Las Vegas Sidewinders: Drake (Book 2) by Kat Mizera

you want to take.”
    “I want us to try,” she
whispered, pressing her lithe body to his.
    “It feels like you want
to play with my remote again,” he said primly, a smile emerging as he realized
she wasn’t going to walk away from what they had.
    “Your remote is my
favorite toy in the whole world,” she snickered. “I think it’s the only thing I
want to play with.”
    “Erin, I really don’t
want to hurt you.” He forced himself to ignore the stirring in his pants and
look into her eyes.
    “I know.”
    “So what are we doing?”
    “I have no idea,” she
admitted. “But we can’t sit here and make decisions that will affect the rest
of our lives when we don’t have all the information. I need time—to finish
healing, to get back into shape, whether I stay in the military or not because
there’s really nothing wrong with me anymore. I can run and jump and fight—the
scars don’t affect that—but I need to feel strong and independent again on the
inside. You’re in the middle of a season, on a brand new team, and you need to
do whatever you need to do to make this the best time in your life and your
career. Right now, we can’t be together all the time, but we don’t have to be
apart. We have until September to think this through.”
    “Both of us could get
pretty involved between now and September.” He was suddenly wary; these
feelings he was having were intense and their chances of making things work
seemed remote. He just couldn’t imagine walking away from her after everything
they’d shared in the last four weeks.
    “The alternative is
saying good-bye now, and we’ve both said we don’t want to.”
    “So we’re going to
try?” He looked at her tenderly, his hand on her pale cheek. “You’re positive?”
    “I didn’t fight for the
only man I ever loved and he’s gone forever. I can’t walk away without at least
trying this time. I’d rather have a broken heart than not have you at all.”
    He kissed her then,
deeply, passionately, until she was breathless, grasping him intently. They
pulled each other’s clothes off hastily, so anxious to be naked that they
started when there was a knock on the door announcing their food had arrived.
    “Shit.” Drake rolled
over, yanked on his shorts and grabbed a few dollars out of his wallet. He
opened the door, handed the man his tip and snatched the tray out of his hand
before he could say a word. He left it on the dresser before pulling off his
shorts and getting back into bed.
    Erin was lying on her
side, something he noticed she did a lot, hiding her scars and showing him what
she considered her good side. And it was truly amazing, he thought, running a
hand along her hip. He’d always loved tall women, and she was long and lean,
her stomach flat and hard. He wondered what she’d looked like before
Afghanistan. He loved how she looked now—the scars didn’t even faze him—but he
knew she had to have been extraordinary before. Now that this relationship was
going to move forward, he needed her to stop hiding parts of herself from him.
    “You are so beautiful,”
he whispered, pulling her to him.
    “You don’t have to say
that.”
    “I mean it, and I need
you to believe it.” He slowly pushed her onto her back and brushed her hair out
of her face. “If we’re going to do this, I have to know you, all of you. That
means every inch of every scar, every nightmare, every whisper of pain. I need
you to open up and let me in, baby. We can’t do this half-assed.”
    Her eyes were wide,
filled with something akin to trepidation, but her gaze never left his. “What
do you want to do?” she whispered.
    “Get to know you.” He
moved over her, his skin warm against hers. He kissed her, his tongue meeting
hers possessively, drawing her into him. If they were going to make this work,
she had to let go of the insecurity and shyness; he knew there was a
passionate, sexual woman buried inside her somewhere and he was determined to
find