I stop short when I see the glassiness in her eyes. She looks emotional. It’s the second time I’ve seen her unravel so fast in front of me.
“But that’s just it,” she says. “He is the only family I have. The only family I will ever have.”
“Renata…”
“Logan did a lot more than take away my ability to trust men,” she whispers. “He took away my ability to have children, too.”
I don’t know why, but my body feels cold. Like an Arctic breeze is blowing on me and me alone. “What?”
She nods. “He hurt me, Kian. The doctor told me that the internal damage to my womb was… unfixable. I’ll never bear children.”
My muscles tense instantly. And again, I see red. Lucky for this biker bastard that he’s dead. If he wasn’t… he’d be suffering like no one in the history of humanity has ever suffered before.
I can hear the quiet strength in her voice, hiding behind despair. “I don’t even know if I want kids,” she adds quickly. “I just…”
“It wasn’t his choice to take away,” I finish.
She nods as a tear slips down her cheek. It’s the second time I’ve seen her cry today. And it fucking eats me up inside.
Which is new. I’ve always been a cold motherfucker. Other people’s emotions have never touched me personally. I can feel sympathy, but empathy has always been hard for me.
Until her.
Until Renata Lombardi.
Until fate brought me back in front of the daughter of my slaughtered enemy, and bound us together with something I still don’t have the words to explain.
Before I can stop myself, I reach out and cup the side of her face with my hand. She doesn’t flinch away from me. In fact, she leans into my hand and her tear falls right into my palm. Her eyes meet mine, and that unspoken attraction between us burgeons until it’s undeniable.
Something has to be done about it.
All I’m aware of is her. She blocks out everything else. I pull her into my lap and my cock springs up so fast that I wince. As her hands travel down my chest, I notice the sadness in her eyes has been replaced by something else.
Hunger. Lust. Desire.
Her fingers trail down my left arm as she leans in, her lips parted. The kiss falls over me like a cloud. It’s not the kind I’m used to. It’s too soft, too gentle. Too cautious.
But somehow, that makes it so much more intense. Her body presses down against me, shivering slightly, but I can feel how hard her nipples are.
I have to concentrate hard to hold myself back. I know what she’s been through with men and I don’t want to contribute to her anxiety. But it’s not in my nature to go gentle. I can’t remember the last time I even tried.
For her, though… For Renata, I can—
CLICK.
My focus shatters when I feel a sharp, metallic coldness at my left wrist.
Renata leans away from me with a subtle smile. Only then do I realize that she’s managed to handcuff me to the arm in my own fucking chair.
My skin prickles with horrified goosebumps for a moment. The fear I had earlier today resurfaces. Has she been playing me from the start? Is Renata Lombardi the queen, and I’m just a pawn on her chessboard?
Her smile seems so fucking sinister in the dim light. Vicious and…
No. I’m wrong. It’s not that at all. As she moves into the arc of light, I see her face in full, and all my fears fall away.
Renata grinds her pussy against my cock as she unbuttons my shirt with thin, trembling fingers. “It’s not easy for me to give up control to a man,” she whispers. “Maybe this way, I can give myself to you and not be so… scared.”
She drags her eyes up to mine like it’s the hardest thing she’s ever done. She studies my expression carefully. Fretfully. I can tell she’s nervous.
“Okay?”
I growl and nod. “I’ll take you any way I can get you.”