spiraling wide inside him and he dragged her against him. She rubbed against his erection and he almost lost his mind in a harsh wave of pleasure.
Arousal pounded through his body like the fire of an artillery battery, pulsing over his skin like a blast wave.
The utter loss of control terrified him, licking at the edge of a chaos he’d buried so long ago, it felt as if it belonged to another person. When she nipped his earlobe, tracing the sensitive skin with her tongue, he forgot everything except for this moment, this wild, unbound sensation.
A distant rumbling moved closer. Claire tensed, her breath gentle huffs against his skin. Evan eased back, pressing his lips against her jaw, wanting so much more but afraid to move and chase her away.
Because if there was one thing he’d learned about Claire Montoya, it was that she was a hell of a lot more skittish than he’d ever imagined. The overwhelming urge he had to protect her would only make her angry and drive her farther away.
And while the thought of her eyes flashing with anger turned him on, he wanted her desire, not her fury. It stunned him, how fiercely he wanted this woman. Wanted her in a way he hadn’t allowed himself to want a woman in … ever.
He held her for another moment. Held on to something more powerful than the storm he saw still broiling in her eyes.
Another moment and he helped her to her feet.
And for once, she did not pull away.
Chapter Six
They walked back to the lodge, the heat between them chilling the closer they got to warmth, to reality. They stepped into a puddle of artificial light from the overhead lights. Claire looked up at Evan, seeing him, the man, not the officer. “Did you really try to change Danvers’s mind?”
“I was leading up to it,” he admitted quietly.
It was such a simple declaration, but there was so much more running beneath it. Something Claire had never seen before: a crack in the cold steel façade of Captain America.
A slithering thing traced down her spine, a fierce whisper that she did not know this man at all. The man she thought she knew? She did not like that man. The polished army brass who was never faced with the choices that those at the bottom of the heap had to make every single day. But this man, standing before her? This man who admitted that he’d tried to help her change a commander’s mind? This man was complicated and conflicted. He disagreed with her but he’d gone to Colonel Danvers to try and change his plan. It was an act of faith.
Of trust.
And it spoke of something new between them: a revelation and a declaration not of war but of dark and sensual promise.
Tempting her to break the one rule she’d relied upon since learning a brutal lesson about trusting the wrong people.
They walked in silence through the foyer and down the hallway, Claire’s thoughts racing about the choice she was about to make. She wanted to turn away, to shield herself from the dark emotions he inspired in her, but instead she opened the door to her room,terrified of what she was about to do. He followed her in and the quiet sound of the door closing behind them might as well have been the clang of a vault.
She smiled as a warmth slid through her as they both stripped off their wet jackets. He stood a little too close, the heat from his body penetrating her workout clothing. She shivered and his eyes swept down her body, then back up to collide with hers. A hot bolt of desire sparked through her blood, chasing away the chill.
Evan moved in front of her, his chest skimming against hers. It was the expectation in his eyes that destroyed the last of her barriers. “What is this, Claire? Between us?”
“A mistake?” she said honestly, looking up into his eyes. “I don’t know.” She pressed her lips together, struggling not to say the wrong thing.
His gaze dropped to her mouth, then caressed its way back up to her eyes. He lifted his hands, gently resting them at the base of her throat. A
Arousal pounded through his body like the fire of an artillery battery, pulsing over his skin like a blast wave.
The utter loss of control terrified him, licking at the edge of a chaos he’d buried so long ago, it felt as if it belonged to another person. When she nipped his earlobe, tracing the sensitive skin with her tongue, he forgot everything except for this moment, this wild, unbound sensation.
A distant rumbling moved closer. Claire tensed, her breath gentle huffs against his skin. Evan eased back, pressing his lips against her jaw, wanting so much more but afraid to move and chase her away.
Because if there was one thing he’d learned about Claire Montoya, it was that she was a hell of a lot more skittish than he’d ever imagined. The overwhelming urge he had to protect her would only make her angry and drive her farther away.
And while the thought of her eyes flashing with anger turned him on, he wanted her desire, not her fury. It stunned him, how fiercely he wanted this woman. Wanted her in a way he hadn’t allowed himself to want a woman in … ever.
He held her for another moment. Held on to something more powerful than the storm he saw still broiling in her eyes.
Another moment and he helped her to her feet.
And for once, she did not pull away.
Chapter Six
They walked back to the lodge, the heat between them chilling the closer they got to warmth, to reality. They stepped into a puddle of artificial light from the overhead lights. Claire looked up at Evan, seeing him, the man, not the officer. “Did you really try to change Danvers’s mind?”
“I was leading up to it,” he admitted quietly.
It was such a simple declaration, but there was so much more running beneath it. Something Claire had never seen before: a crack in the cold steel façade of Captain America.
A slithering thing traced down her spine, a fierce whisper that she did not know this man at all. The man she thought she knew? She did not like that man. The polished army brass who was never faced with the choices that those at the bottom of the heap had to make every single day. But this man, standing before her? This man who admitted that he’d tried to help her change a commander’s mind? This man was complicated and conflicted. He disagreed with her but he’d gone to Colonel Danvers to try and change his plan. It was an act of faith.
Of trust.
And it spoke of something new between them: a revelation and a declaration not of war but of dark and sensual promise.
Tempting her to break the one rule she’d relied upon since learning a brutal lesson about trusting the wrong people.
They walked in silence through the foyer and down the hallway, Claire’s thoughts racing about the choice she was about to make. She wanted to turn away, to shield herself from the dark emotions he inspired in her, but instead she opened the door to her room,terrified of what she was about to do. He followed her in and the quiet sound of the door closing behind them might as well have been the clang of a vault.
She smiled as a warmth slid through her as they both stripped off their wet jackets. He stood a little too close, the heat from his body penetrating her workout clothing. She shivered and his eyes swept down her body, then back up to collide with hers. A hot bolt of desire sparked through her blood, chasing away the chill.
Evan moved in front of her, his chest skimming against hers. It was the expectation in his eyes that destroyed the last of her barriers. “What is this, Claire? Between us?”
“A mistake?” she said honestly, looking up into his eyes. “I don’t know.” She pressed her lips together, struggling not to say the wrong thing.
His gaze dropped to her mouth, then caressed its way back up to her eyes. He lifted his hands, gently resting them at the base of her throat. A
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