quickly forced those emotions back, refusing to go there. Knowing he couldn’t go there.
* * *
The husky sound of deep, even breathing made Swan open her eyes. She was still in bed with David. Their limbs were entangled and his head was resting on her chest as he slept.
This man had been the most giving of lovers. He didn’t come until he made sure she came first. He had kissed every part of her body, some parts more than others, and he had stoked passion within her in a way that had made her reach the boiling point. No man had ever made love to her with such intensity.
He had warned her about them getting wild. As far as she was concerned, they had gotten more than wild, they had gotten uninhibited, untamed. She hadn’t known she had so much passion within her. He had brought it out and made her do more than own it. He had made her so aware of it that she doubted she could undo what he’d done.
David Holloway had done more than push a few of her buttons. He had turned on all the lights.
That thought made her smile and pull him closer. Feeling exhausted, she closed her eyes and drifted into sleep.
* * *
Flipper slowly opened his eyes, taking in the sight and scent of the woman lying beside him, snuggled close to his body. He was so sexually contented, he could groan out loud. He didn’t. Instead he tightened his arms around her.
Things had gotten wild. They had finally fallen asleep after four rounds of the most satisfying lovemaking possible.
While making love with Swan, he had discovered there was a vast difference in making love to her versus making love to other women. He’d known it before but she had made that point crystal clear tonight.
With other women, he’d usually had one goal in mind—seeking sexual pleasure and making sure she got hers. With Swan it had been about that, too, but it had also been about finding closeness. No other woman had made him want to stay inside her. It had only been the need to replace condoms that had forced him from Swan’s side. And then he had been back inside her in a flash...like that was where he belonged. Hell, he was still thinking that way and the twitch in his aroused manhood was letting him know just what he desired.
Flipper was known to have a robust sexual appetite. When you lived your life on the edge, engaging in covert operations as his team did, then you needed a way to release.
Usually, unerringly, he found his release in some woman’s bed. He made sure she knew it was one and done. Due to the nature of his occupation, he didn’t have time for attachments or anything long-term. Some SEALs did; he didn’t. He’d tried it once and it hadn’t worked out. Now he preferred being a loner. It didn’t bother him that he was the lone single guy among his close friends. To each his own.
So how could one night in Swan Jamison’s bed have him thinking things he shouldn’t be thinking, especially considering why he was in Key West in the first place?
It had everything to do with the woman he’d had mind-blowing sex with for the past four hours or so. Now he saw her as more than an assignment. Now she was also a woman who had the ability to match his sexual needs one-on-one, something he found invigorating and energizing on all levels. He was a totally physical male and Swan Jamison was wholly, utterly female. Almost to the point that she’d blown his ever-loving mind.
Now she was sleeping peacefully while he was lying here thinking, knowing his honor was being tested. As a military man, he always did what was honorable. On top of that, his mother had drilled into all five of her sons that honor was not just for their country but extended to humans just as much, especially women. Why had that thought settled deep into his mind now?
One reason might be that he’d read the report on her. He knew about those elderly people residing at the senior living complex that she visited on her weekends off and how she’d championed so hard for the homeless. She was working with the mayor to help find funding to build a housing complex for them.
She was a caring person. He’d witnessed her love for her country, for her father, that night at the fireworks and the more he was around her, the more he believed in her innocence.
She made a sound now and he glanced down and met beautiful brown eyes staring at him. Immediately his senses connected with those eyes. She trusted him. He could see it in the gaze staring back at him. Otherwise he would not be here in her bed.
What would she think when she learned the truth? Would she still trust him? He pushed the thought to the back of his mind.
She gave him a beautiful, sleepy smile that melted his insides. Made him wish he had come here to the Keys for a real vacation, a much-needed one. He wished he had entered her shop with no ulterior motive but to do as he claimed, which was to buy his mother a birthday gift. He would still have tried his hand at seducing her, but things would have been different. Specifically, he wouldn’t feel as if his honor was being compromised.
“You didn’t try my key lime pie,” she whispered.
“We can get up and eat some now if you want,” he said.
“No, I like being just where I am. We can always eat some later...or even for breakfast.”
He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips. “Um, breakfast sounds nice. Is that an invitation to stay the night?”
“Only if you want to.”
He wanted to. And when he brushed another kiss across her lips, he slid his tongue inside her mouth to kiss her deeply and let her know how much he wanted to stay.
He knew at that moment that his commanding officer and the admiral weren’t the only ones with a personal interest in Swan Jamison. He now had a personal interest in her as well.
The next morning, Swan woke up to bright sunlight flowing in through her window and a powerfully male body sleeping beside her.
Last night was rated right up there with Ripley’s Believe It or Not. It had been just that spectacular. They’d made love a couple more times before getting up after midnight to eat the pie she’d prepared for dessert. After clearing off the table and loading the dishes into the dishwasher, he’d suggested they walk on the beach.
So at one in the morning, they had strolled hand in hand along the water’s edge. It had been a beautiful night with a full moon in the sky. The breeze off the ocean had provided the perfect reason for him to pull her close while walking barefoot in the sand. He told her more about his family; namely about his parents’ medical supply company.
Then at some point, they began talking about her company and she found herself telling him just about everything about jewelry making. He was curious about her stones and complimented how beautiful they were and inquired how she was able to create so many pieces.
No man had ever taken an interest in her work before and she was excited that he thought what she did for a living was important. She had found herself explaining the day-to-day operations of Swan’s. He couldn’t believe how she found the time to handcraft a number of the items sold in her shop.
David also thought it was great that Rafe, through his connections with
