Hatred.
It was all so strong it nearly consumed me. Stepping inside the locker room, I flicked the lock on the door behind me and padded over to the shower stall that had the curtain drawn. Without hesitation, I pulled the curtain back and stepped into the water to meet Luka face to face. His sharp intake of breath when he saw me was followed by a small whimper. I kept my eyes on his, not looking down at his nakedness no matter how much I wanted to. Not in this moment, not when he was so vulnerable.
“It hurts,” he said, and I knew he didn’t mean his hands or any physical injuries he had sustained. I nodded, tears streaming down my face as I grieved the loss of his sister whom I never knew. I sensed that she was younger and he loved her more than life itself. And she was gone and he couldn’t protect her. That’s all I knew, all I could pick up from the tornado of emotions slamming into me.
Reaching out, he pulled me into him and I pressed my face to his chest, water falling on my head and down my body, drenching us both. I wrapped my arms around his back and just held him while his chest heaved. We held each other for what felt like eternity, but must have only been a few minutes. Finally, the shuddering of his body slowed; the storm inside of him eased up the tiniest bit.
He pulled back, taking my face out of the water and stroking his thumb over my bottom lip, which sent a wave of fire through my body. “I want you, Aspen Rose, in every way possible. Itkillsme.”
He ran his eyes slowly down my soaking wet form and heat burst to life between my legs. I wanted him too.
Rushing forward, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his mouth to mine. A strangled moan ripped from his lips as I inserted my tongue into his mouth. The warm water trickled slowly down my neck and between our bodies.
His grief was like a raw open wound, and with each kiss and lap of our tongues I felt it ease and stitch back together. He fumbled with the button of my shorts and I froze, pulling away from him to look at him more clearly. His fingers stopped just at the top of my underwear, his eyes like molten lava.
The only sound was water beating on tile and the panting of my breath, but now I was about to douse ice water on this fire.
“I’m a virgin,” I blurted out.
The surprise on his face morphed into a satisfied grin. “That’s the sexiest thing you’ve ever said.”
Relief bloomed in my chest. You never knew where that sentence was going to go. It either freaked men out or they saw it as a mountain to conquer.
“Waiting for marriage, I assume?” he asked, fingers still stationed at the top of my underwear.
I nodded. I’d been raised my entire life by the hunter code, but even now that I knew it was distorted by Maz, I liked that I’d kept this special thing for myself and my future husband. Sex was sacred and I wanted to keep it that way.
His fingers inched downward and my head swam with dizziness as every inch of blood headed southward. “Is this okay?” he purred, leaning forward to nip my ear as I opened my legs and nodded.
His fingers crawled down my abdomen until they rested on the most sensitive part of my body. My heart beat so frantically I could barely focus, the anticipation of what was coming nearly killing me. I leaned my pelvis into his hand; Luka trailed his tongue along my neck and a moan ripped from my throat.
“You are perfect, Aspen Rose. Absolutely perfect.”
With his free arm, Luka scooped his hand under my butt and hauled me on top of him. I straddled my legs as he pinned my back against the tile wall, moving his thumb and finger expertly between my legs.
Warm water beat across his back as he trailed his teeth over my neck.
‘Can I?’he asked.
I was on the edge of what would surely be a giant orgasm that would stop my heart and kill me. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take before I shattered.
‘Yes,’I growled, and his teeth sank into my skin.
Everything inside of me uncoiled in a millisecond and then exploded. My body rocked against his. I arched my back against the tile wall and cried out. Using my hands to grasp his biceps, I steadied myself as he drank from me, sending waves of pleasure not only throughout my body but into my soul.
In that moment, Luka and I became one, and a terrifying thought hit me.
I’m falling in love with him.
He was kind. Protective. Sexy. Powerful. Generous. All of the things I wanted in a man … sans heartbeat. He was the guy I’d been waiting for, a forever guy. Hell, he was even willing to get married and have kids, unlike Sterling.
Just not with me.
The waves of pleasure subsided and Luka pulled himself from my neck, and my shorts, and set me down, grinning.
He looked like he’d just won an award or something, and I was pretty damn sure if there was a trophy sitting around I would give it to him for his efforts.
I chuckled nervously. “So … that happened.”
