Page 86 of The Golden Hour

My cheeks and chest burn, my eyes flickering unconsciously to his cock, already hard against his stomach. It jerks under my gaze. My thighs squeeze together, my breath catching. I want him. God, how I want him. But I don’t know how to do what he’s asking.

“I always let go when I’m with you,” I say, mortified by the tremor in my voice. “Don’t I?”

His gaze stays steady on mine, accepting without judgement. And he gives me the hard truth. “Our lives aren’t in danger anymore, Callisto. It’s just you and me and this space between us. I want you to find her—the woman I met in Solstice Bay, who accepted an invite for a one-night stand. Who dared me to feel how wet she was.”

I welcome the rush of heady anger that drowns out my vulnerability. “Sorry to disappoint, but that version of me is gone. She was a fucking child. She knew nothing about pain or sacrifice.”

“I disagree,” he says calmly. “We don’t shed skins, princess, we layer new ones on top of the old. And the fact you’re angry right now means I’m right.”

“You’re not right—you’re delusional.”

He grins. “How do you feel right now?”

“Like I want to slap that smug smile off your face.”

“See? There’s the spunk. You can’t hide who you are from me. I see you. I know you. Just for tonight, I want you to let go and remember who you are. And if you can’t do that, remember who you want to be.”

I’m so angry I can’t speak, so I act instead. I curl my fingers around the base of his erection and squeeze. His eyes roll back, his whole body shuddering. I stroke him firmly up and down, my anger melting into something barbed and velvety.

After my hand shuts him up, my mouth gives him back his voice. He pants and groans, whispers how good it feels when I take him as deep as my throat will allow. His body speaks even louder—jerking at the graze of my teeth, hissing when my nails scrape down his abdomen.

In time I replace my mouth with my body, using him like he invited me to. When he tries to touch me, I slap his hands away. When he laughs, I stop moving until he apologizes.

I take and take. Unrepentant and defiant. Unhinged with my need to reclaim, rebuild, redefine this broken life by any means necessary.

He lets me fuck him like he’s my revenge.

Maybe he is.

When I collapse onto him, replete and finally empty of thought, I welcome his arms around me as I drift toward sleep.

He whispers into my hair, “Sex therapy. I’m a genius, right? Just call me Dr. Finn.”

And there it is…

Light shining in the darkness.

44

“Oh my God. I did that? Let me see. Are you okay? Does it hurt? I’m so sorry.”

Callisto is horrified, her eyes comically wide as she gazes at the marks her nails left on my chest. She’s blushing from her neck to the roots of her hair.

“These are my love stripes,” I tell her, tugging a T-shirt over my head to conceal my grin. I take a few seconds longer pulling it down because her reaction makes me want to roll on the floor laughing. Which I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate.

I don’t want her to think I’m laughing at her when in reality I’m still riding an endorphin high from last night. Callisto Unleashed equaled the longest, most intense orgasm of my life. I’m wrecked and slaphappy.

“Are you sure they don’t hurt?” she asks, squinting and skeptical.

They do sting a bit, but I rather like it. I catch her fluttering hand and draw her toward me. Looking down into her gorgeous, worried face, I almost blurt the words that have been on my mind for days. Weeks. Months. Years…

I love you.

But I chicken out.

“Princess, last night was amazing.” I pause, frowning. “No, amazing isn’t big enough. Meaningful enough. Last night was more. I’ve never felt as close to another person as I did to you when you let go and trusted me. At the risk of sounding like a loser, I felt wanted. Needed.”

“I do need you, Finn. So much. I’m sorry if I haven’t told you that.” Sighing, she rubs her cheek against my chest. This time, instead of my dick perking up, my heart does. “I wouldn’t have made it this far without you. Thank you for being here, for shocking me back to life. I know I’ve been distant the last few days. Not myself.”

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