Page 142 of A Ballad of Betrayal and Beauty

She smiles. “Somehow we always come back to each other.”

I’m desperate to touch her, but also to feel that hot water on my skin.

She opens the shower door, peering at me over her shoulder, her long red hair skimming the top of her plump ass. “You coming?”

Something sharp hits me in the guts and I think of Joel, alone in that hospital bed. Before I do this, I need to know she’s choosing him too. I can’t bear to lose either of them.

She frowns. “What’s wrong?”

“I just need to make sure?—”

With a step toward me, she holds my face in her hands. “You want to know what I figured out on the way here?”

My eyes dart over her face. “What?”

“That I can choose for all of us to be happy. I want both of you. I love both of you. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could have so much love in my life. It was my greatest wish. Knowing there’s a door number three where we can all be together?—”

“But if the three of us are going to be together,” I push, “you need to be sure. If you’re not?—”

“I’m sure, Key. I’m still working out all the details of how everything will work. But what I know for sure is that I want to be with you—with him—all of us,together.”

I pull her toward me by the waist, her back arching, and lean down to capture her mouth with mine. Our bodies press together and I’m overwhelmed by the newness and the familiarity. We part again, and Dusty leads me into the shower. Her hair darkens as the water hits her and my muscles scream with joy at the instantaneous relief.

She slots in next to me and heaves a contented sigh. “Oh god, this feels so good.”

I tip my head back and let the showerhead soak my hair. I didn’t realize just how awful I felt until now, and it’s as though I’m being baptized, only this time it’s my choice. I can exit here with a new sense of purpose and love because she loves me back. She’s not going anywhere this time.

Dusty grabs a bottle of shampoo and pops the cap. “Here, I’ll do it,” I say, reaching around her.

“No, I got it. I can do it.”

“Dusty,” I say, “I know you can do it, but you don’t have to. You’re the strongest woman I know, you can take a break.”

I see it in her eyes. The way she wants to fight. To prove that she can do it all on her own, and I know she can. She’s proven over and over again that she can take care of herself. To survive. She’s survived so much.

“I’m not trying to be a hero. I just want to take care of you.”

For a moment all I can hear is the gentle rushing of the shower until she nods. “Okay.”

I smile. “Turn around.”

She turns her back to me and I grab the shampoo. I lather up my hands then gently massage her scalp, watching the lather spread and turn sudsy, already seeing the tension rolling off her shoulders. Her head becomes limp in my hands, her neck loose, and the sound of a moan makes me bite my lip as I wash her hair.

“That feels incredible,” she says.

The water cleanses away the shampoo, and it feels like she’s finally letting go as her doubts and fear wash down the drain. When she turns to face me again, her eyes are bright.

“Kiss me,” she whispers, before wrapping her arm around my neck. Her lips are frantic and addictive. I pull her to me tighter and she grabs my bicep with one hand, her fingertips squeezing delectably. Soon I can’t get enough of her. I can’t get close enough, then we’re falling into the shower wall as I try to press our bodies closer than is possible—my cock squeezed between us begging for her touch.

She presses her breasts against my chest, her tight nipples rubbing against my sensitive skin. Like a drug, I crave her and it’s not enough. It’s been too long. It’s been too much to overcome. Too much heartbreak and lies and surprises. She’s my destiny and if it took all of our past to get to this point, that’s something I can live with.

CHAPTER41

Time After Time

DUSTY

Ineed him. I need all of him.

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