Page 104 of Aryn

“Cato,” he says, firmer this time as he catches my wrist. “Come here.”

I hesitate for half a second, then move. The moment I’m close enough, he pulls me down onto the bed beside him. I try to be careful of his injuries, but he doesn’t let me keep any distance. He turns toward me, cups the back of my neck, and draws me in.

“Why are you acting weird?”

“Because I don’t know how to do this,” I admit. “Relationships aren’t my thing, and I’m fucking panicking because you’re eventually going to realize how bad I am at it.”

He studies me for a long moment. “Take your sweater off.”

My brows pinch, but I sit up and yank it over my head.

“Now the undershirt.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Just do it, Cato.”

I lick my lips, trying to read him, but eventually obey and toss it aside. My torso is bare now—softer than his, with the swell of my chest and the extra weight I carry in my belly.

Aryn’s eyes rake over me appreciatively before he nods at my pants. I hold his gaze as I stand and shove them down, leaving me in just my underwear.

His eyes linger on my thighs and cock before drifting up to my face. “Come back to bed.”

I slide under the sheets beside him and lie on my side, facing him. “What was that all about? If you wanted to see me naked, you could’ve just said so.”

“It was because you like being told what to do,” he says, so gently it takes a second for the words to land.

I pull back slightly, mouth parted and cheeks burning. “What does that mean?”

“Cato. Come here,” he insists again.

Something warm and fuzzy unfurls in my chest. I stare at him for a long time, confused by how much I want to listen. My whole life I’ve only ever wanted to fight.

But I don’t want to fight him.

His eyes soften as he reaches over to brush his knuckles along my cheek. “You carry so much responsibility. Ever since you were a child, you’ve been expected to be the one who acts. One-night stands are easy. They’re simple. But relationships are hard, and commitment feels like another thing you have to carry. So for your entire life, you’ve run from them.”

I don’t say anything. I just watch him while my heart tries to hammer its way out of my chest.

“You don’t have to carry me, Cato.”

“Fuck,” I choke out, tucking my face into the side of his neck to hide the burn behind my eyes. “How do I keep you if I don’t?”

He hums softly, nails brushing against my scalp. “Be honest with me. Do you like it when I tell you what to do?”

“Yeah,” I admit, barely above a whisper.

“Then lean into that. You can be a wildfire and burn the world to ash when we’re out there in the thick of it. But when it’s just the two of us, you can turn it all off. You can let me carry you for a while.”

My tongue feels too thick, sticking to the roof of my mouth as I force a swallow. “It doesn’t make me…”

“Make you what?” he nudges gently when I trail off.

“Weak?”

He hums softly, then tightens his grip in my hair and tilts my face up to his. “No, kitten. It just makes you mine.” He guides me forward, capturing my lips in a kiss that wrecks something deep inside my chest. It starts gentle, just the press of his mouth, but then his lips part and coax mine open. His tongue brushes along mine, and the kiss deepens.

My mouth moves on autopilot, dominating in the way I’ve always told myself I need to be—that I have to be—and Aryn doesn’t stop me. He said I could turn it off, though.