He looked at her in the mirror, eyes slightly glassy. “The most attractive thing about you isn’t just that you’re beautiful. It’s how much you care. How much you give. How much you love our kids.”
She blinked, unsure what to say. It sounded like a compliment. It should’ve felt like one. But it landed differently like admiration for a caretaker, not a woman. Like a praise you’d give someone you relied on, not someone you wanted to fuck.
Still, she gave him a soft smile. “Thanks.”
He kissed her shoulder, then reached past her to untie the robe. “Why don’t I join you?”
She hesitated, then nodded.
The shower was filled with steam by the time Jake stepped in behind her. Kylee’s silk robe laid puddled on the tile floor, her bare back arched slightly under the spray as she adjusted the water temperature. She didn’t turn when he got in, but her heart beat a little faster.
The glass door clicked shut. Warm water cascaded down their bodies, and for a moment, neither spoke. Then she felt his hands sliding around her waist, slowly down to her pussy.
He pressed his chest against her back, lips grazing the curve of her neck. “You feel amazing,” he whispered.
Kylee leaned into him, closing her eyes. His hands moved slowly reverently tracing the sides of her hips, pulling her closer. There was no rush this time. No routine. Just his touch and the heat of the water and the sound of her own breath catching in her throat.
Without warning, he captured her mouth in a fierce, demanding kiss that was hungry. Their tongues tangled, mouths opening in a silent exchange of everything they’d left unsaid as he had his hands around her throat.
When he turned her around, she saw the want in his face. Not just for sex, but for her. His hands framed her face like she was something breakable, precious, forgotten but not lost.
He lifted her gently, her back pressing against the warm tile, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her fingers tangled in his wet hair as he entered her pussy with a slow, deep motion that pulled a quiet gasp from her lips.
She clung to him as the water poured over them, her moans buried into the hollow of his neck. Every stroke hit just right, and for the first time in months, she let go.
His hands roamed boldly, mapping every inch of her wet skin as he pulled her flush against him. Kylee’s nails raked down his shoulders, desperate to feel every inch of him close.
He lowered his mouth to her collarbone, trailing heated kisses down to the swell of her breasts, his mouth claiming them with a fierce possessiveness that made her gasp.
She arched into him, hands fisting in the slickness of his hair, lips parting in breathless moans.
His fingers found her most sensitive places, teasing, stroking, and making her tremble beneath his touch. Every movement was deliberate, slow but insistent, drawing out the building storm inside her.
Kylee cried out, gripping his shoulders as waves of pleasure shattered every part of her.
The water pounded over them, but all she could hear was the pounding of their bodies, his growls, her cries, and the slick sound of skin sliding together.
He pulled her tighter against him, matching every cry and moan with fierce devotion.
Her body tensed, spiraling higher and higher until she shattered beneath him with a scream muffled against his neck.
He held her through the tremors, whispering her name like a prayer, lips hot against her damp skin.
Afterward, they stood tangled and breathless in the warm embrace of the shower, two bodies burned raw and aching but finally awake.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
WHERE IT ALMOST FELT REAL
The morning light crept in softly through the bedroom window, golden and forgiving, wrapping the room in a glow that made everything look softer. Cleaner. Like maybe the edges of her life weren’t so sharp after all.
Kylee woke to the warmth of Jake’s arm draped over her waist, a weight she hadn’t felt in weeks. She stayed still, afraid to move, afraid to break whatever spell had settled over them in the night.
For the first time in a long time, she felt wanted. Seen. Like maybe last night hadn’t just been sex. Maybe it had been the beginning of something coming back to life. She wanted to believe that. She needed to.
Kylee moved through the morning like she was floating a quiet hum beneath her skin. After Jake kissed her shoulder and murmured that he was hitting the clinic early to handle some rescheduling, she lingered in the bathroom longer than usual. She blow-dried her hair, applied her makeup carefully, and evenreached for the cherry-tinted lip gloss she hadn’t won since Kayla was born.
