“They took him away from you, and that’s not your fault. Who he turned into isn’t your fault either.” He grimaces. “And maybe, in a small way, it’s not entirely his fault either.”
My heart squeezes tightly, and I blink as new tears burn my eyes. “Are you trying to help me see the good in Dominic?”
Theo looks a little horrified at the suggestion, then wrinkles his nose, chuckling lightly. “Yeah, maybe I am. Mostly, I’m just trying to make you not hurt.” His palm cups my cheek as tenderness fills his expression. “I wish I could do that for you, Rose.”
He can’t. No one can.
But what Theo does for me is better than that. It’s better than taking the pain away.
He makes me believe in hope and love despite the pain. He helps me find happiness in the midst of hurt, and the brilliant rush of emotion makes my knees wobble.
Reaching up, I capture his hand with mine, pinning it to my cheek as my own smaller one molds over his. “I love you, Theo.”
His eyes widen, a look of surprise passing over his face. I expect him to grin at me, flashing his teeth and his dimples in his signature gorgeous smile. But instead, his face grows more intense than I’ve ever seen it.
He looks awed.
Almost reverent.
“I love you too, Rose.” He swallows. “This isn’t how I imagined telling you. I wanted to… I don’t know, make a production out of it. Make the moment perfect.” His other arm pulls me closer, and I can feel the thud of his heartbeat against my chest. “But this feels pretty fuckin’ perfect to me.”
“Yeah?” I whisper, letting go of his hand to wrap my arm around his neck, rising up onto my tiptoes to press myself more fully against him. My heart is beating hard too, matching the rhythm of his. “In a safe house bathroom? On the run from the most dangerous crime lord in Halston? With my asshole brother down the hall?”
Now Theo grins, and it’s the most pure, joyful thing I’ve ever seen. “I’m with you, aren’t I? That makes it perfect to me. No matter where we are.”
Fucking hell.
I don’t know how he always knows the perfect thing to say, but his words seem to crack something open in my chest, flooding my body with warmth. I rise up higher on my toes, closing the last inch of space between us as I press my lips to his.
Theo kisses me back, and the connection of our lips feels like a continuation of the words we just spoke. I can feel his love in the way both of his arms slide around me, holding me close like the most precious object in the universe. I can feel it in the way his tongue slides against mine, and I can hear it in the small groan that passes from his mouth to mine.
He loves me.
And I love him.
It’s almost comical that we chose this moment to say it, considering I’ve known it for so much longer than this. Maybe I’ve known it since the first time I kissed him in that alley.
It feels a little like we traded parts of our souls that day and have held on to those pieces of each other ever since.
Theo’s kiss grows in intensity, and I match him stroke for stroke. I nip at his bottom lip, pressing harder against him until he gives me what I want and picks me up. Setting me on the edge of the sink, he shoves the skirt of my dress up, bunching it high on my thighs and clearing space for him to step between my legs.
I toe my shoes off, and they clatter to the floor as I wrap my legs around him, digging my heels into his firm ass to pull him closer.
“Fuck, Rose,” he grunts, and I can hear the conflict in his voice.
This probably isn’t the time or place to be doing this. But then again, like he said, maybe it’s perfect.
We’re both still alive, and I honestly don’t know how much longer that will be true. And as long as we’re still alive, I’m going to show this man how much I love him.
I break away from his kiss, tightening my legs around him until the hard bulge of his cock presses against my center. I grind against him a little, making his eyelids droop, and my fingers slide through the hair at the nape of his neck.
“Please, Theo. I need you. We can be quick. I’ll be quiet. Please.”
He groans, his head tilting back as he pulses his hips against mine. When he looks back down at me, he palms the back of my head and brings me in for another kiss.
He kisses me like he doesn’t want me to be quiet, and I reward him by immediately breaking my word, moaning loudly into his mouth. One hand stays on the back of my head, but the other moves hungrily over my body, sliding over the expensive fabric of my dress before dipping beneath the neckline to toy with my nipples.
I yelp at the shock of sensation when he pinches one, then kiss him harder as pleasure pours through my body like melted chocolate.
We’re grinding against each other, our bodies rocking to create more friction, and I finally let go of his hair to slide my hand down to the waistband of his pants. He’s still shirtless from when I dressed his wound earlier, and I love the feel of the warm skin of his abs beneath my fingertips.
Without even bothering with the button and zipper, I shove my hand down his pants and find him hot and hard, pulsing against my fingertips. I fist his cock, dragging my hand up and down, and he curses into our kiss, pinching my nipple again.
“You’re fucking killing me, Rose,” he groans. “I love you so goddamn much.”
I want to hear him say that again, so I reach lower and cup his balls, giving a light squeeze that makes him grunt.
He drops his face to the crook of my neck, muttering words of praise and worship, and when he can’t take it anymore, he reaches down and undoes his own pants, shoving them down along with his boxers. He pulls me off the sink counter and sets me on my feet long enough to unzip my dress, and as the fabric billows to the floor, he pulls my panties over my hips, letting them drop too. When I’m completely naked, he picks me up again, depositing me back on the sink’s edge.
The smooth surface is cool against my bare skin, but I can hardly feel it. All I can feel is the heat of Theo’s body, the burning inferno of our need for each other. I reach for his cock again, taking my time exploring his smooth, thick shaft, running my fingers over the two metal balls on either side of the crown.
I want to put my mouth on him. I want to tease his piercing and slide my lips down his hardness, taking him so deep he hits the back of my throat. I want to taste him and hear him moan, feel his fingers in my hair as he fights to control himself.
But more than any of that, right now, I just need to feel him inside me.
The need comes from something far beyond the arousal sparking through my veins. Something bigger than that, something bigger than sex.
I need to feel Theo. I need to lose myself in him.
Stroking him harder, I adjust the angle of his dick slightly, and he reads my intention, stepping closer to let me line him up with my entrance. The head of his cock nudges my soaked pussy, and I groan before he’s even inside me. My head falls back as he presses in slowly, filling me with such deliberate intention that it makes my limbs shake.
I feel every inch of him, and when he’s finally fully rooted inside me, I clamp my legs around him, squeezing my walls over and over as my clit throbs. He’s not even moving inside me, and I could come like this—just from gripping his thickness, from feeling the way he fills me so perfectly.