His fingers brush over her cheek, tender and delicate. “I know,” he acknowledges.
No one has touched her like this. Not since Maldrak.Mal. The man she thought she loved.
She swallows down the memories. Memories of his hands caressing her hip, tracing each dip and curve of her body, whispering promises of a future he knew would never exist.
“Make love to me,” she whispers.
Ronyn nods, his gaze snagging on hers, and she knows he can see the ghosts there.
He touches her again, bringing her back to the moment like a river bank in a current that wants to take her under.
“Tell me how you would like me to touch you,” Ronyn breathes, gaze snagging on the curve of her lips, his shaggy hair falling forward over his brow.
There’s something about seeing him like this—honest—that sends warmth to her core. A spark igniting in the cold.
Two people, finally, seeing each other stripped bare.
“I— I don’t think I can look at you, Ronyn. I just want to… feel,” she admits, and she hates how weak it sounds.
He smiles that lop-sided grin. “I can do that,” he promises, and his hand runs through the length of her hair. “Would you like me to undress you?”
She nods, averting her gaze.
Ronyn doesn’t make a thing of it.
No pause. No reverence that would make her overthink it.
“All right,” he says simply.
His fingers slip back into her hair as he shifts closer, the familiar motion grounding her before anything else can. It steadies her enough that she doesn’t bolt when his other hand moves.
Slow.
Deliberate.
But not hesitant. Not for a single heartbeat.
Jax exhales, tension flaring instinctively through her body as fabric loosens beneath his hands.
There it is. That moment where she usually shuts it down. Makes a joke. Takes control. Turns it into something sharp and easy.
Ronyn’s hand drags lightly through her hair again. Same rhythm. Same touch. Unchanged. And that—that keeps her here.
“Still with me?” he murmurs, quiet, not pushing.
Jax huffs a breath. “Don’t ruin it by asking.”
His mouth curves faintly against her shoulder. “Good to know.”
Jax’s body reacts before her mind can catch up, tension shifting instead of locking, her breath deepening instead of stalling.
She’s had sex. A lot of sex. But make love? Never.
Her hand finds him again.
This time not to control.
To keep him there.
