Page 146 of The Savage

‘I wasn’t thinking clearly.’

‘That was obvious.’

His voice is low now. Heat hums between us as he presses a kiss to my shoulder, then my neck. I close my eyes.

‘Remember when you told me you didn’t belong to anyone?’ he murmurs.

‘I was lying.’

‘I knew.’

His hands slide to my hips and he turns me gently so I’m facing him, his body close, solid. His gaze is dark, intent, full of things he hasn’t said yet. ‘Remember when you let me touch you like this?’ he asks.

I nod, breath shallow.

‘And like this.’

His mouth brushes mine. Not a kiss yet. A promise.

Then he stills.

His forehead rests against mine. His voice roughens. ‘Remember when I took your virginity,’ he says, ‘in the secret room in the church?’

The question lands heavy and sacred all at once.

I open my eyes. ‘I remember everything,’ I say.

He searches my face like he’s afraid of the answer.

‘It was the best night of my life,’ I tell him.

Something breaks open in his expression. Relief. Want. Obsession, bare and unguarded.

He kisses me then.

It’s slow. Deep. No urgency, just need. His hands hold me like he’s afraid I’ll be taken from him again. The water drums against us, steam curling around our bodies, hiding us from the world.

We come together under the spray, foreheads touching, breaths tangled. There’s no rush, no performance. Just skin and memory and the certainty that we found each other again.

When it’s over and he’s come so deep inside me I know I’ll always carry a part of him with me, we stand there a moment longer, wrapped around each other, letting the water cool.

Renzo presses a kiss to my temple. ‘We need to get dressed.’

I nod, even though I don’t want to.

‘I don’t want to leave you,’ he says quietly.

‘You won’t,’ I reply. ‘I’m right here.’

He exhales, steadying himself, then reaches for the towels.

Outside this room, the hammer is already lifting. But for now, we have this.

And it’s enough.

* * *

The chopper banks left and the world opens beneath us.