It wasn’t how he’d hoped tonight would work out, but it had accomplished what he and Colin had set out to do—get her out of her apartment and into protective custody. He’d been surprised when Colin agreed to Ariana staying with him. It hadn’t been easy though. First, he had to promise to allow the Marshalls to have final say over everything. It was Colin’s job, John understood that, but this was the woman who’d stolen his heart and his mind. If anyone thought they could protect her better than him, they were sorely mistaken, and he’d be happy to set them straight.

Unlocking the door to his apartment, he stood to the side to let Ariana and Mr. Darcy enter first. “Welcome to your home away from home. The floorplan is like yours except for the extra bedroom. Hopefully, it won’t be too much of an adjustment.”

“Without the destruction,” she answered softly as she stopped in the middle of the living room. If he hadn’t been listening closely, he wouldn’t have heard her. He wished more than anything he could have spared her from seeing the destruction of her home, but she was too stubborn for her own good.

“After the trial is over, you’ll be able to go back home and fix it up good as new.” It sounded lame, but he wasn’t sure what else to say.

“I’m not so sure about that. Colin doesn’t think they’ll ever stop coming after me.” There were tears in her voice, and when she faced him, her light baby blues were filled with the liquid sadness waiting to slip down her face.

Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her, and rubbed his hands up and down her back to soothe her. Anger, fear, and frustration poured out of her in big sloppy sobs. John, like most men, was totally helpless around women when they cried. Mr. Darcy seemed as unhappy and whimpered as he leaned against Ariana.

“I promise you, it will be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“How can you keep that promise? You don’t even know everything. Besides, if a team of US Marshalls can’t protect me, what makes you think one Navy SEAL can?”

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong. I have to make a couple of calls to rally the troops but trust me, there will be troops, and you will be safe.”

Blinking back the last of her tears, she took the tissue he’d offered and blew her nose and wiped her tears away. Her cheeks were bright red from crying, and she was chewing on her bottom lip.

He rubbed his thumb along her jaw, and her eyes met his, wide with surprise and something else. Tilting her chin up, he lowered his mouth to hers, slowly, giving her a chance to say no or pull away, but it never happened. It wasn’t how he’d hoped to have their first kiss, but he couldn’t have resisted if his life depended on it.

Her lips were just barely parted, and her eyes never left his. His first taste of her was soft, warm and welcoming. And he wanted more. He’d tried to be gentle, not push her but when her mouth opened and her tongue timidly traced his lips, he was lost. She tasted like the sweetest wine he’d ever had, and he couldn’t get enough. When she broke the kiss, he felt a keen sense of loss. Like a part of him had been ripped away. It amazed him that he’d fallen so hard for her without even a kiss, but he’d be damned if he would to complain.

“Umm, can you put me down, please?”

“What? Oh God, yes.” He hadn’t even realized he’d lifted her into his arms and her feet were dangling off the floor. “You really are short,” he said as he released her.

“I’m not, I’m fun sized and you’re a giant.”

Again, she’d surprised him. He’d expected recriminations for kissing her, he hadn’t even asked first, just taken her lips in the most amazing kiss of his life. “I’m sorry about the kiss.”

“I’m not. It was unexpected, but honestly, I’ve wanted to do that for months.”

“You have?” Damn, how had he not realized that? He’d thought he sent plenty of signals. Apparently, he’d just been too blind to see them.

“Yes, but I know you’re not the relationship type, and after the hell Paul put me through and is still putting me through, I didn’t want to take another chance with my heart.”

“Baby, I don’t know the whole story, but I will never hurt you, not intentionally, I promise.”

“I want to believe you, but after everything it’s hard. And I know with everything that happened tonight I’m probably in shock. So take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt, okay.”

Damn, she was adorable. Standing there trying to look serious, but all he could focus on were her swollen lips from their kisses. “I’ll try.”

“I don’t think I can trust my own judgment when it comes to men. I thought Paul was amazing, and look how that turned out. I have been attracted to you since the first time I saw you in the gym, and I almost peed my pants when you came over to talk to me.”

“Really? I’d never have guessed that. You were so reserved.”

“You have no idea. But I’d decided that men were off limits, especially Navy SEALs with a different woman every time they came back from a mission.”

“Hey, that’s not exactly true. Not everytime and I don’t think you’ve been watching closely enough, the last few months there haven’t been any women.”

“Really? I can’t believe I missed that,” she said then chewed on the corner of her fingernail.

“Yup. I swear.”

“Huh. I guess I wasn’t as observant as I thought. But…” Her eyes met his, and they were like crystal clear pools of blue. “I mean, well, the kiss was amazing, but I’m not good relationship material. You’d be better off with any of the others.”

Looking more like twelve than in her late twenties, which is what he thought she was, he couldn’t hold back the chuckle. She was definitely something else. And he didn’t care what she said. After they got the dirtbag put away for life, he’d show her just how great she was at relationships.

“How about we agree to disagree on that point. You’ve had a long day, and it’s not exactly how I’d hoped our night would end.”

“That’s for sure.”

“Do you want to get settled in the spare room while I make those phone calls. Then if you want, we can have some wine, or coffee and the tiramisu, whatever you’d like.”

“I’d completely forgotten about that. Dinner seems like days ago.”

“I know, baby. I almost forgot the bag, but Mr. Darcy was sniffing it. I think I got it away from him just in time or it would have been a doggie snack.”

“Oh, yeah, you have to watch for that. He likes to be sneaky sometimes. Don’t you, Mr. Darcy?” The dog actually looked contrite. It was amazing how much he seemed to understand them. If he’d believed in those sorts of things he’d think there was magic involved.

The dog followed her into the bedroom, and he pulled out his cell and sent a text to Wolf, a friend and SEAL. His team had helped out when his ex-boss Chase and Faith had issues. Actually, Faith was being stalked and ended up getting kidnapped. It was a total clusterfuck, but Wolf and his team helped save her. Since then he’d been on a mission with them and gotten to know the guys a lot better. But they also had a secret weapon—Tex. Computer geek supreme. John was hoping he could help them figure out who was behind all the emails. He could do amazing things with a computer.

Wolf answered almost immediately. It was late, and he should have felt bad for disturbing Wolf and his wife Caroline, but it was Saturday night.

Dialing his cell, he waited for Wolf to pick up.

“Hey, Riot. Everything okay?”

“I need your help, and Tex’s but I don’t have his number.”

“Okay, why don’t you tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s complicated.”

“When isn’t it?” Wolf said with a chuckle.

“Ain’t that the truth.”

“Does it have anything to do with that woman you were tailing?”

“Yes, it has everything to do with her. I haven’t been watching her since I was reactivated. But I have been keeping in contact. She’s mine.”

“So that’s how it is?”

“Yeah.”

“And have you told her that?”

“Not exactly.”

“Yeah, this isn’t going to be complicated at all.” John heard Caroline’s voice talking to Wolf over the phone. They had a great relationship, the whole team did, it’s what John hoped to have with Ariana.

“Okay, well I’m sure you’re not asking for help with your love life…”

“Nope, not at all. I can handle that just fine. But she’s in trouble. Her ex was stealing information for the Chinese. He even tried to make it look like she was behind it all. The US Marshalls have had point, but tonight while we were at dinner, her apartment was ransacked beyond recognition.”

“Any leads?”

“Nope, and that’s why I’m calling. Earlier today she got an email with a picture of her and her friend on their balcony. It was taken maybe an hour before it was sent. The Marshalls couldn’t locate where it was coming from. It’s not the first time it’s happened, and they’re good at covering their tracks. But I know Tex is better.”

“Yes, he is. But we need more to go on than that.”

“I’ll talk to Ariana.”

“Talk to me about what?”

Shit. How much had she heard? Did she know he knew it all? Was his ass about to be grass? “Wolf, can I call you right back?”

“Sure. In the meantime, I’ll ping Tex and get him up to speed.”

“Thanks.” He disconnected the call and turned around to see Ariana in the doorway with her hands on her hips and Mr. Darcy parked at her feet. That didn’t look like a happy pose. It looked like he was toast. But how burned was the question.

“Remember I told you about the other SEAL teams that I knew. Well, Wolf—the person I was speaking to—is the boss of his team. I’ve filled in on missions with them, and they’re good people. I figured they might be able to help.”

“Help what?”

“Wolf, that’s who I was talking to, they work with another guy who isn’t Navy anymore but used to be. His name is Tex, and there isn’t a computer that man can’t hack. I’m hoping he’ll take a look at your computer and help us track down the people behind the emails you’ve been getting. Then hopefully it will lead to whoever is behind all of this.”

“Wait, how do you know about the emails?”

Shit. He should just come clean. But if he did that where would it leave them? Would she walk out of his life and not come back. He’d promised to keep her safe and he would. Even if she never wanted to see him again.

“Colin told me about them, while you were grabbing your stuff.” He felt like a shit lying to her, but her safety was all that mattered.

“Weird, why would he do that?”

“Because I told him I was going to protect you and I needed to know what was going on.”

“I guess it helps that you have a history with him?”

“Not really. He is a US Marshall, and they don’t like to share. But I told him you were important to me, and I needed to know everything I could to make sure you were safe.”

“You told him that?”

“Yup. It’s true too. I don’t plan on hiding it anymore.”

“But, what about everything I told you about how I felt about a relationship?”

“Easy, baby. One step at a time. I care, hell, I more than care, but I’m willing to take it slow, as slow as you need. Just don’t shut me out.”

She stared at him so intently he thought she might be reading his soul. He had to fight himself not to squirm. He was just about to try a different tact when Mr. Darcy nudged her hand and whimpered. Damn, he loved that dog.

“You too? Is this a conspiracy?”

“Woof.”

“No, it’s not. But he knows I’m telling you the truth.” At least about that, his stomach churned, the acid roiling over the truths he hadn’t shared yet.

“Ugh. Neither of you make it easy. You realize that, right?”

“The last thing I want is to make things harder on you. But Colin hasn’t been able to get to the bottom of this. I figured it wouldn’t hurt if we took a shot, right?”

“That’s true. If you can find out who’s behind all of this mess, I can get my life back.”

“Exactly. See, it’s all good.”

“We’ll see about that. Don’t go getting all cocky.” John laughed, and his hands itched to hold her.

“Can I kiss you again?”

“Yes. No. Ugh, I don’t know. Don’t you have to call your friend back?”

“Yeah, but he can wait another minute or two. I’m dying to taste you again.” Her cheeks turned bright pink as she absorbed his words. It was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen. Actually, one of them, she had a ton of adorable things, and he was looking forward to learning each and every one.

Stepping toward her, he waited to see if she’d back away. When she didn’t, he pulled her closer, slid his hands through her light brown curls and down her slender neck until his palms rested on her shoulders. Taut as a board, he kneaded them until the tension eased and she relaxed into his embrace.

“Ari, I promise you, I will keep you safe,” he whispered against her lips then coaxed them open with his tongue so he could sweep inside and savor her flavor. He craved her like a bee to honey and he’d never have enough.

When she slid her arms around his waist and her small hands clasped around his back to hold him closer, a surge of satisfaction raced through him. Cradled against him, there was no way she couldn’t know how much he wanted her. When she ground against him, he groaned into her mouth. It was too much and too soon. Making love to her would be wrong, and as much as his body screamed to be inside her, his brain won out—barely.

“What’s wrong?”

“Absolutely nothing. But when I finally make love to you, I don’t want you to have any regrets.”

“I wouldn’t…”

“Maybe, or maybe not. I don’t want to take that chance. I’m in this for the long run, I told you that. You’ve told me you don’t want a relationship. Until that changes, I will wait.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I want you more than life itself. But I will wait until you’re ready because you mean that much to me.”

“How is it even possible? You barely know me.”

“I know if feels that way, but it’s been five months, and I can’t get you out of my mind. No we haven’t really dated but I’ve seen you every day when I’m not on a mission. I can’t explain it, you’re meant to be mine.”

Her eyes widened when he said those last words and he wanted to kick himself. Freaking her out was not his intention. He was just so bad at this. He’d never had any desire for a relationship. It had started to change after he was injured. He’d almost died, it was bound to change anyone.

“What if I want to have sex?”

“Do you?”

“I don’t know.” At least she was telling the truth, it was written all over her face.

“Exactly. Until you do know, no sex, but that doesn’t mean we can’t cuddle, kiss and enjoy each other’s company.”

“Okay.”

“Good. I need to call Wolf back before he gives up on me.” As he pulled the phone from his pocket it rang. “I guess he got tired waiting for me to call back. Hey, Wolf. I was just dialing you back.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

John shook his head no. “Sorry for the delay.”

“I wondered if you ran into trouble.”

“Nope, I was explaining to Ariana what we were trying to do and about you and Tex.”

“Do you want to put me on speaker?”

“Done. Ariana, this is Wolf.”

“Hi Wolf.”

“Hi, if you prefer you can call me Matthew.”

“Thanks. Is Tex there too?”

“Nope, he’s on the east coast, he’ll probably give you a call tomorrow before he accesses your computer.”

“He’ll be able to do that?”

John chuckled. There wasn’t much Tex couldn’t do. If it was online or on a computer he could get in. “Yes. He’s the best I’ve ever seen. He used to be a SEAL but was injured and he couldn’t return to duty.”

“Oh I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. He isn’t,” Wolf answered. “I’m sorry your apartment was ransacked.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.”

“Riot, what do we know so far?”

“Riot?” Ariana asked, her eyebrows lifting.

“It’s my nickname on the Teams. No one calls me John but you really.”

“Oh. I guess I should have figured that. Why Riot?”

Wolf’s chuckle was loud and clear. “Yeah, why don’t you tell her how you got your nickname?”

“I don’t think it’s relevant right now. We have more important things to discuss.” Explaining the background of his name was the last thing John wanted to do.

“Is it that bad?” Wolf was still chuckling.

“No, it’s not bad.”

“It depends on who you ask,” Wolf said. “But Riot’s right. So tell me about this mess you’re in, Ariana.”