And for once, I could do something about it, something only I could do for her. I pushed away my fears and my doubt and pulled my shirt off. I left the sweats on—neither of us needed the complication of her seeing my inevitable reaction to the proximity of her naked body—then stepped into the walk-in shower. I set my hands on her cheeks, rested my forehead against hers, then wrapped my arms around her to pull her against me.
The sensation of her bare breasts against me was a special sort of hell, something that made me crave so many things yet still made me happy on its own.
She let out a shuddering breath as her powers slid into me. Like before, the sensation was gentle, warm, wonderful. It wasn’t anything like how it normally feltwhen I touched people, when their power clawed at me like a wild animal trapped inside of me, when that source I temporary stole ripped my insides apart. With Hera, the power hit differently, softer.
Why? Because it was her? Because of what she was? Maybe because she didn’t fight me, because I didn’t steal it so much as carried it for her for a while.
She dug her fingers into my back, and I suspected that was a thank you from her. She couldn’t sign, not with us up against each other like that, but guessed the motion showed her own gratitude.
“I wish I could do more,” I whispered to her. “I wish I could fix this all for you, that I could make things better, but Larkwood isn’t the sort of place where anyone can save anyone else.”
She shifted and brushed her lips against mine. And boy did thatnotdo good things for my already tenuous hold on my desire.
“Maybe that’s not a great idea,” I whispered instead of responding with a kiss, instead of doing what I really wanted. “You’ve had a hard couple of days, and believe it or not, I didn’t come here for this. I mean, I know seeing me all wet and manly in the shower would make anyone react like that…”
She pulled back far enough to look up and into my eyes, though her body remained against mine, and ended my tirade. I used one of my thumbs to trace over her bottom lip, surprised that she could do this to me.
I’d figured I’d feel so damned awkward around her, given my lack of experience. I’d thought I’d be uncomfortable and unsure. Something about her made that impossible. She shut down the part of me that overthought and worried, like she made it so I could feel some deeper instinct inside me.
“Don’t get me wrong. I really want to.” I let out a soft groan at how adequate that statement was. “Ireally, reallywant to. I just don’t want you regretting anything or feeling like I took advantage of you. You’re the most important thing to me.”
The corner of her lips pulled into a smile, as if she were charmed by my words.
Which made me again wonder just how I’d done anything in my life to deserve her. She was too damned pure for this place, too good for any of us.
She pulled away, and I let her go, not wanting to ever force her into anything. She signed to respond.“I’m not going to regret anything. I want you.”
I groaned and rubbed my hand over my face. “You can’t just say things like that—it’s not fair.”
“You quiet the world for me.”
“So we’ll hold hands as long as you want, but we don’t have to do anything like this.”
“Please?”The honesty in her expression undid me.
How could I say no? How could I possibly turn her down when she looked at me like that? When she asked so sweetly?
And it really only had one answer—“Okay.”
* * * *
Hera
I crawled into the bed, thankful Wade had changed my sheets. He’d said he needed to dry off, so had sent me ahead of him.
The silence of the world felt like a miracle. After the noise, it was everything to feel it quiet, to feel like the person I used to be. I knew his skill didn’t last longwhen he did it like this rather than using it as a weapon, but even the small reprieve was worth it.
It took a few minutes for the door to open, for Wade to exit.
And I didn’t bother to hide my disappointment. He was naked, but he had a towel wrapped around his hips, hiding himself from me.
“You saw me naked. Seems unfair to not get the same.”
He chuckled but didn’t relent. “Yeah, well, I’m not a man to play fair. I have my sweats hanging up to dry, because I doubt the guards would want me wandering around in my birthday suit.” He hesitated for a moment, then got into the bed beside me.
I reached for him, scooting closer, wanting to feel his lean body against mine.
He grasped my wrist to stop me, though, then stared into my eyes. When I stopped, he spoke softly. “I don’t want to rush this,” he said. “I don’t think we need to.”