Page 118 of Barinov

I step inside, carefully shutting the door behind me. “I am in here.”

“No,” he murmurs. “In here. With me.”

A breath catches in my throat, holding me still for one heartbeat too many. My fingers fumble against the buttons of my shirt as the humid air clings to my skin like a second layer. I kick off my shoes, letting them clatter against the vanity and shed off the rest of my clothes. I pause for one final, lung-burning gulp of mist before sliding the door back. It screeches along the track.

His head is bowed under the spray, water cascading down the hard cut of his back and pooling at his feet. Steam coils around the broad span of his shoulders, the angry scar tissue still raw and red.

Lex turns his head just enough to meet my eyes and swallows. His icy-blue eyes track me slowly as I step forward and let the water soak through my hair, my skin, and my nerves.

“You alright?” I whisper, my voice unsteady even to my own ears.

He doesn’t answer right away. Just lifts one hand and laces our fingers together, palm to palm.

“I…” He blinks hard. “Sabine was right. I… well… Damn it, you know I’m shitty with my words.”

I let out a breathy laugh. “It’s okay, babe.”

“No. No, it’s not. Just let me get this out.”

He bites the inside of his cheek, his throat bobbing. “She was right when she said I’m going to burn everything good in us, or whatever the hell it was that she kept screaming at me. I keep shutting you out. Pushing you away. Yelling at everyone. And I don’t want to do that anymore.”

I squeeze his hand. “I know.”

“You keep staying and well I…” he continues, fumbling all over the place. “I-I don’t know how to put it into words what you mean to me. I couldn’t if I tried. I’ve been standing here in this damn shower trying to find them, but nothing I can ever say will truly show how much I need you.”

“Hey,” I whisper, my hands cupping his wet face. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know,” he rasps, pulling back just a step.

“I may not know how to say the right words,” he admits, placing his hands gently on my hips. He looks down at me with a kind of reverence that steals the air from my lungs.

“But I think I know how I can show you,” he whispers, lowering himself down in front of me. He braces himself for a moment with his good arm before pressing his fingers deep into my waist.

“Lex. What are you—oh my God!” I choke on the words as his hot mouth finds the inside of my hip, trailing slow and peppering kisses along the way.

He made it very clear early on in our relationship whose dick was going where. I never questioned it. I never minded being the one on my knees. The one making him fall apart. I love the taste of him, the weight of him on my tongue, and the way he sounds when I take him deep. I love the feel of him inside me. How he pulls moan after moan from me every time he hits that spot. It’s perfection.

But this is different.

This is a surrender.

This is everything.

When his tongue finally grazes the sensitive head of my cock, my knees nearly give out on the slippery floor. I brace my hands flat against the cool tiles behind him and stare down at the man I love.

Lex Barinov with all that rage and fire. All those muscles and tattoos and bad behavior.

Down on his knees.

For me.

I watch as he closes his eyes and takes me into his mouth, slow and unsure at first. Like he’s learning me from scratch. He pulls back, his tongue swirling at the leaking tip, before sliding his lips around my length.

“Lex,” I breathe, my fingers sliding off the tile to tangle in his soaked, black hair. “Fuuuuck, babe.”

He slides his mouth off and glances up through the water with a faint smile. “Is this okay?” he asks, his voice almost shy as his hand wraps around the base of my cock twisting it with a strong grip.

I bite my lip and nod, running a finger down his jaw. “It’s amazing.”