Suzanne could get used to being carried up the stairs like this. And she could definitely get used to having her clothes stripped off by the most gorgeous man on the planet. Once she was naked, she started to head back toward the bed, but he pulled her toward the bathroom instead.

"I want you in the shower." He laughed roughly as he palmed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her hips, ducking his head to sc.r.a.pe his teeth over her shoulder. "I want you everywhere. But I've had this shower fantasy all week-"

"Yes, please."

Shower fantasy was all she needed to hear. Okay, so she hadn't even needed to hear that, as she grabbed his hand and dragged him the rest of the way toward the marble and gla.s.s enclosure.

It seemed to her that getting into the shower together was more than just a fantasy they needed to fulfill. They needed a clean start, needed to wash away anything hurtful they had said or done to each other before I love you, back when they were both working so hard to keep themselves safe from the harm they'd believed deep, pa.s.sionate love would do.

As soon as they were inside the bathroom, he reached for her again. But she was too focused on unb.u.t.toning and unzipping his jeans to let him pull her against him. And when the faded denim dropped from his narrow hips to the floor, she couldn't possibly resist the instinctive pull to do the same.

The plush cotton bathmat was soft beneath her knees as she marveled over his erection. She didn't waste any time putting her hands and mouth on him.

"Suzanne." He groaned her name, his large hands tangling in her hair as she kissed the long, thick length of his arousal.

She'd never get enough of hearing her name rumble from his chest. Every part of her sizzled from knowing how much she was pleasing him with the wet licks of her tongue over his hard flesh. Not to mention how much she loved making him lose even more of his hard-won control.

She now understood why he worked so hard at it all the time-to take back the control his father had never let him have as a kid in the ring. But Roman didn't have to be like that with her.

There was nothing he could do, nothing he could say, no way he could cut loose that would frighten her away. Especially when she wanted to cut loose with him in exactly the same ways. Suzanne was finally ready to give play to the deep pa.s.sions, and the wildness, that she'd always kept caged up.

Still, she wasn't surprised when he drew back from her mouth so that he could pull her back to her feet and inside the steamy shower. Tonight, they needed their lovemaking to connect them as deeply as possible, arms and legs twined around each other, hearts beating together.

"If I'd known what you could do with that smart mouth..." He crushed her lips beneath his at the same time that he backed her up against the white marble, using one of his strong arms to pin both of her hands above her head.

"You knew," she gasped the words out against his lips. "That was why you tried so hard to keep your distance, to stay in control. Because you knew that if we ever touched, if we ever kissed, we'd never be able to go back to the way we were before."

Hot water rained down on them from multiple shower heads. It was so s.e.xy being in the shower with Roman. Intense. Wonderful. Every dream she'd ever had come true as he stared into her eyes with so much pa.s.sion, so much desire, so much love.

"Never," he vowed as he bent to nip at her lower lip. "I never want to go back to a life without you."

His raw, heartfelt words were almost better than s.e.x. Lord knew they had the same effect on her, making her body ache for his, making her heart swell with love. She'd felt desire before, but when love combined with the wanting?

It was more than she'd ever imagined it was possible to feel.

Safe, unthreatening romances were all she'd believed she could have. But though Roman made her feel perfectly safe, and he would never let anyone or anything harm her, being with him-loving him-meant taking huge risks with her heart. The same risks he was taking for her.

She wouldn't let him down. He'd been left to fly in the wind by his family, but he had her now. And her brothers and cousins and aunts and- The brush of his fingers along the inside of her thigh had her thoughts scattering.

"Lost you there for a minute, didn't I?"

"No, you'll never lose me. I was just thinking about how I'd do anything for you."

"I'd do anything for you too," he said as his wandering fingers rose higher, closer to her s.e.x with every pa.s.sing second. "But now it's time for you to shut off that brilliant brain."

Before she could take her next breath, his mouth was over hers, and he was sliding his fingers into her. She was so wet, so ready, so desperate for him that she arched wildly into his touch. The dark hair on his chest scratched the tips of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in the most wonderful way and when he pressed his erection against her belly, she moaned into his mouth.

She was hungry for release, hungry to feel the stretch of his thick shaft inside her, hungry to wrap herself all around him and know that he was hers.

Hers.

Joy combined with heat to send pleasure crashing through her as he rubbed, swirled, thrust his fingers against her, into her, so that she was barely coming down from one release before she climbed toward another.

Abruptly, he shut off the water and lifted her into his arms. They were both soaking wet when he tumbled them onto his bed. She could barely wait for him to get protection, and the second he had it on, she wrapped her arms, her legs, around him, and took him inside.

Every time they made love, it felt bigger, sweeter than before. And so right that she couldn't fathom how she'd lived thirty-one years without Roman in her life. She'd been happy, but she hadn't been whole.

Now she was.

As though he could sense the weight of her thoughts, he stilled over her and gazed down into her eyes. Even in the throes of pa.s.sion, he was so honorable, so protective. Roman was already the best boyfriend, the most incredible lover, she could ever ask for. And one day, she knew he would be the best father in the world too.

"I love you." She never wanted to keep her feelings from him again. "I love every side of you. Past, present, and future. Dark and light. Sweet and rough. Even," she added in a teasing voice, "the domineering side that wants to protect me at all costs. I thought I was happy before, but since I fell for you...I finally know what real happiness is. You."

The kiss he gave her was so full of love that she didn't need him to say anything in response. Not when she already knew everything he was thinking, everything he was feeling.

And yet, when he did draw back to speak, she realized how much he needed to tell her what was in his heart. He'd spent his whole life holding everything inside-she never wanted him to feel that way with her.

"I didn't believe anyone could love me with all my darkness, my scars, my mistakes. Especially not a woman who could have anyone. But I still couldn't stop falling for you, couldn't keep from loving you more every day, every hour, every second."

His body echoed his words as he wrapped his hands around her hips and thrust hard, sending pleasure exploding through her as he gave them what they both needed. Wild, reckless, desperate, wondrous lovemaking that sent their bodies-and hearts-soaring.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE.

Suzanne was already up and sitting at Roman's kitchen island behind her computer by the time the door buzzer went off at six thirty the next morning.

"We're here for Suzanne," Alec Sullivan growled from the sidewalk below. "Let us in."

All out of clean clothes from the bag she'd packed for Smith and Valentina's wedding, she'd chosen to put on one of Roman's long-sleeved shirts. She'd wrapped one of his belts twice around her waist and rolled the sleeves up to her elbows, transforming his shirt into something that looked like a dress. A dress he was already dying to strip off. Knowing she was wearing only a pair of his boxer briefs beneath his shirt didn't make it any easier to keep his hands off her.

But if Roman was ever going to have a prayer of convincing her family to accept him as Suzanne's boyfriend-rather than the bodyguard who had overstepped his bounds-he knew better than to be caught pawing at her in his kitchen.

He moved away from the coffee machine, where he'd been brewing them some much-needed caffeine. But instead of answering his doorbell, he put his arms around Suzanne from behind, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "So even if your brothers try to boot me all the way to h.e.l.l to keep me from you, I'm not going anywhere."

He'd said the same words to her at her father's lake house. But that was when he'd still been trying to convince himself that saying I'm not going anywhere was only about his job to keep her safe. The truth was that he'd always meant it on a much deeper level. He'd already been in love with her, whether he'd been ready to admit it to himself or not.

Suzanne spun around on the stool to stand up in the circle of his arms. "Trust me, they won't be booting you anywhere." She slid her hands into his and threaded their fingers together. "Not once they realize you're exactly the man they've been wanting for me all along."

He wasn't nearly as certain that her brothers were going to accept him that easily, but since Alec, Harry, and Drake were waiting downstairs, he lifted their joined hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of each one. The buzzer went off a good half-dozen times in rapid succession, with threatening sounds coming from Alec.

"Although," she said with a little quirk of her lips, "letting them in before my brother busts a vein would probably be a good first step."

He reluctantly let her go to hit the b.u.t.ton that unlocked the thick metal door downstairs. "Come on up."

After opening the door to his loft, Suzanne moved beside him to take his hand again. Though he knew the sight of their linked hands would be enough to rile Alec as soon as he walked inside, Roman didn't pull away. Instead, he drew her closer.

She was smiling up at him when her family got out of the elevator, not looking at all worried about the fury heading their way. Her three brothers, her father, and Rosa were all there, along with her friend Calvin, the mayor from Summer Lake. Every one of them had come to support Suzanne.

As expected, Alec immediately snarled upon seeing Suzanne's hand in Roman's. And when he realized she was wearing his shirt as a dress, he looked close to apoplectic, given that it obviously wasn't the sort of thing a woman did with a friend. Only with a lover.

Releasing Roman's hand, Suzanne drew Alec in for a hug before he could throw any punches, and somehow managed to keep a hold on him while she hugged everyone else too. She might have told Roman she wasn't worried about how things were going to go down this morning, but she clearly wasn't taking any chances on fists flying either.

As soon as the group hug broke apart, she went straight back into Roman's arms. Alec slammed the loft door behind him in fury, but before he could speak, Roman needed them all to understand what he wished he'd been brave enough to own up to at the lake, that night on the dock.

"I love Suzanne."

He made sure to look each of them in the eye. Alec, Harry, Drake, Rosa, Calvin. And especially Suzanne's father, who had left his home in the Adirondacks to come back to the city that haunted him to help his daughter.

William Sullivan hadn't been a great father. But Suzanne had helped her father see that he didn't need to let his past mistakes define his future anymore. She'd shown Roman the very same thing.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for her," he told the group. "Nothing I wouldn't give. No battle I wouldn't fight."

He hadn't planned it, but didn't think twice before doing what felt right, what he needed to do, what he knew she needed too. Roman kissed Suzanne. In front of everyone.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright when he finally lifted his lips from hers. She smiled at him, a smile so full of joy and love that it turned his heart inside out.

"I feel the exact same way about Roman," she told her family and friends as she leaned deeper into the crook of his arm. "We've got a lot of work to do if we're going to figure out who's behind the server attacks, the phone calls, and the fire. So if any of you have something to say, I'd appreciate it if you'd say it now. To both of us."

Alec didn't waste any time stepping into the fray, getting directly in Roman's face. "You lying son of a b.i.t.c.h. You admitted you weren't capable of changing your stripes. You promised us you would end things so that Suzanne could find someone good. Someone who could treat her the way she deserves. And now you have the nerve to stand here and tell us you lied?"

Roman couldn't blame Alec for coming at him like this. Roman had been so mixed up at Smith and Valentina's wedding-deeply conflicted not only about what he wanted and what he thought he was worthy of having, but who he was worthy of being as well.

"I wasn't only lying to you guys, I was lying to myself. Lying about my feelings for Suzanne because I was scared out of my mind about them. I'm not proud of my past. There are a lot of people I've treated poorly." Not only the guys he'd pummeled in the ring, but also the women whose hearts he'd stomped on without a second thought. "But your sister will never be one of them. She thinks I'm worthy of her and I'm d.a.m.n well going to do everything I possibly can to prove to her-to all of you-that I am. You used to trust me, Alec. If you can ever trust me again, trust that I won't hurt her."

Suzanne reached out to put a hand on her brother's arm. "I know everything," she said softly. "I know about Roman's childhood. I know about how he's behaved with the women he's dated. He hasn't kept anything from me-and I haven't kept anything from him. I know you're worried that he's going to break my heart, but can't you see that the only thing that would truly break my heart is not being with him?"

A play of emotions crashed across Alec's face. "G.o.dd.a.m.n it." He dragged Suzanne out of Roman's arms and into his. "I thought you'd stop being such a pain in the a.s.s once you grew up."

"Are you kidding?" She laughed, though tears were streaming down her face. "Little sisters never stop antagonizing their big brothers." Drawing back, she looked around at everyone else. "Does anyone else have an issue with my new boyfriend?"

Roman had spent his entire career protecting people, only to lose his heart to a woman who would never stop protecting him. Life, he was starting to realize, was funny that way. No matter how hard you tried to stay on the course you thought was the right one, sometimes it took a few wrong turns to make you realize you were finally in the place you were meant to be.

In his case, that meant falling head over heels in love with a woman so incredible that he'd never stop being awestruck that she was his.

Drake and Rosa smiled as they shook their heads. "For the record," Drake said, "I've never had any real issues with the two of you being together."

"Same here," Harry agreed. "History matters, but as I tell my students all day long, the whole point of learning from our screw-ups is so we can do things better the next time around." He shot Roman a serious look. "Just to be clear, that doesn't mean I'm giving you license to screw up with my sister."

"Of course we're going to screw up," Suzanne interjected. "Because we're human." She turned back to Roman. "But we're also going to love each other enough to get past our mistakes with each other, aren't we?"

G.o.d, he loved this woman. "We are."

When Suzanne looked to Calvin next, Roman understood that as one of her closest friends from childhood-and an honorary Sullivan, from what Roman had seen during the wedding-Calvin's opinion clearly mattered to her.

"Finding someone to love, and having them love you back, that's a big deal. Pretty much the biggest deal there is. Especially if you're both committed to doing whatever it takes to keep that love alive." Grief seemed to flash through the other man's eyes for a split second before he smiled at them. "I'm happy for you, Suz, Roman."

Which left Suzanne's father still to weigh in. Roman knew how much was riding on his approval, and he prayed they'd get it.

"If I had been a better father," William finally said in a voice that resonated with emotion, "your brothers wouldn't have had to step in to watch over you when I wasn't there to do it. But I'm glad they did, because you've had three protectors instead of just one. And now," her father said as he met Roman's gaze and held it, "I'm even more thankful that you have another man who would give his life for you."

Roman had accepted a long time ago that he'd never be able to respect his own father, but as Suzanne threw herself into William's arms, he was glad she didn't have to do the same. He knew now that her father wasn't going to quit working to win back her trust and her love, no matter how humbling or difficult that might be for him.

While Alec still didn't look thrilled about how things had gone down, he didn't look like he was going to hire a hit man to take Roman out, either. Then again, he hadn't yet heard the final piece of news.

"I'm not working as Suzanne's bodyguard anymore."

Harry frowned, clearly confused. "I know you weren't going to let us pay you and were planning to find someone else to protect Suzanne, but surely now that we've hashed everything out-"

"She doesn't need a bodyguard." He nearly laughed out loud at the triumphant look she gave everyone. "She's already told you this, but now I'm going to reinforce it. Suzanne does a d.a.m.ned fine job of watching over herself. Just the way all of you do. The issues she's having at work-with her phone and the servers, with the fire-aren't because she's careless or weak in any way. She doesn't need some guy with big muscles to trail after her twenty-four seven. She needs to nail this sucker to the wall and then make it clear to anyone else who tries to come after her that she won't stand for it. And neither will the people she loves. I'm no longer on the job, but I'm still going to be standing beside her, just like all of you."

William, his arm around Suzanne, pressed a kiss to her forehead. Then, he looked at his sons, at Rosa and Calvin, and Roman. Though he might not have acted like the head of the family for far too long, it was obvious to all of them that he was finally ready to take on the role that should have been his all along. "Let's get started."

Suzanne's smile was a mile wide as she led the group over to the dining room table, where she'd already set up the computers and tablets she'd had with her in her wedding bags. "We need to go through three months of phone logs and server records and cross reference the information to see if anything strange comes up. For the DDoS attacks, I've pulled IP traces to find the origin of each broadcast packet for the CPU storm-"

Harry held up a hand. "In English, please."

"Sorry. What I'm saying is we need to find out where the attacks came from that sent all this garbage to overflow my corporate and personal computers, denying service for legitimate work. So for both the phone and the server logs, if each of you could note the cities and countries for each line item, I'm hoping we'll be able to put together a pattern that will give me some clues as to who might be behind this."

Everyone took a seat behind a screen and Drake let out a low whistle. "There's a h.e.l.l of a lot of line items here."

"No kidding," Alec said. "This is why I went into planes instead of computers."

"Now you guys see why I didn't want to spend any time going through these logs before now," Suzanne told the group. "It's literally the most mind-numbing work in the world."

"Work we're happy to do," Rosa said, obviously already one of the family even though there wasn't a ring on her finger yet.

Suzanne said that once you fell in love with a Sullivan, the entire extended family would be behind you. But it went both ways-Roman and Rosa were both completely behind the Sullivans now too.

"Thank you." Suzanne looked beyond grateful. "As soon as I call the fire chief to check in this morning, I'll be right there with you combing through the logs. With everyone pitching in, hopefully we'll see some sort of pattern before our brains leak out of our ears."

Her phone jumped on the counter next to Roman and he recognized the number that flashed on the screen as the one the fire chief had given them yesterday. "It's the fire chief." He handed her the phone.

"This is Suzanne Sullivan. Do you have news?" She listened to his response. "Okay, we'll be right there."

She hung up then looked at Roman. "He'd like us to come to the apartment to take a look at something the investigator found."

CHAPTER THIRTY.