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“Can,” I finish for him.

And why the hell shouldn’t we? Daniel stole my sense of security today. He stole my trust and my confidence for years. Does he get to take this, too?

All the way here, all the way through my confession to Elias, fear and panic have been giving way to anger and certainty. What right? What fucking right does Daniel have to still have so much influence over my life?

Elias pulls back a few inches and regards me warily. “Little siren…”

As much as I appreciate all the care and consideration he’s shown me, it’s not what I want right now. I want him. I want to choose and to be chosen in return.

Elias told me he’s been waiting for me for centuries. Without saying so many words, he’s already let me know he’s all-in on this, on me.

Now it’s my turn.

“Do you know what I was going to do?” I ask him. “Back at my apartment, do you know what I was going to do?”

He shakes his head slowly.

“I was going to invite you inside.” A kiss, placed just under his jaw. “I was going to press you up against my door and kiss the hell out of you.” Teeth, rasping lightly over his Adam’s apple. “Then, I was going to ask if you wanted to take a shower, you know, because we’re so sweaty from hiking.” A hand, cupped against the growing erection just begging to be released from his jeans. “And then? I was going to ask if you wanted to show me what you didn’t this morning.”

I drag my fingers over the spot on his hip where he started to shift, making my meaning more than clear.

A shudder runs through the entire length of his body, though he still doesn’t relent.

“Nora…”

“Let me have this?” I ask him, taking his face between my hands and making him look me in the eye. “Please? I want this. I want you.”

It’s not fair to pull on his hesitation like this, to demand more than I should. I know it’s not fair. And maybe Elias does, too, but the last thread of his resolve snaps and he buries a fist in my hair, tipping my head back and claiming my mouth with a tortured groan.

He throws open the door to my room and we bump our way inside.

“Do you still want that shower?” he asks, breathing fast and heavy.

“Only if you join me for it.”

With another rumble in his chest, he takes me by the hand and leads me through the bedroom into the huge en suite. It’s got a jetted tub sunken into the floor, double vanities, and its own small sauna, along with the biggest damn shower I’ve ever seen.

Tiled with a mosaic of blue and green and gray, it has a wall of fancy shower heads that look like something out of a spaceship and a bench seat that brings a lot of very interesting possibilities to mind, especially with how much space the whole thing provides.

Plenty of room for one human and her kraken.

Elias turns to face me, eyes raking up and down my body, the barest hint of reserve still lingering in his expression. He grabs me by the hips and brings me crashing back against his body.

“You’ll tell me,” he says, voice low and rough in a way that makes my lower belly coil in anticipation. “If you feel any kind of hesitation, or want to stop for a single moment, you’ll tell me.”

It’s not a question, but I nod anyway.

“Words, Nora.”

Another pulse of delicious heat at the command in his voice. “I’ll tell you.”

We’re a mess after that. Tearing hands that leave our clothes in piles on the floor; sloppy, inelegant kisses; stumbling steps; and graceless bodies as we finally make it under the spray of water. We’re too eager, and it’s ice cold at first, making me yelp and spring closer to him.

Elias’s body is incredible.

He saw more of me than I saw of him this morning, and I take my time returning the favor. I don’t just look, either. How could I, with this amazing specimen of a man in front of me?

Running my hands over the broad set of his shoulders and the planes of his chest, I find more little scars on him, nicks and cuts and a few larger gashes that tell the story of his long, long life. The muscles beneath those scars jump and bunch as I continue to explore, delighting in the heat and the strength of him, the way my touch seems to make him come undone.