I place my hand gently on my chest, then slowly lower it down my body, feeling the heat beneath my skin. “But I know that version of me—the one who can let go—exists. I feel her when you touch me. When you look at me like I’m already known.” My voice softens to a whisper. “You get me so wet it scares me. The way I crave you… it’s like my body knew you were coming. And now all I want is to finally exhale. And breathe you in.”
Hex leans in until our foreheads meet, his voice caressing my lips. “Then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll breathe. Together. I want you to be completely comfortable. Confident. That comes from trust.”
I nod. “I do trust you.”
“No.” He draws the word out and tilts his head, gaze never breaking from mine. “You say that. But I’ve learned something about trust, Sable. It’s not about words.”
He pauses. With two fingers, he lifts my chin. “I’m not gonna tell you I won’t hurt you.”
The words instantly bruise.
They knock the air out of me, faster than I can hide it. My heart stutters. Every old wound flares hot. The abandonment. The rejection. The hollow ache of promises that meant nothing.
Not again. I can’t do this again.
I start to pull back, my hands pressing against his chest like I’m about to climb off, save myself before I fall. Before he can leave me half-broken, trying to pretend I’m fine.
But his hands don’t let me go.
Hex catches my ass in a firm grip, dragging me forward until I’m flush against him, straddling the unmistakable hardness of his length.
A small whimper escapes my lips.
He doesn’t even flinch, doesn’t apologize. He just holds me there, locked to him. And when his voice comes again, it’s steel wrapped in velvet.
“What I mean is… I won’tsayit. Because saying it doesn’t mean shit. But I’llshowyou. Every day. Over and over.” His eyes burn into mine. “Trust is earned through action. Consistent. Constant action.”
And then—God—he grinds his hips up just enough to remind me what’s pressed between us.
Hard. Unapologetic. Undeniable.
“That?” he growls. “That’s for you.Onlyyou.”
Heat floods through me so fast I nearly moan. My confidence cracks open—just a little—but it’s enough. Because this man, this walking inferno of control and chaos, is hard beneath me, fromme. Fromthis. From all the messy, guarded, terrified pieces of me I thought no one could ever fully want.
His gaze softens, but his grip on my ass stays firm. One hand trails up my back—slow—dragging his fingers along my spine in a delicate path that’s so intentional, it feels like worship. He palms the base of my skull, threading his fingers into my hair and lightly gripping the strands in a fist as he positions me closer, lips brushing mine but not yet kissing.
“You scare the hell out of me,” he says, breathing the words into my mouth. “But not because I think you’ll break me. Because I know I’ll burn the world down before I let anyone else harm you.”
The words settle deep on my lips, molten and possessive.
And just like that, the fear doesn’t vanish—but it quiets. Because he’s not asking me to be fearless. He’s asking me to believe I can trust him through the fear. To let go. Tofeel.
And with the way his body moves against mine, his heat, his promise, his brutal honesty—I just might.
“I’ll never ask you what you want.” He begins to press kisses down my neck.
The words catch me off guard. I blink, unsure I heard him right. “Why not?”
He keeps descending, mouth moving across the hollow of my collarbone and every nerve below my waist strains for his attention
“That’s my job,” he murmurs, dragging his lips back to my mouth, voice like a drug. “To figure it out. To know you—and your body—better than you do. To listen. To take what it tells meand give it back to you until you can’t remember how to breathe without me.”
A flush blooms hot beneath my skin, rising in waves I don’t try to stop. My hips move instinctively, pressing myself into him, needing friction. Needing more.
Is this what it feels like to be wanted completely? To be known before we’ve even fully connected?
His fingers release my hair and slide to the back of my neck. His eyes never leave mine, drinking in every flicker of reaction like it’s gospel.
