“Malyshka,” Alex whispered, but I had no strength to open my eyes. No strength to notice another scar on him, so instead, I cried with my eyes closed.
My chest, my heart, mysoul…it all ached inside me and it was like he knew. His warm hands cradled my cheeks, and he lifted my face to him, my eyes still closed. Still unsure of what was real.
“Hehurtyou. He deserved everything.” Alex’s lips ghosted over mine, the feeling…foreign. “You went easy on him.”
Those words were probably true because it didn’t feel like enough, and yet…it was more than any woman could ever hope for.
It was so quiet between us, but I dared to peek my eyes open, remembering something—his piercings.
They were gone.
I looked him over, afraid to know the answer. “What happened to the…um…your piercings?”
Alex tilted his head, forcing a small smile on his face. “They didn’t make it.”
I swallowed my tears and nodded, instead focusing on that red, angry scar on his chest, which I inspected in the shower. With shaking fingers…I touched it. Was he cut open?
Alex stepped closer, and I pulled back. “What’s this from?” I whispered, ignoring the tear rolling down my cheek.
“It will heal before our wedding, Malyshka.” My gaze shot up to his—to his beautiful, dark eyes. His eyes that sawme.
And then his finger grazed my thigh. Accidentally. Purely by chance. Unintentionally.
But so right.
Was this allowed?
I looked down, all the blood rushing to the spot where he settled his hand. On my thigh. Right where the towel ended.
I was naked under the towel. I was stripped of everything I had, everything I was.
But I was once all his.
And just like before, his arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me into him. Hesitant. Unsure. Tender.
Like we didn't know each other. Like the three months of separation had turned us into strangers. Like we didn’t spend every night in this house. First swapping whipped cream, then swapping stories, then…swapping our souls.
Were we still us?
“Are you…afraid you’ll hurt me?” Alex voiced my thoughts, and I nodded quickly, looking anywhere but at his eyes.
“Y-yes. Are you…are you in pain?”
He inched me closer to him, the heat of his body seeping into me. I was hoping he’d reassure me that he wasn’t in pain. That his scars were just decoration, that he was the same old Alex—a little unhinged, strong as fuck, and indestructible.
Instead, Alex’s lips touched my cheeks, breathing in deep, and telling me the truth. “Every time you touch me—” his fingers tightened on my thigh and my heart clenched, “—every time you look at me…the pain disappears.”
He paused. Just for a second, just to catch my gaze.
Just to check in and—
He kissed.
At first, slowly and unsure, his lips puckered right on the edge of my lips, the softness reminding me what it was like with him. The air stalled in my lungs, but Alex wasted no time, pressing his lips to mine and zapping my mind alive.
“Mmm,” he groaned, and I recognized that voice. Hispleasure.
I remembered every time he’d bury his face in my neck and moan against me, drowning me in his energy.
