“I’m sorry, Steve.”

He shook his head as he helped her out of his truck. This is what he got for making her talk to get his mind off the need of having her naked against him.

His pointed “Explain” got him the whole story. Including footnotes. She left nothing out. And when she was done, she started on the apologies. He could’ve told her they weren’t necessary after the first one. If she’d only let him get a word in there. But she hasn’t stopped talking ever since they’ve left the party.

“I’m really sorry,” Reena said for the umpteenth time. “I’m sorry for hurting you, I’m sorry for lying, but I would’ve done it again in a heartbeat if I had to. He sent me your pictures, Steve. Pictures from your camp, taken by one of your fellow SEALs. It could’ve been anyone, your friend, your CO. Anyone could’ve pulled the trigger or sent you into a trap. I couldn’t take the risk.” She paused, then tried again as he pushed his front door open. “Please, say something.”

“Fine,” he growled, pulled her inside his house, and kicked the door shut. “Fine. You’re sorry, but if you even think of doing it again, if you try to protect me again without telling me about it, I’ll wring your neck.”

Reena smiled. “I could as much promise not to do it as you could wring my neck, so we’re at an impasse, Commander. What do you propose—”

“Oh, shut up,” he groaned, pressed her against the door and took her mouth ravenously.

Reena closed her eyes and clutched at his neck for support as he plundered her mouth. Jesus, the man could kiss. It made her dizzy. It made her want to demand more. It made her crazy.

He left her mouth, nibbling and licking a path along her jaw line to her ear and down her neck. He hooked two fingers under a beaded shoulder strap and slid it down her shoulder, kissing the spot he exposed.

Reena sighed, her eyes closed, as he repeated the process on her other shoulder. Then he drew in a harsh breath and stopped. He didn’t speak and she finally opened her eyes to see what had him frozen. Has she grown another breast during the ball?

“What is it?” she asked.

“Shhh,” Steve whispered, staring at her beautiful breasts. “Let me look.”

She felt fire flood her cheeks. She wasn’t shy, but with that look in his eyes...Well, she might be shy after all. “It’s not like you haven’t seen them before.”

He glared briefly up at her, before returning his gaze to her chest. “I haven’t seen them in a while, Reen. I need to make sure nothing’s changed.”

She rolled her eyes, then groaned as he cupped both breasts in his palms.

“I need to feel nothing’s changed,” he whispered reverently, his eyes still on the two pale globes in his hands. “I need to taste nothing’s changed,” he growled and lowered his head, taking one rosy nipple in his mouth.

Reena moaned, clutched his head in her hands, and pulled him closer. Damn that skilled tongue of his.

Steve lifted his head, smiled upon seeing her rapt expression. “This one tastes the same. How about the other?”

He took the other nipple in his mouth, suckling gently, curling his tongue around it, pinching it slightly between his teeth, while plucking at her other breast with his fingers. “Same taste. Good. Now, has the rest of you changed?”

“Steve,” Reena breathed.

“Yes,” he responded to her unuttered plea. “We’ll get to that. But first, let me look.”

He pulled the shoulder straps all the way down her arms, and the gown slid easily down her hips, to pool around her ankles, and he muttered a curse under his breath at his first look of her naked—but for the flimsy strap of underwear around her hips—form in years.

“You’re as gorgeous as ever,” he whispered and dropped to his knees in front of her. He peered up at her face, her eyes closed, her mouth forming a little ‘o’, as he ran his palms up her calves, thighs and over her hips. He slowly stood, his palms sliding over her rib cage and breasts. He kissed both nipples, before moving up again to nibble at her collarbone and throat, before finally reclaiming her mouth. He groaned as she responded with a kiss that fried almost every single nerve ending in his body.

His suit was slowly becoming a nuisance, the trousers too tight around the fly, the shirt and tie too constricting, but he knew that if he took them off, this would be over too soon. He planned on savoring what was left of the evening and night. And that didn’t entail taking her against his door like a starved animal. Though he was feeling rather like one at the moment.

Reena had no such qualms. She wanted him here and now, quick, hard, and wild as she knew he could be. She wanted to feel him against her, skin to skin, feel him inside her, feel the bite of his fingers on her hips as he thrust into her, feel the sting of his teeth on the tendons in her neck. God, she wanted him.

She pushed the jacket off his shoulders, wrestled with him to get it off completely, and threw it haphazardly somewhere behind him. Then, shuddering at the feel of his fingers playing with her nipples and his tongue dancing with hers, she rid him of his tie, and pulled his shirt out of his pants. She ran her fingers up his naked lower back, and back down, hooking them in his waistband. She brought them around in front, and was struggling with his belt buckle, when he snapped back, caught her wrists, and pulled her hands away.

“No, Reen.” Steve shook his head, trying to clear his vision, calm down his breathing. “Protection.”

“I don’t need it,” she mumbled, attempted to pull her hands out of his grip. “I’m on the Pill and I haven’t been with anyone since you.”

Steve, still lucid enough to distinguish different nuances of her voice, sought any kind of censure toward him in her voice, but there was none.

“Anyone, huh?” he smirked.

She shrugged. “If you don’t count my fingers and little vibrating Steve in my drawer.”

He arched an eyebrow. “You named your vibrator?”

“What of it? I have a mean imagination. Sometimes I could convince myself you were there. Only you don’t vibrate.” She grinned, pulled her wrists free, and tackled his belt again. “And little Steve had nothing on the ‘real’ little Steve.”

He captured her wrists again, and pinned them above her head. “Stop it, Sabrina. I won’t fuck you against the door.”

She made a moue of disappointment.

“I have a perfectly good bed upstairs.”

She grinned, and arched her back in invitation, thrusting her breasts closer to him. “Then what are we still doing down here?”

“An excellent question,” he replied, released her wrists, hooked an arm around her upper back, the other under her knees, and lifted her effortlessly. “Hold on.”

She twisted, kicked her feet to get rid of the shoes.

“No, leave them on,” he growled. “How can you walk in those?”

“As well as you can do it with a hard on.”

“Don’t remind me,” he said as he took the stairs. “It’s all your fault.”

She giggled. “Why is that?”

“The dress. The shoes. The entire package. You should be illegal.”

She slowly licked his throat and shrieked as he feigned dropping her.

Steve grinned, shouldered his bedroom door open, carried her in, and dropped her sideways onto his bed. She looked decadent, hair mussed, eyes slightly glazed, mouth swollen from his kisses, jaw and neck reddened by his whiskers, naked breasts plump, nipples inviting, the indent of her waist begging for his touch, the little scrap of a thong clamoring to be removed, the strong, lean legs perfect for clutching at his waist...And those shoes. Those shoes made him even harder.

“You should be illegal.”

Reena lifted herself onto her elbows. “You know what should be illegal? You making me wait.”

She licked her lips, rolled over, and slowly—to make him suffer—went to her elbows and knees, turned even slower, before straightening. Still kneeling on the bed, she tucked her hair behind her ears, and grinned at the dazed look in his eyes. Mission accomplished. She shuffled closer to him on her knees and started unbuttoning his shirt.

“You’re terribly overdressed, Steve,” she murmured, kissing and licking every inch of skin she exposed, until she arrived at his waistband. She smiled as his breath hitched slightly in his throat. Two could play the game of touching and not delivering. She tucked the tip of her tongue into his waistband, licked twice, then slowly, leisurely licked up his torso. She lingered on his abs, nibbled at his pecs, played with his nipples, until he was literally panting. Then up again, toward his throat, where she nibbled and licked some more, before moving up to his ear, where she took his lobe between her teeth, laved it with her tongue, while she slowly removed his shirt.

She straightened again, ran first her eyes, then her fingers down his shoulders, over his tattoos, down his biceps, back up to his shoulders. She smiled, cupped his face in her hands, rubbed her breasts against his chest, and kissed him slowly, leisurely. She ran the tip of her tongue along the seam of his lips, once, twice. He parted his lips and she slipped her tongue inside, slowly exploring his mouth, brushing along his teeth, tickling the roof of his mouth, finally curling it around his own tongue, sliding it alongside it, savoring his taste as the kiss turned from slow to ravenous, from gentle to possessive and his arms tightened like bands around her.

He lifted her off the bed and she quickly circled his waist with her legs, clutching him to her, mouth to mouth, chest to chest, groin to groin. The feel of his erection through his pants was bliss and torture at the same time.

She released his mouth. “Steve,” she panted. “Enough. Make love to me.”

His breathing was as ragged as hers. “I thought you’d never ask,” he replied, and dropped her back onto the bed. He hooked his thumbs into her thong, pulled it down her legs, leaving it hooked against one sandal. “Jesus,” he groaned as she brought her feet up onto the mattress, leaving her exposed to him. “You’re making me crazy.”

“That makes two of us,” she whispered, her eyes firmly on the bulge at the front of his pants. “Get those off and make me see fireworks.”

Steve grinned, toed off his shoes and socks, shucked his pants and underwear in one move, and pulled a condom out of his bedside drawer. “My next physical is next month,” he explained as he sheathed himself. “Better safe than sorry.”

He looked into her eyes, saw tears there, and was beside her in a heartbeat, stretching alongside her body. “What is it, baby?”

Reena shook her head, wiped at her eyes. He was so utterly sweet, protecting her...Just as she’d always protect him. “I love you,” she whispered, and brushed the tips of her fingers down his cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he whispered back, kissed the tip of her nose. “I always loved you.” He kissed her mouth. “And I always will.” And he moved down her body, elbowed her legs open and settled between her thighs. “Now, to make sure you taste the same everywhere...”

And Reena closed her eyes as he kissed the top of her mound. She threw her head back and tunneled her fingers into his hair as he leisurely licked her slit.

“I don’t need that much foreplay,” she gasped as he tucked the tip of his tongue inside her and tasted. “Steve,” she moaned as he licked harder, deeper. “Steve, God, Steve.” The last word ended in a cry of ecstasy as he plunged two fingers inside her and suckled her clit into his mouth. Her hips rose up from the mattress as she ground herself against his mouth, riding the waves of pleasure while he soothed her with his lips, tongue, and fingers.

Steve waited until her orgasm subsided, until only slight spasms still shook her, before lifting his head, and moving up her body. Her eyes were languid, her smile that of a sexy, sated woman as he placed a gentle kiss on her lips, cupped her hips in his hands, lifted her lower body off the bed, and slid inside her in one smooth, long thrust. He groaned and closed his eyes at the feel of her tightening around him like a fist.

Reena moaned, arched her back, circled his flanks with her legs, and lifted her hand. His was there in a heartbeat, holding her steady, twining his fingers with hers. He caught her other hand, and brought both, fingers intertwined, to lie beside her head as he leaned over her. Reena clutched his hands, holding on for dear life as he started moving, his hips thrusting in a steady, hard rhythm, that made stars appear at the back of her eyelids in no time.

Feeling her clench even more around him, he thrust deep...And stopped. “Look at me,” he ordered harshly.

Reena slowly opened her eyes, meeting his blazing blue gaze and her heart skipped a beat.

“Don’t close your eyes,” he warned as he retreated, thrust back. “Keep looking at me.” Retreat, thrust. “I want to see your eyes.” Retreat, thrust. “I want to see your eyes as you come.” Retreat, thrust. “Don’t close your eyes.” Retreat, thrust. “Know who’s inside you.”

“I know,” she whispered, her gaze never wavering despite the pressure building inside her, despite the natural instinct clamoring for her to close her eyes and just feel.

“Know who’s making you come.”

“I know,” she moaned.

“I love you, Sabrina,” he groaned. Retreated, thrust once more. “Say it.”

“I love you.”

Retreat. “Say my name.”

“Steve,” she moaned, clenched around him. “I love you, Steve.”

He angled his hips. “Now, come.” And he thrust one last time, ground against her, and felt her explode. She clenched like an iron fist around him, pulsing, spasming, and he followed her into oblivion on a shout, collapsed on top of her, closed his eyes, and tucked his face in the crook of her neck.

“Aloha wau iā 'oe a mau loa,” he whispered against her throat and closed his eyes. He was finally home.

Reena hummed in contentment. Then frowned a little. She could swear she’d heard that phrase before. “What does that mean?” she whispered.

“I will love you forever.”

She smiled. “Sounds nice.”

He couldn’t agree more. “Hold that thought,” he whispered, regretfully left the haven of her body, and went into the bathroom. Condom taken care of, he returned to find her waiting for him under the sheet, dazzling smile in place, and her eyes full of emotion.

He slipped under the sheet, tucked her against his side, curved an arm under his head. “Speaking of forever, you’re not still planning on leaving tomorrow, are you?”

She peered up at him, placed her palm over his heart. “Well...”

“You don’t work for DHS anymore,” he reminded her.

“Who told?”

Steve grinned. “You’re unemployed, Reen.”

“I’m resilient.”

He nodded. “True. But I have a perfect job for you.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yup.” He winked down at her, kissed her on the forehead. “You could become a permanent Five-0.” She made a noncommittal sound and his heart skipped a beat. “I mean, you think outside the box, you’re amazing behind a computer, you can kick or shoot your way out of any situation...And the guys would love to have you on the team.”

“Right. The guys.” She drummed her fingers on his chest. “What about you? Would you love to have me on the team?”

“I’d love to have you anywhere,” he replied instantly, making her chuckle.

“I’m serious, Steve. You can’t go postal for every little scratch.”

He flinched as every single worst-case scenario flashed through his mind. “Not every scratch, but you can’t hold it against me if I go postal when you risk your life. I’m protective. Sue me.”

“So am I.”

He grunted his agreement, held her a little closer. “But we can make it work, Reen. We just have to work as a team. Talk to each other.”

“If I accept, will I have to call you ‘boss’?” she asked with a smile.

He rolled her over, rose above her, balancing on his forearms. “Only if you want to make me hard,” he replied, demonstrating what her words did to him.

“Interesting concept.”

“So, what do you say?”

She arched beneath him like a cat, licked her lips, stretched her arm toward the bedside table, brought it back, and showed him the condom she held. “I just might need a little more convincing.”

Steve grinned. “I’m game. We have the entire weekend to convince you.”

She frowned. “Do you have enough condoms?”

He shrugged. “There’s a drugstore at the end of the street,” he said nonchalantly and muffled her laughter with his mouth.