RULES OF LOVE (A Navy SEALs Romance) by Bella Grant

the disappointment she felt and mentally yelling at herself that neither one of them needed any more complications with a killer on the way. Maybe, if they lived through this, there could be something—but what the hell was she thinking? As chaotic as her life was, the man would never understand, especially if she couldn’t let go of her past.
    She shoved the quilt aside and reached for her cane when Beau walked back into her room and closed the door behind him. His eyes met hers and held her gaze with their sudden intensity. “Beau? Something happen?”
    His steps were measured as he moved across the floor. “The second we met.”
    “What are you talking about?” Her hands dug into the quilt. Heat moved through her body as she watched him stand there in his tight t-shirt and jeans. She knew what lay underneath that shirt, and the sudden urge to see it again overwhelmed her.
    “The way you move, the way your cold eyes light up when you see me, how you lick your lips.”
    She caught herself doing just that and forced herself to stop. “Natural reaction to an attractive man. I don’t see the point.”
    “The point,” he said, biting off the words as he moved closer to the bed, “is that you feel the same attraction to me that I do to you. It’s more than me caring.” His eyes zeroed in on her, taking in every inch of her body he could see, and she felt it like a caress on her skin, even from this distance. “I want you, Naomi, and I will do whatever I have to do to make that happen.”
    Eddie’s stomach twisted, but not in a sick way. She couldn’t deny Beau was damn sexy, and having him near her stirred a longing she thought long killed by the events of her past. She got out of bed and drifted closer to him. His chest heaved as she closed the distance but remained outside of his arms’ reach.
    “I can’t just hop into bed with you,” she whispered.
    “Then we’ll take it slow,” he told her. “I won’t even move if you don’t want me to.”
    She pushed her tongue behind her lip as her icy stare narrowed on him. A question formed in his eyes, and before he even asked it, she knew what he would say.
    “Whoever this guy was, he hit you, didn’t he?”
    A violent flash of memory shot through her mind, and Eddie took a deep breath to steady herself, feeling a ghost of that first hit. Just the first one, not the many that had followed. “If you want to do this, I can’t talk about it,” she said quietly. “I can’t. For now, just let it go. Please.” She saw his jaw clench and his hands curled into fists. “Beau, please?”
    He let a breath out through his nose and visibly relaxed. “For now.”
    She accepted that answer and took another step towards him. He was not the man who had hurt her. He wasn’t even close. The man before her was Beau Savage, and he would not hurt her. No one could hurt her like that other man had managed to.
    “Naomi?”
    “Taking it slow,” she assured him. “I’m not sure what to do.”
    “Whatever you need to.”
    She needed a drink, that’s what she needed, but it was out of the question at the moment. If he left her room now, she’d lose her nerve, and the pang of regret at the thought of never giving them this chance stung. No, she would attempt to be a normal woman again. She’d wanted that for the past three years. To feel something again.
    Eddie’s eyes roamed over his features to his muscled neck and shoulders. She absorbed every twitch of his body under her careful study. She asked him to take off his shirt, and he did it without question, tossing it aside so she could see his bare chest. Her feet moved forward of their own accord until she was barely a foot from him. Her fingers reached out, hesitant, and she rested them on his skin.
    Beau’s chest was warm to the touch, and her hand stayed there for a long moment, enjoying the feel of it beneath her palm. She didn’t flinch, a good sign. Delicately, she dragged her fingers over his pecs and lower