Darkest Before Dawn

“Well, that’s easy enough. I do love you, Guy. I’ll always love you. That’s never going to change and I hope you feel the same. But that gift is given every day. Today? I have something extra special for you.”

“You say the dumbest things sometimes, woman,” he said, his eyes narrowing, but he knew he didn’t look in the least bit a

Suddenly she lifted her free hand to his face and caressed his clean-shaven jaw, and he couldn’t help himself. Mindful of the precious bundle still feeding, he leaned in and kissed her, tenderly exploring her mouth, absorbing her taste, something he would never grow tired of.

When he finally pulled away, her cheeks were flushed and desire reflected in her half-lidded warm brown eyes.

“How much longer before he finishes with his mother and goes down for his nap so his father can steal her for a while?” Hancock said in a voice thick with arousal.

Other parts of him were just as thick, as heavy, and as aching.

She laughed. “He only just woke up. He has a few hours yet before naptime.”

Hancock bit back a curse. If he weren’t such a paranoid, overprotective bastard, he would have taken the numerous offers from his and Honor’s families to keep Reece for an extended a

But they rarely left the island. A brief black thought flickered through his mind. Did Honor feel like a prisoner? Never let out and never allowed the freedom to come and go as she pleased? Hancock was a controlling bastard. She never left the island without him. He never left her on the island alone.

Most women would feel stifled and grow to resent such restrictions, but not Honor. That fact still didn’t prevent him from worrying that one day . . . He shook off the dark thoughts. He wouldn’t go there. Honor had assured him that she loved their life. That she loved him.

“Will you burp him and then put him in his bouncer for me?”

Honor’s sweetly worded request broke through his dour thoughts, and he sprang into action, gingerly sliding his large, clumsy hands beneath Reece’s head and diapered bottom, lifting him up to his shoulder so he could pat Reece’s back. A few minutes and several impressive belches later, Hancock laughed and eased the baby into the bouncer that overlooked the sandy beach and sparkling water.

When he turned back, his wife’s eyes twinkled with merriment, and he sent her his best ferocious glare. It amused her to no end that even now he was still convinced that he was going to drop the baby or crush his tiny little body with hands that had, until now, been used as weapons. For violence, not tenderness. To inflict pain, not offer comfort.

She patted the space beside her as she repositioned herself on the couch. It was too bad, because her former pose gave him a very good view of her breasts, which were still more rounded. She reached for a plate and handed it to him and then retrieved the other and they sat side by side enjoying the breakfast Hancock had prepared.

She ate while he simply enjoyed watching her. Watching her never got old.

God, he loved this woman.

Honor studied Guy from underneath her eyelashes. Even if she couldn’t feel his heated stare, she’d know he was watching her. He always watched her. In the begi

Very seriously, he’d told her that she was the most beautiful thing in his world and that he still had a hard time believing she belonged to him. And she did belong to him in every possible way.

He’d warned her of his possessiveness. His dominance. His need to control every aspect of his life—their life. And his absolute dedication to keeping her safe at all times. As though that part of his personality would frighten her away. At times, she could feel his restraint. Could feel him holding back because of his fear of driving her away, but she was having none of that and she let him know it very forcefully. She wanted the real Guy or nothing at all.

It had taken considerable patience on her part, and at times he still needed to be convinced that things he considered faults were things she not only loved but also reveled in. She needed them. She needed him. God, how she needed and loved him with every breath in her body.

While he worried about her contentment, she worried about his happiness. His life had done a complete 180 in the last year. He no longer lived every day knowing it could be his last, and as crazy as it sounded, she knew he thrived on it. Not because he was an adrenaline junky or enjoyed it. But because he truly wanted to make a difference in the world. Protect the i

And the very people who had formed Titan, for the greater good, had turned on him and his teammates, branding them outcasts and traitors because Guy and his men were no longer willing to do their dirty work for them.

She hated them for that. For tarnishing Guy’s honor and daring to question their motives. Pure motives when they were the very best of men, protecting those who had no one to protect them. Standing up for those without voices and rebelling against those who betrayed their country and the citizens they’d sworn to represent.

She leaned forward to set her empty plate on the coffee table, but Guy intercepted, taking it from her, sliding it onto the wooden surface and then pulling her into his arms, tucking her under his shoulder and against his muscled frame.

A sigh of contentment whispered past her lips as she melted against him.

“You sound happy,” he said in a pleased tone.

“Oh I am,” she breathed.

She tilted her head up just enough that she could take in his beloved features. The sensual mouth, the warmth in his eyes and his firm jaw and defined cheekbones. She feathered one hand over his chest, coming to rest over his heart, feeling the steady, reassuring beat against her palm.

“Do you remember our wedding?”

He gave her a look that suggested she’d lost her mind. “Like I’d ever forget the day you officially became mine? I remember every single second. I’m not likely to ever forget a moment of it. Or the way you looked. The sound of you saying, ‘I do.’ The way I forgot that anyone else was there when I tasted the sweetness of your mouth and kissed you forever and didn’t want to ever stop. How time stopped and for that single moment in time it was just you and me. Together. Vowing to spend the rest of our lives together. You have no idea what that day meant to me, Honor. I think of it every night after I’ve made love to you and you drift off to sleep in my arms, and I simply watch you, holding you close and I replay our wedding in my mind.”

“Wow,” she whispered, heat flooding her cheeks, love filling her heart to near bursting.

“It’s a day I’ll carry with me every day for the rest of my life,” he said with utter seriousness. “Because on that day you gave me something very precious, Honor. You gave me yourself, and I take that—will always take that very seriously. I’ll never take it, or you and our child, for granted.”

“I love you,” she said in an aching voice infused with emotion he couldn’t possibly miss.

He kissed her, long and lingering, even as Reece gurgled happily as he kicked and waved his arms in his bouncer. “And I love you, Honor Hancock. Always. Forever.”

She settled more fully into his arms, snuggling into his heat and his strength, her fingers caressing a random pattern over his chest.

“Do you miss them? Do you ever regret not remaining with your team? Walking away and never looking back?”