“Yeah. I made it look like you skipped town, hoping Botello and your uncle would take each other out with their mistrust, but you ended up getting caught by Botello’s men. Everything changed.”
Chapter 32
Zoey
Itried to wrap mymind around everything he’d just told me, but it was a lot to take in.
Killian was equal parts criminal and equal parts superhero, and the shit he went through as a kid—no wonder he found it hard to trust anyone. My heart ached for him, and a tear slid down my cheek as I watched him looking out the window. His shoulders were tense and his body language rigid.
“You saved me.” I said quietly.
His head dropped forward and his shoulders hunched like he was holding the weight of the world on them. “I pushed you right into their arms, Zoey. You almost died because of me.” He ran his hand through his hair roughly, and I knew he was harboring a hell of a lot of guilt. “Rowan gave you two options, Zoey. You have your answers now if that’s the reason you chose to come here. If you want the first option, I’ll give it to you.”
I got up from the couch and went to stand in front of him, putting myself between him and the massive windows that overlooked the lake beyond.
“No.” I denied his words firmly with as much conviction as I could muster. “I didn’t know everything, Killian, but I did know that in the time I was your captive, you never once hurt me. You showed me care and concern at every step, even when it came to the restraints you used to hold me.
“If I had been thinking clearly through all of it, I would have seen all the little ways you made sure I was ok and taken care of. Looking back, I would have realized that what we did in that bedroom meant more to you than a lay to keep you out of jail because you don’t shake someone’s world upside down like that if you feel nothing.” I reached up and cupped his cheek, his gaze met mine. “I love you, and I’ve been waiting a week to tell you that.”
#
His kiss was gentlewhen his lips met mine, like he was afraid of scaring me or hurting me. The kiss was different, but his taste and the desire I felt for him was the same.
Killian picked me up and carried me toward the master bedroom. His lips didn’t leave mine until he sat me down beside the bed.
“You okay to do this?” His voice was gruff and full of desire.
“God, yes.” I chuckled softly even as I started undressing in front of him.
He groaned and started pulling at his own clothes. When he looked at me, I know he saw the bruises, but that didn’t seem to matter to him. He looked at me like I was still the most beautiful woman in the world.
Killian pulled my naked body against his as he captured my lips in a deep kiss. I moaned from the heat of his body against mine. My body melted with need, rapidly preparing the way for him.
We broke the kiss when we needed to breathe, and he rested his forehead against mine, our breaths mingling as the tensions built between us and we basked in the sizzling heat of our skin to skin contact. It was magnetic and electrical and primal.
I took a deep breath, and my eyes landed on the wound on his upper arm. It was half healed, but I could tell it had been pretty bad. “What happened?” I asked, looking to examine the wound.
