“Caring about someone doesn’t make you weak. It makes you stronger. Those feelings give breath and life.”
He spoke the words against my hair, his lips grazing the strands. I tried to take them in, grab hold and anchor myself to them. To the hope that our love could make me more powerful than I ever had been before. “I want to believe that. But everything I’ve ever loved has been ripped away and out from under me. Either destroyed or twisted beyond recognition.”
My parents, gone. My aunt, someone I couldn’t even see in person for fear it would lead Michael to either of us. I’d lost friends, my cat, any toys that I’d seemed to especially love. Everything just…gone. And if things like that happened enough, you stopped reaching for the stuff you wanted.
But, somehow, I’d reached for Brody. I hadn’t meant to, but the invisible pull had been too much. My fingers had itched to touch him from the moment I’d laid eyes on him climbing off that boat. My soul had called out for his the first moment I’d seen his paintings. The threads that tethered us to each other weren’t anything I could sever, even if I’d wanted to. I’d have to trust that they could withstand whatever life might throw at us. And that included Michael.
Brody slipped a hand under the hem of my t-shirt, the heat of his palm chasing away some of the ice-cold fear. His thumb swept back and forth across my skin. “You’re stronger now. There are people who have your back. We’ll fight with you.”
I tried my best not to let my body stiffen at his words, but I was only partially successful. “I don’t want anything to happen to any of you.”
“It won’t. And the more people who know what’s happening, the better. We’ll have more eyes. Only those you trust.”
When I searched my mind for who landed in that category, there were more than I would’ve thought possible a few years ago. Caelyn and Griffin. Bell and Ford. Hunter. And even though I knew them less, Kenna and Crosby. They were in that circle simply because I knew they were in Caelyn’s and Bell’s trusted circle. Maybe it was time to let people into the life I’d left behind. Let them in to help me fight for the future I wanted. “Okay.”
Brody pulled back slightly. “Okay?”
I nodded. “I think you’re right. It’s time to stop holding onto so many secrets. If I’m constantly worried about hiding, I’ll never be free.”
He tugged on a strand of my hair. “Wise.”
I shook my head but smiled. “I might’ve heard it once or twice from this incredibly stubborn man I know.”
“Stubborn, huh?” Brody released his hold on my hair, his hand going to my waist.
I moved in closer, my body pressing against the hard planes of muscle in his. “He’s pushy, too.”
“Demanding?” he asked, the hand at my waist slipping under my t-shirt.
My breath caught as his fingers traveled up to the lace of my bralette. His thumb swept across my nipple and everything in me tightened. “Definitely demanding.”
His thumb circled the peak, teasing and toying. “Sounds like he’d be hell to live with.”
“It certainly provides a fair number of challenges.”
In a flash, my shirt was whipped over my head, and I grinned. “You gonna take me upstairs?”
Brody’s lips twitched. “I don’t know, I’ve become pretty partial to kitchen counters.” My blood heated at the reminder of our christening of the studio. “You want our bed?”
Our bed. I loved that he thought of it that way. I nodded. “More room to move.”
“I do like that.” Brody lifted me, my legs going around his waist as he dropped my shirt to the floor. He took the stairs quickly, the door to the bedroom banging against the wall. Slowly, he lowered me to the floor, his hands going to my face. Everything in his expression spoke of love, reverence.
I swallowed against the burn in my throat as my hands went to his stubbled cheeks. As if my fingers could memorize the planes of his face. They traveled down his neck to the collar of his shirt. I tugged, and Brody lifted his arms to aid me in my work. Golden skin greeted me, and I soaked up every edge and curve I discovered. It was hard to believe that this man was mine. Giving himself freely and wholly to me. And wanting me in return.
Brody unbuttoned his jeans, shucking them, having already kicked off his shoes. I started to go for the button of my jeans, but his hands stilled me. “Don’t. That’s my job.”
I arched a brow. “Oh, really?”
“You can’t rob me of the pleasure of peeling you out of your clothes. Like unwrapping a damn present.” His fingers deftly unfastened the clasp and slowly pulled down the zipper. Each millimeter, the unhooking of each tine, seemed to send an echo of sensation through me.
Brody took his time as he pulled my jeans and panties down my legs. The drag of his knuckles across my skin created a cascade of sparks across my thighs, burrowing in somewhere deep, stoking a fire that had lit the moment Brody’s lips swept across mine. He lifted one leg out of my jeans and then the other, tossing them to the side.
I was completely bare to him, wearing nothing but that little bralette. I fought the urge to cover myself. But I wasn’t hiding anymore. Certainly not from Brody. He’d proven time and again that I could trust him—with everything. My body. My heart. My soul.
He pushed my legs farther apart, and before I could think about what he was doing, his tongue flicked out, delivering the barest tease to my clit. I sucked in a sharp breath, and Brody grinned at me, his hooded eyes sparking. He circled that bundle of nerves, never giving me quite what I needed but continuing to drive me higher.
It wasn’t long before I was ready to beg. “Please,” I said on a hoarse whisper.
“What do you need? I’m enjoying myself right here.”
And he seemed it. As if he’d be content with teasing me for hours while my fingers left nail marks in his shoulders. I let them dig in harder. “You. I need you.”
Brody hissed as I released him. “You have me.”
“Show me.”
In a flash, he had me on the bed, my back against the mattress, and my face so close to his I shared his breath. I couldn’t resist reaching up to touch, the pads of my fingertips skating across his rough stubble. He entered me on a slow glide, my eyes falling closed for a brief moment. I never wanted to lose this. If I could only hold onto this memory, remember what it felt like to be with him in every way, everything would be okay.
“I love you, Shay.”
His words danced across my skin, digging deep and making a home in my flesh, my heart. My eyes fluttered open. “Love you.” Those two syllables were stuttered with the strain of holding back, but when Brody’s eyes flared, I let go. My hips rose up to meet his, urging him on.
Soon, we lost ourselves in the rhythm that was only ours. Bodies bowing and flexing. With each tilt of his hips, Brody hit that spot deep inside me that sent shudders through my system, my walls tightening around him. He muttered a curse and drove deeper. My heels dug into his ass, spurring him on.
I wanted him as deep as possible. Needed him to plant himself there so I never lost the memory of this moment. What it was to be loved and wanted with feral desperation. To go just a little bit crazy with the need for another.