Silence was safer. Silence was all I had left.
He didn’t force me, didn’t snap. Instead, he pressed a lingering kiss to the side of my jaw, a soft contrast to the strength that held me close.
“Ethalyn,” he breathed, his words like a secret against my skin. “I don’t need your lies. I need your truth.”
My chest tightened, stubbornness warring with the ache in my heart. I wanted to stay quiet, to keep my walls in place, but his patience undid me more than any demand could. His hand spread across my lower stomach, steady and grounding. It was the kind of touch that made me feel both captured and safe.
“Tell me,” he whispered, his forehead resting against my temple, his breath unsteady. “Say it. Just once, that’s all I’m asking.”
“Why?” I forced myself to ask.
He stroked his head against mine, his hair tickling my ear. “Because there’s one thing I crave more than your body, more than your blood, more than the air in my lungs… Your love.”
The gentleness in his tone cracked through my defenses like nothing else could. Slowly, fighting against every instinct to protect myself, I turned my gaze.
His eyes caught mine, unflinching, tender, even devastating, and the words slipped free before I could stop them.
“I never stopped caring for you.”
The binds released at once, my arms falling onto his shoulders, clinging tight. For a moment, he just held me, his chest rising hard against my back, as if steadying himself. Then, his lips found mine, hungry, yes, but threaded with something deeper, something fragile he couldn’t hide anymore.
“Do you have any idea,” he whispered between kisses, his voice breaking low. “How long I’ve waited to hear that?”
I melted into him, breathless, every wall I’d ever built crumbling in his embrace and for once, I didn’t try to resist. I wanted him, wholly, the way he had always wanted me.
From the moment the words left my lips, everything had shifted. His hold on me tightened as though those few words had snapped the last thread of his composure. His kiss deepened, no longer steady or patient, but consuming, each brush of his tongue demanding more.
His fingers began stroking against my core, making heated desire curl into my lower stomach and I gasped against him, my hands still tangling in his hair even though I was free. His fingers slid against my clit with devastating precision.
My head fell back, a cry escaping before I could hold it in, but he caught the sound with his mouth, swallowing it like he couldn’t get enough. His other hand pulled me tighter to him, forcing me to feel how badly he wanted me, how much he’d been holding back.
“Such delicious sounds,” he teased, his breath ragged as he circled me with deliberate strokes.
“I want—” My words broke into a gasp as his fingers pressed deep into me, his rhythm unrelenting. My hips moved helplessly against him, greedy, begging for more.
His lips curved into a wicked smile close to my ear.
But I wanted him too much to stay submissive.
I ripped out of his grip and turned, straddling him in the tub, pressing him back with my hands. His eyes sparked, a dangerous smile lingering on his lips as he watched me take control. His hands shifted, sliding to grip my hips and press me firmly against him.
He didn’t rush, he dragged his touch slowly upwards, savoring every inch, teasing me with restraint he no longer truly had.
“Say it again,” he demanded softly, his thumb brushing just under my breast, deliberate and maddening.
“I—” My voice got caught in my throat.
He smirked, stretching close until his cheek stroked along my collarbone, to my neck, nuzzling like an affectionate pet. “Say it, or I’ll take my time tormenting you until you beg me to stop.”
A heavy breath escaped me before I could bite it back. “Malakai, my heart keeps choosing you. If there’s gravity in this world, it’s the way I’m pulled towards you, every time.”
His groan vibrated against my chest, raw and unguarded, as his hand claimed my breast again, firmer this time, while his mouth found the place he’d marked earlier, biting just enough to make me gasp.
“You’re mine,” he growled, but the words carried more devotion than command, as if he needed the reassurance just as much as I did. “Always.”
His words seared into me, low and rough against my skin, I leaned closer, pressing into his hold like I couldn’t getenough. My breath came sharp and needy, my body aching with the sudden hunger I could no longer deny.
“I want—” I choked on the words again, heat rising to my cheeks.
