“Selfish,” he muttered.
“Who? Me?”
“Me. Shoulda let you go. Shoulda gotten you out.”
“Richie tried to disappear,” I reminded him. “Look what happened to him.”
“Might’ve been different if he’d had the club to help him out.”
“None of that matters now.”
His hands moved from my back down, down, down. He rubbed circles on my thighs, his touch soothing.
“You don’t owe me anything, darlin’. You know that, right?”
I looked at him over my shoulder. His gaze was dark, but I caught the tiniest measure of vulnerability. It made my lip wobble with emotion as I thought of all that Colt had gone through alone.
“I needed you,” I said softly. “I just didn’t know I needed you.”
He sighed, taking a step closer to me and wrapping me in his arms. “Babe,” was all he said.
One day, Colt would need me too. He’d come to me, needing my touch, needing the embrace of a woman to wash away the heaviness that came with being president of a motorcycle club.
“She told me,” I admitted. “Joni.”
“What did she tell you?” he asked, brushing his lips across my shoulder.
“She told me you were worth it. That if I wanted to be with you, you’d never make me regret it.”
“When you need a rock, I can be that for you. You won’t believe me until something happens and you’re forced to lean on me. Richie’s death doesn’t count. He wasn’t someone you loved.”
“I don’t think I’d survive losing someone else I loved,” I murmured. “I’ve lost enough.”
“Yeah, darlin’. We both have.” He paused. “But life happens. And you get through it with family.”
I turned in his arms and pressed my lips to his left pectoral with the dates of his parents’ deaths. He’d never told me that’s what they were for, to honor and remember them, but he didn’t have to say it.
We understood each other without words and that was something that couldn’t be replicated or replaced.
I ran my hands up his wet, naked body, enjoying the droplets of water on his honey colored skin.
“You’re so beautiful,” I whispered, reaching for the soap to lather him with bubbles.
“I’ve got scars. You’re the one who’s beautiful.”
My fingers traced one long, thin mark that marred his shoulder. “We’ve all got scars, Colt. It’s just…some of them aren’t visible.”
“You’re killing me. You know that, right?” His hands went to my hair and gently tugged my head back so I was forced to look at him. His lips took mine in a hot and hungry kiss that left me breathless. “I need you. I need to be inside of you. I can’t wait any longer.”
I gently pushed him back under the spray so that he could rinse off while I stepped out of the shower and quickly dried off.
Colt shut off the water and snatched a towel from the hanging rod.
My skin prickled with goosebumps of anticipation.
It was all happening so fast with Colt, and yet it seemed inevitable.
I strode into the bedroom with Colt not far behind me. His damp skin glistened as his hungry gaze raked over me.