A tremble worked through my chest as I dragged a hand over my face, trying to steady the riot in my head. “You shouldn’t.”
Her brows drew together, lips parting, but I kept going, needing to say it before I broke apart entirely. “You shouldn’t love me, Kieran. I don’t deserve it.”
The truth scraped out of me, raw and hoarse. “I don’t even know what to do with it. I don’t know what love is supposed to feel like. My parents hated me. My brother died because of me. Everyone else I’ve ever known wanted something from me: power, blood, a fucking show. To cage me just to see what happened when I bled.”
Her hand reached for me. I stared down at her fingers sliding between my own—firm, sure, grounding. She didn’t speak. Just held me there in the quiet, her eyes locked on mine like she already knew the war I was fighting.
I swallowed, throat tight. “But I know what having your love feels like and I know I can’t let you go.”
A breath hitched in her chest.
“I love you, Kieran,” I rasped. “Even if I don’t know how to be good at this. Even if I fuck it up sometimes.”
Her whole face softened, and something in my chest cracked open.
“I don’t need perfect,” she whispered. “I just needyou.”
Her breath hitched as I stepped in close again, steam curling between us in waves. Water-darkened leathers clung to her body like a second skin and I couldn’t wait. Not another godsdamned second.
My hands found the buckles and seams, trembling with urgency before I said to hell with it and ripped them.
The sound tore through the shower, sharp and final. Threads snapped beneath my fingers as I stripped the wet leathers from her body like they were a fucking offense. Piece by piece, until all that remained was flushed skin and water droplets clinging to places I needed my hands.
A startled laugh caught in her throat as she blinked up at me, cheeks pink from heat and surprise. “I kind of needed those, Bash.”
I smirked, mouth grazing hers as I braced a hand beside her head and leaned in, my voice a low growl against her lips. “I think I have something you need more, Darling.”
Her mouth opened beneath mine like it had been waiting, like she’d been starving too, and I kissed her the way I’d always wanted to—without holding back. Tongue sweeping past herlips, claiming her. One hand gripped her waist and the other tangled in her hair, angling her just how I liked.
Her skin was hot beneath my touch, slick from the steam, and every sigh she made scorched itself into my memory. She arched into me like she couldn’t get close enough, and I felt the sharp press of her nipples against my chest. My cock throbbed against her belly, hard and ready, and she gasped softly when she felt it.
The way she looked up at me then—wet lashes clinging together, lips swollen, pupils wide and blown with hunger—fuckingbrokeme.
There was no space left for doubt. No room for restraint.
Only her.
Only us.
Her lips brushed mine one last time before she pulled back, breath shallow. Her hand pressed to my chest, firm and commanding as she pushed.
And fuck, the show of her control unraveled me even more than her kiss had.
She stepped out of the shower without a word and I watched her go unashamedly. Her hair clung to her shoulders in heavy golden waves, water dripping down the curve of her spine, trailing across the swell of her breasts and belly. Each droplet shimmered as it slid over her bare skin, catching in the soft flicker of light from the bedroom.
She didn’t look back as she walked, and Creator help me, I followed.
Each step she took toward the bed felt like gravity shifted in her favor, dragging me in. There wasn’t a trace of hesitation in her posture, only a quiet, devastating authority that owned me completely.
She turned at the edge of the bed, eyes finding mine as I stopped in front of her, naked, dripping, and so fucking hard I couldn’t think straight.
“Be a good boy,” she said softly, voice laced with heat and authority. “Get on the bed.”
The words hit me like lightning, scorching down my spine and into my bones.
I moved without question, climbing onto the mattress. I settled back on my elbows, every nerve on fire as I watched her approach. She prowled forward like a queen taking stock of what was already hers. Her gaze dragged down my body, slow and hungry, until I felt stripped bare in a way that had nothing to do with being naked.
My throat bobbed with a sharp swallow as she crawled up onto the mattress after me.
