Page 93 of Warrior

I scoff. “I don’t sing.”

“You were, though. That song about walking on sunshine. And it hit me—youare that sunshine. You’re warm and alive and sometimes you fucking glow with it, Tem. How could the stars ever compete with the sun?”

Oh God.

Tears spill down my cheeks, but he beats me to wiping them away.

“There’s no darkness that could blow out your flame.”

I wish that were true. But I allow a shaky smile to curve my lips, nonetheless.

“I couldn’t cope with that realization. The fact that I already was attracted to you, that you were around me all the fucking time. The scent of lavender haunts me. It’s your shampoo, isn’t it? I once tried it, just to feel a little less lonely.”

My heart breaks all over again. “Oh, Saint.”

“I might be cruel,” he continues. “I might be a bastard. I might pick fights, or drink too much, but I didn’t want to take something from you in that moment. I didn’t want to ruin the memory of Elora for you—for either of us. So I went to Starlight and let myself remember your silhouette in the shower, and the sound of your voice in my ear, get me hard. And keep me hard through the pain of tattooing myself.

“I knew the next time I thought of you, I could slip that agony in with it, and hopefully, eventually, I’d stop.” He threads his fingers through my hair. “It didn’t work like that, though.”

This confession feels fragile.

I don’t want to move to scare him off, but my heart beats out of control, and my breathing comes in shallow gasps.

All this time, he’s been fighting grief and attraction.

“I…”

“It’s okay.” He strokes himself, his hand twisting at the top and smearing precum down his length. “I blocked out your pain for so long.”

He’s still blocking it out.

I haven’t tried to hide my arms. It didn’t occur to me once his mouth landed on my pussy. I threw caution to the wind, and now it feels precarious. It’s almost too late to go back? I will him to look at my arms, to see that the track marks are not from the hospital.

It’s more.

It’s worse.

When he doesn’t, I rise and let him find my slit. I slide back down slowly, taking him inside me, and groan. He feels good.

Right.

I ride him, while his fingers work at my clit, and I hold his shoulders. I tip my head back, my hair so long it nearly brushes the crack of my ass.

“Are we really doing this?” I ask him.

“Do you mean having sex?” There’s a bit of humor in his tone. “Or allowing ourselves to be happy?”

“That second one.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, wildcat, we’re doing this.”

Okay.I accept it.

He thrusts his hips up, hitting deeper than before, and I groan. He pulls my face toward his, kissing me hard. Tongue and teeth and lips. Heart and soul.

Finally.

23REESE

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