Page 41 of Filthy Beginnings

She’d been so lost in him, she hadn’t noticed the tray or the items on it. “What are those?”

“Full service caretaking.” He watched her carefully. “You in?”

“I… I don’t know. I am not even sure what it’s all for.”

“The best illicit items I could bribe someone into getting for me.” He pointed to each item. “A glass of the finest Sartin spirits. I hate to admit it, but those guys make a good drink. Top of the line massage oil from Abzal—because anything related to pleasure is something we do well on my home planet.” He winked at her. “And a standard hairbrush from the Golden Dome fighters commissary. I made sure no one saw me buy it.”

It awed her to think of all the effort he’d made. For her. No one had ever done anything like this for her before.

“This… this is amazing.” She swallowed hard. “But you didn’t need to go to all this trouble.”

“I wanted to.” His gaze shifted away as he rubbed a hand down his jaw. Then he took a breath, as if bracing himself, and turned back to her. “It’s all I want to do.”

He sounded like he was confessing a secret, or a sin.

“I don’t understand.”

He ran his hand down his thighs. “I don’t want to scare you off or freak you out, but the truth is, ever since meeting you, I’m fucking hard as hell just thinking about using every single thing on that tray on you, in every way I want. And you trusting me enough to let me.”

She stilled. “Really?” A tiny thrill pulsed through her.

“Yes. More than I even want to admit.” He blew out a breath. “I know it’s not typical Alpha behavior.”

She surveyed the items on the tray. “It’s better.”

“Really?” He looked relieved. It reminded her that he was as new to all of this as she.

He was so confident and cocky she sometimes forgot they were stumbling through all this together. Figuring out their likes and needs together.

“Really.” All her life, she’d felt alone. Not anymore.

His smile was pure temptation—and wild, raw hunger, as if her words had released something inside him. “Good. ‘Cause I’ve got a filthy mind and fighting only keeps me so busy. I’ve had a lot of time to… fantasize.”

He lifted the glass and pressed it to her lips. “Drink.”

She did, the splash of sweetness followed by an even sweeter burn. He took the glass, and placing his lips where hers had been, drank too.

Another shiver whispered through her.

“I want to try every one of those items.” She dropped the blanket, letting it pool around her hips. “I want to explore everything with you, Damien.”

They were such a perfect match, the wild recklessness in him calling out to her soul while the gentleness at his core soothed her like nothing before.

He was just like her colors, a perfect mix of soft and vivid, wild and bright, swirling through her with a power that stunned her.

She’d never met anyone like him before, and now she knew why. There was no one else in the galaxy like him.

And he was all hers.

Soft shades of pink and orange melded with vibrant red, glowing from her skin and skipping across the wall as she rolled onto her belly.

Excitement and nerves washed through her in equal measure.

“Trust me, Scarlett.” His breath whispered against her ear.

Then, there was a slight tug on her scalp as his big hands gathered her hair in one fist and he slid the hairbrush through the heavy mass.

Pure heaven. She sighed, relishing every slow stroke of the brush through her curls and the way it sent a corresponding ripple of pleasure down her spine.

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