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I swallowed the rancid taste of fear. “Then let me show you.”
I strode to the bathroom, my hands working the few buttons that remained on my dress. There was an ache in my arm, and one at my side, a deep ache…a bruising ache.
My ruined dress hit the bathroom floor. I sensed his movement at the doorway as I reached around and unhooked my bra. For a second, I didn’t want to look down…I didn’t want to see whathe'dleft behind. But I did, forcing myself to confront what I’d become. Red marks wrapped around my arm, thick, angry, and raised. Purple would come soon enough, deep purple that I’d hide with highnecked tops and long sleeves, just like I’d done so many times before.
I squeezed my eyes shut at the sight as a quake tore through me, weighing down my soul. I'd thought I was strong enough to show Lazarus what kind of woman I was, a woman used, a womandiscarded.
But as my bra fell to the tiled floor and the remnants of Damon’s cruel hands shone against my pale skin, all strength left me. A sob tore free, quiet, controlled. My throat clenched around the ache, just like his fists. I clenched my jaw tight, swallowing, swallowing…and swallowing.
“Kat?” I sensed Laz's movement, and goosebumps raced along my arms as I reached out and switched on the shower.
But Laz didn't touch me…didn'tforce himself into my world.He just waited and in the strength of his control, I found myself opening my eyes. Slick tears carved paths down my cheeks as I clung to his gaze. “You wanted to see…so now you see.”
I waited for him to flinch, waited for him to show disgust. I waited for him to turn away…
But he didn’t. Lazarus gripped his shirt and tugged it over his head. My eyes were drawn to the thick, jagged line that ran down his side. A scar, raised and silver, then another, thinner one, across his shoulder.
“A knife,” he murmured. “Sonofabitch caught me off guard…the first time.”
I flinched, and jerked my gaze to his.
“This was a cleaver, if you can believe it.” He looked down, tracing the jagged edge with his finger. “It took them a while to get me stitched up, which is why it’s so damn ugly. But I didn’t have Logan then.”
There was a flicker of pain that danced through the glint in his eyes. But I didn’t think it was ugly. My gaze drifted over his hard muscles. I stepped closer, my own aches melting away. “You were on your own?”
He just gave a slow, careful nod. “Alone and angry. It was just after I lost someone special to me, abrother.”
I couldn’t stop myself from touching him. He didn't move, just held my gaze as I traced that thick, silver edge with my finger.
“Some of us carry the marks on the outside,” he said carefully, meeting my gaze. “And some carry them within.”
My hand sank, falling to my side.
“You’ve had enough people taking from you, Kat,” he continued. “But you don’t need to worry about that with me. You give me what you want…however you can, and I’ll be happy with that.”
Something inside me fluttered, something. “What if that’s nothing but this…this hollow shell of a person.”
He took a step, stopping just before our bodies touched, and looked down into my eyes. “Then that’s where I’ll make my home.”
But he made no move to kiss me, no move to do anything at all, and that burning hunger raged inside me. Instead, he waited, just like he said he would, standing there in the bathroom, the red blood splattered across his cheeks garish under the overhead lights.
He took a step forward and gently cupped my jaw, tilting my gaze to his. “I see you, Kat.”
Kat.
Not Katerina.
Desire moved inside me, dark and savage, prowling that emptiness like a starved beast waiting for someone like Lazarus to come. I refused to wait any longer. I reached for him and took his hand, my thumb running across the bruised, bloody knuckles, and lifted them to my lips.
I kissed his pain, then lowered his palm to my breast.
Only then did he look from my eyes, his gaze seeking out the pale, rose-colored tips of my nipples, and he gave a deep, guttural moan.
That sound did things to me. Things I never expected.
Things I didn’t think I’d ever feel.
I lifted my hands, sliding them along his shoulders to the back of his neck, and moved closer. “Do that again.”
