Sol grabs my chin, tilting my face back to his. "I hate what you went through, what your life has been like, but I am grateful that you told me that you trusted me with your past."
He's not judging me or looking at me any differently. I swallow hard as the realization washes over me. He sat there and held me, let me stumble through the most painful parts of my life. He didn't rush me, didn't try to fix it. He just listened, and held that anger for me, while giving me the space to share it on my own terms.
"I hate them, Sienna. I thought of killing them for you. I would do it happily, if you wished. Make it slow. Make them understand exactly what they took from you. Make them hurt in the same ways they’ve hurt you and beg for a mercy I would never grant. Just say the word, and they will cease to exist."
The fire in his eyes matches the barely restrained anger in his tone. He means it. He would really leave right now and kill them if I told him to.
I should be horrified, but I’m not. Because for the first time in my life, someone is validating my pain with fury.
For so long, I blamed myself for all the things I didn't see, all the ways I let myself be used, abused, and fooled. I didn't think I had a right to be angry at anyone else, because if I was smarter or had worked harder, maybe my life would have been better. But with Sol, that's not even a thought.
To him, I deserve to be enraged, to have my wrath honored with retribution. And there's something… beautiful about having someone look at what was done to me and say, “they need to pay for that.”
With Sol, I feel like I can crumble and he’ll help me pick up the pieces. Like I can fall and he’ll catch me. And yet, as much as I appreciate his anger, I don’t want him to feel that way.
"No," I finally say. "That's not what I want. Not because of them but because of you."
He frowns, eyebrows scrunching and it makes me giggle. I wrap my arms around him and he instantly embraces me. He pulls me into his body, and I lean into his warmth like a moth drawn to a flame.
"You've fought enough battles, Sol. I don't want you to do that for my sake again."
His arms tighten around me. "There is no battle I wouldn't fight if it meant keeping you safe, not just your mind or body, but your heart and your honor." His voice drops lower, raw with conviction. "If I had found you first—before that bastard ever laid eyes on you—you would be wearing my ring right now. You would have never known what it felt like to be betrayed, to be abandoned. To be thrown away like you were nothing. Because I would have treasured you from the start."
Tears cloud my vision. It's too much. All of it is too much. I know it could be the wrong thing to do, offering my heart, my life, to someone again. But I don’t care anymore. I can’t contain the feelings that have been consuming every fiber of my being from the moment I laid eyes on Sol.
He is everything I could ever want and so much more than I dreamt of. Not because of what he’s promised or what he’s done. It’s him.
The way he smells, the way he smiles, how this incredibly dangerous creature cares about me—and not just me, but this world. The way he takes responsibility for his actions, the guilt he carries that doesn't belong to him. How he’s so careful, as if everything he touches will break, when he’s saved people, saved me. It’s in how he self-sacrifices, and how deeply I never want to see him do that again.
All of the care that Sol’s shown me? The devotion? The promise of a lifetime of love? I want to give that back to him, ten—no—one hundred, one thousand-fold. And right now, in this moment? The fear of that being a mistake is gone. There’s no space for it, not with the love I feel for him.
I don’t need to think about it any longer, because for the first time in my life, I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that this is the right thing to do.
So I cup his face, take in the soft warmth in his amber eyes, then press my lips to his.
For a moment, Sol goes completely still. Then he gathers me close, pressing me against him as if he can’t bear to let even a wisp of air between us.
He kisses me as if he’s been dying of a thirst that only I can quench.
Goosebumps erupt over my skin as he tilts his head, deepening the kiss. I curve into him, filling any space between us because I can’t get enough of him.
This is what I want. The sweet taste of him on my lips, my fingers in his silky hair, as he cups the back of my neck with one hand, lifting me with the other. I wrap my legs around him as he grips my ass and carries me to the kitchen counter, never once breaking our kiss.
I love the feeling of him against me, the hard planes of his chest, the muscles of his abdomen, his erection pressing against my core. He’s so fucking big and I’m not willing for today to end without his cock buried in my pussy.
He pulls back and I whimper at the loss of him.
I twine my arms around his neck, trying to pull him to me once more, but he grips my hips, squeezing hard to keep us separated.
"Sienna—" he breathes "—If we continue, if we—" He swallows hard. "Once we start down this path, I may not be able to stop and?—"
"I don't want you to stop," I whisper.
“Sienna,” he says again, his voice strained as if he’s praying for control. “I don’t want you to regret this later. To regret being with me.”
How could anyone ever regret you?
Gently, I trace his cheek. “I won’t. I know I won’t. I want you, I want this, Sol,” I tighten my arms around his neck. “And I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”
