Furious sparks snapped and crackled in her eyes as she glared at him. He shrugged and said, “People under extreme duress have a tendency to tell the truth. I think you do love me.”

She opened her mouth angrily, the expression on her face hot.

He interrupted smoothly. “Go ahead. Deny it. But we both know the truth.”

She let out an angry growl that was half scream.

“Ready to hit me now?” he challenged.

“Don’t tempt me,” she ground out.

“Why not? I deserve it. You’d make me feel considerably better if you just hauled off and walloped me.”

Her anger seemed to stop dead in its tracks as she stared at him in surprise. “Why do you deserve a good wallop?”

He crowded her until she was forced to fall backward onto the mattress. He followed her down, bracing his hands on either side of her head, his knee between hers supporting his weight.

Her hair fanned out in a golden nimbus around her, and she looked like an angel—an angry one, but an angel nonetheless.

He spoke quietly. Honestly. “I panicked last night.”

“You don’t ever panic,” she retorted.

He snorted. “Wanna bet? I lost my mind when we figured out you were missing. And since one of us is being honest here, I’ll admit that the idea of you walking away from me panics me. Particularly if I lose you because I lost my nerve.”

“Go on.” She stared up at him expectantly, waiting.

He sighed. He should’ve known she would make him spell out every last bit of it. “The SEAL rescue team was closing in on us fast, and I was afraid they were within earshot. If I’d said it back to you and someone heard me, not only my career, but everything you had worked and suffered for could have been ruined. I wasn’t so much concerned about me as I was about you. In that split second, I took the coward’s way out and didn’t risk everything to tell you the truth.”

“There’s no one around to hear you now, Griffin. What is the truth?”

“Let me show you?”

She nodded.

Rather than rely on just his words, he quickly kicked off his swim trunks and rolled back to her, gathering her into his arms. Reaching between them to guide himself home, he entered her slowly, taking his sweet time. He savored the heated tightness of her body, the delicious friction of flesh on flesh, the way her eyes widened and darkened as he filled her, inch by mind-blowing inch.

As always, they fit perfectly. Their bodies started to move, finding unison immediately. Her strength called to his strength, his need to her need. It felt like coming home to be with her like this. Only here, with her, was he whole.