Page 67 of Her Wicked Men

“Anytime, Veronica.”

Her mouth pulled into a cheery smile, and I couldn’t help the smile that touched my lips.

“I think you took it easy on me at first,” she said as she leaned back and planted her hands on the mat.

Her shirt clung to her clammy skin, revealing the curve of her breasts as she hung her head back. Her chest rose and fell, and I’d be damned if I didn’t say she looked fine as fuck panting before me, her skin glistening.

Having her constantly pressed against me as I’d shown her all the movements had wrought havoc on my dick, and I’d fought hard to keep it from making itself known.

“It feels like it’s been so long since you guys found me, but it really hasn’t,” she said as she closed her eyes.

She looked like a beautiful goddess right now, a lazy smile on her face as she relaxed.

“A lot has happened in such a small amount of time,” I said, and she nodded.

“Callum and the life I had before feels like it was nothing in the grand scale. That all of this is a new life.”

“How do you feel about that?” I asked, and she rolled her head to look at me, staring at me thoughtfully through hooded eyes.

“That life is a wild card, and I shouldn’t even be alive today. And yet, here I am. Perhaps this is some kind of fate.”

“You believe in fate?”

“I think I do, who’s to say it isn’t real?”

“I think we make our own fate, our own paths. You survived everything because you’re strong, and deep down, you wanted to live, to have a better life.”

“Maybe,” she said with a soft smile, her eyes locked on mine. “You were afraid to make love to me, weren’t you? That’s why you had Enzo look after me.”

My jaw ticked at her words, and I stared down at my hands, flexing them on my knees.

“I didn’t want to hurt you, stray.” The words were a deep admission, ones that made me uneasy when saying them out loud.

“Do you think you could hurt me?”

“Not intentionally. But we aren’t perfect men, Vee. We’re wicked, we have a darkness that has touched us and altered us.”

“And I don’t?” She arched a brow at me.

“You’re different. You didn’t let it change you.”

“I feel different,” her voice was soft now as she leaned forward and pulled one knee up to rest her arm on it. “I don’t feel like who I used to be. That I’m… stronger, I guess. Which is stupid, since I couldn’t even save myself, but I know it won’t be a reason I break either.”

“You lost yourself for a moment there, but you’re finding yourself again. Putting the pieces back together, stronger now. Like Kintsugi.”

“Kintsugi?” She cocked her head at the word.

“The Japanese art of repairing pottery with gold. You’ve mended yourself into something even more beautiful. Embraced all that you are and refused to let your flame go out.”

Her smile was enough to light up any room, but the way her eyes glittered at my words made me swallow.

“You took the blame for everything, even though I know you shot at them. Enzo told me you were alone and you shot at their cars, wanting to save me.”

“We all wanted you back, Vee. We were doing our best to keep it together.”

“And I want you to show me your true self. I want to be with you. To know I can handle all of you.”

“What if you can’t?” I dared to say, hiding my own uncertainty about it. I didn’t want to keep anything from her, but I knew how I was in the bedroom, and my roughness could be too much for her.

---