Page 62 of Kaz
He buried his face in Kaz’s chest, the man’s shuddering breath wracking through his body. He squeezed his eyes shut, holding on and taking in the way Kaz’s body felt against his. Warm, firm, protective. Kaz’s arms surrounded him, and he melted into his embrace. When they were like that, everything quieted. Every fear and worry dissipated like dew in the sun. He wanted to stay like that forever.
“I want to do this. I want to be with you, but I need to know what’s going on,” he whispered, his heart beating a staccato rhythm in his chest. He felt Kaz tense and held on tighter, fingers digging into the muscles in Kaz’s back.
“Miles?”
He shook his head, refusing to let go when Kaz tried to nudge him back. He wasn’t ready for this to end.
“Sweetheart?”
He reluctantly leaned back in Kaz’s arms and met his worried gaze.
“If the others have anything to say about me telling you more than I should, they can fuck right off,” Kaz said, something dangerous in his voice. Kaz slid a hand to the back of Miles’s neck, thumb brushing over his raging pulse.
The words came pouring out of Kaz, then. Everything that had happened, everything he’d done, every concern he had. Miles took it all in. Soaking up every word because they were a testament to Kaz’s trust in him.
“If I thought for even a second that you were in danger, I never would’ve let you stay. If you only trust one thing, let it be that. I will never let you get hurt. I don’t care who I have to kill, what I have to do, I’ll always keep you safe.”
Miles let his eyes fall shut, a lightness in his chest he hadn’t felt before. Hope. There was a bright flare of hope spreading inside him, and for once, he dared grasp onto it.
“I love you,” he said, looking up into Kaz’s eyes and getting caught in that perfect storm that always felt like home.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Kaz
MILES WAS looking at him as if he was worth something. He hadn’t known how much he needed to hear Miles tell him he was enough. Nor how much he’d wanted those three words from Miles.
“I’m all yours, Miles.”
“Good.” Miles tilted his head to the side, a sly smile spreading on his lips. “Because I intend to have all of you.”
A spark of lust spread through him, parting his lips on a soundless gasp.
“Even the ugly parts?” he asked, even though he was terrified of the answer.
Miles’s eyes were alight with something bright. Something that had his heart speeding up.
“I want every. Single. Part. Of you. All of it, Kaz. The good and the bad. The vulnerable. I don’t want perfect. No one can live up to that. I just want to know that you’re fully mine.Please.”
That broken part of him that wanted to hide all the bad and ugly things from Miles was roaring its head, demanding he hide it, or else Miles would never want him. It was that part of him that convinced him he needed to be perfect, or Miles would leave him again. It was damned hard to admit that he would never be perfect. To believe that Miles still wanted him despite it.
“I can’t promise that it’ll be easy,” he said, watching Miles closely, eyes tracking over his face. “But I want to give it all toyou. I’ll hate that you get to see those parts of me, but… I want you. I want to be yours. Fully. No secrets. No holding back.”
A breath shuddered out of Miles, and then a bright smile spread on his lips.
“You’re in?”
He grabbed Miles by the waist and tugged the man right up against him.
Miles wanted all of him?
He ignored the fear rattling around inside him and made a choice. From now on, he would be honest with Miles even?if not especially?about the parts that terrified him. He’d loved this man since he was a teenager. He’d let him go for fourteen years. If he couldn’t give Miles all of him, all of his heart, he sure as fuck didn’t deserve him.
“Sweetheart, I’m all in.”
Miles’s mouth was on his before he finished speaking, tongue pushing past his lips to own him. To show him he meant every word he’d said.
Need rushed through him, and he dug his fingertips into the muscles in Miles’s back, rocking his hips against him, Miles’s groan filling his ears as he pushed closer.
