me attractive. It seems that men always lose interest in a woman after she gives birth to a child.”
    He straightened, shocked. “Why would you think that?”
    Little frown lines appeared around her mouth. He had a mad urge to kiss them away. Instead, he waited for her answer, intrigued by her thinking.
    “It’s not as if I know anything about relationships; none of us do,” Rose admitted. “We read newspapers and it seems as if everyone gets a divorce after they have children. Either that,” she looked him in the eye, “or men can’t be faithful, in which case, there’s no reason to bother with getting married.”
    He would have laughed, but he could see that not only was she serious, but she was worried as wel . Trusting him with her future was a difficult thing when Rose had been locked up her entire life. She’d only had a few months of freedom. She needed reassurance. She was being courageous in taking the steps she was taking at giving their son two parents. He was a stranger to her.
    Kane crouched down beside the chair, stroking his thumb one last time over her breast, trailing his fingers over the baby’s head before framing Rose’s face with both hands. “I think any long-term relationship wil have rough patches, Rose, but my loyalty to you wil be absolute. I can’t say what it’s like for other men, but I’m wired to be a one-woman man. That woman is you. Everything about you appeals to the man I am. I find you amazing. Having my child only makes you more beautiful to me, not less so. Even your breast-feeding the baby is damned sexy.”
    She studied his eyes for a long time before he was rewarded with her slow smile. “You’re a little bit crazy, but I like you that way.”
    “I won’t always be easy to live with, Rose. I can be a bit of a dictator, and I suspect that’s the last thing you want after being a prisoner for so many years. I’ve always known what I wanted, and I want you, but I also want you to feel as if you have choices.”
    Sebastian’s eyes had closed. Only occasional y was he actual y suckling in his sleep, and she gently removed him and put him upright on her shoulder, patting him. “I think we need to read more in that pregnancy book. I only got as far as the birth of the baby, not when the mother could safely have sex again, because I’m beginning to think that’s a very important chapter.”

    Kane leaned in to kiss her. He loved the taste and scent of her. He loved her response, the way she opened her mouth to him, gave herself to him, the tentative fol owing of his lead, such a mixture of innocent and unknowing temptress. His hand cupped the back of her head, al that silky hair sliding against his palm. Her mouth was warm and sweet and addictive. He could spend the rest of his life kissing her.
    Deliberately he let her take her time exploring, her tongue sliding gently along his, until he needed more. He deepened the kiss, a little more aggressive, feeling need rising, enjoying the way it took his mind and body, took his breath and exchanged with hers. Her soft, breathy moan went straight to his groin. There was no stopping, not now when she’d set off a craving that could never quite be sated. He kissed her again and again until they both were gasping for air.
    He lifted his mouth inches from hers, staring into her dark, melting eyes. She touched her tongue to her lips, and he glanced