He neither minimized it nor swept it under the rug.
Rather…
He embraced that love and devastation as being a part of her.
He accepted the pain and the guilt and the torment he innately knew plagued her.
Accepted and even…welcomed…it all.
This struck a curious chord deep within her. So that she wiggled slightly against him and he loosened his hold on her, enough so that she could turn to face him, without actually slipping out of his reach.
Her palms pressed to his bare chest and their legs twined.
He grinned, the slivers of moonlight seeping around the edges of the slate-blue silk drapes providing just enough illumination for her to make out his strong features.
“You just can’t resist me, can you?” he lightly teased.
With a snicker, she said, “That, and… Something just occurred to me.”
“Whatever it is, please let it be that you need me inside you again.”
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip.
Lord, how he so easily distracted her!
Nikki almost lost her train of thought. But she stayed the course. For the moment.
It was incredibly difficult to think straight, in all honestly. With their bodies tangled and her hands on his pecs and his at the small of her back, one gliding lower to cup her ass cheek. He snuggled her a bit closer to him, his erection nestling against her belly.
Tempting her beyond all belief.
“You were saying?” he whispered in a cocky tone.
“Right… I was sort of having an epiphany.”
“I’m intrigued.”
“You’re distracting me.”
His low chuckle echoed through her in the most sensuous way.
A sigh fell from her lips.
His brow crooked. “Yes…?” he mockingly prompted.
“It’s just… You’re so…”
A delicious shiver ran along her spine, causing her to squirm against him. Which made him groan sexily in return.
“I do have something to say,” she started. Though her mind was suddenly clouded with erotic thoughts.
Damen’s lips skimmed over hers. “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”
This brought her around.
One of her hands lifted from his chest and swept through his damp hair. “You’re really not, are you? I mean, figuratively. You are so amazingly grounded.”
“I have to be,” he told her. “I have a career that depends on it. Beyond that… I have a mother suffering a serious bout of survivor’s guilt and a niece who is perpetually happy because she’s in denial over the loss of her parents and has found some space in her mind where she’s convinced herself they’re just on more of their expeditions and they’ll be back…eventually.”