“Hector...” I began, but he cut me off in the best possible way.
He stole my breath right from my lungs.
Hector
Misery. Loneliness. Guilt. Those had been the emotions that fueled me. They'd been companions in the night, keeping me awake.
But like the fog that surrounded my lonely cottage back on the moors, they suddenly melted away when the sun came out.
Desire. Need. Affection.Love.I pushed the thought of the last one away. Love wasn't for creatures like me. Loyalty, yes. Not love.
There was nothing I could do that would make me worthy of that, despite what Leo said. She might think she loved me, but she couldn't.
And she deserved better than my love. My love did nothing but hurt people, and I'd be damned even more than I already was if I let my love hurt her.
So, I'd give her my loyalty. I'd put my body between her and whatever tried to hurt her. I'd give upeverythingI had left for her.
I wasn't brave enough to tell her yet, so I showed her.
Letting down the walls that had kept her from feeling the strength of my desire, I gave it to her. Every pent-up emotion, I let out. Growling, I lifted her off the floor. She wound her arms and legs around me, shrinking whatever distance there had been to hold me just as tightly.
Her need matched mine, and I shouldn't have been surprised. There were layers upon layers to Leo. Each one fascinating and beautiful.
I couldn't believe she was allowing this, but I was too selfish to stop it. Too desperate for the connection with her. I'd been shrouded in darkness, and she was burning it all away.
I walked us back to the bed, our kisses becoming messy and fumbling, until I hit the mattress and placed her down.
Leo moved fast. She went to her knees and peeled my shirt from my body. Her fingers trembled, and I chuckled because my fingers were shaking too. I wanted to be smooth, but it'd been so long since I'd done this, and even longer since I cared about the other person.
Care. Loyalty.
I could give her those. I had to keep it to that.
Leo struggled to undo my pants, but rallied, and soon pushed them over my hips. Her hands stilled at my waist, and I caught her staring at me.
Chest heaving, I glanced down.
“Hector...” She trailed her fingers along the path of her gaze—hips, chest, neck, arms, hands. “You're beautiful.”
No.
There was nothing beautiful about this body. It had been honed to maim and kill. It had been sliced and ripped apart and sewn back together. Leo lifted my hands to her mouth, kissing my knuckles, and suddenly blushed.
The sight of that gorgeous pink trailing from her chest over her shoulders and up her neck shocked me into stillness. I'd managed to get her out of her shirt and bra and unbutton her jeans, but I hadn't taken the time to look at her.
I did now.
She was lush. Curvy in all the right places, soft in ways that I could melt into.
“Gods, Leo. I'm not beautiful. You are.” The clothes she wore hid this sweet body, and maybe I was a caveman for it, but suddenly, I was glad she didn't reveal herself to anyone but us.
Dropping her hands from my body, she skimmed them around her waist, covering her belly. I didn't want that. If I was letting her see all of me, I wanted to see her.
But I knew some of what she'd experienced and what she was still trying to overcome. Like me, she had voices in her head, screaming about flaws and shortcomings. I knew she battled them.
And I had promised to help her fight from here on out. Not just the gods and anything that tried to hurt her, but anything that made her doubt her worth.
I sifted my hands through her hair, pushing it away from her face to reveal every inch of her. Slicking it back, I counted every freckle. I could even count the lines next to her mouth and the tiny ones beside her eyes. She smiled easily and, one day, hopefully, her face would be a map of her happiness.