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“We don’t have to do anything more than sleep,” he whispers as if he can read my mind.

His forearms feel so strong underneath my fingertips. Every part of his body that I’ve touched feels so strong. Not the sheer strength within Madden, the explosive strength I’ve felt with Archer, or the agile and fluid sort of strength I felt with Chase, but a kind of controlled strength that’s all him.

And for some reason, the control I know he has makes me feel safe.

He’d stop if I weren’t ready.

I think any of them would, if I asked them to, but Kane is so observant he’d stop before I even had to say anything.

“What if—what if sleeping isn’t—isn’t the only thing we do?” I whisper, my gaze drawn to the sharpness of his jaw as it clenches.

It takes me a while to build up the courage to look into his eyes. I’m afraid I’m going to melt. Or combust. Or something.

Regardless of how it happens, I’m scared I’m going to fade into nothing.

When I do manage to finally meet his deep forest green eyes, I’m so right.

They’re filled with such a powerful intensity that mixes with his dominance that I have to lean my weight onto him to keep my knees from giving out from under me.

But this isn’t my knees buckling from fear. My body’s reaction to his dominance isn’t anything remotely close to my reactions to alpha dominance in the past.

He reaches up slowly to cup my jaw. The scrape of the rough callouses on his hand feels mesmerizing against my buzzing skin.

“What did you have in mind?” he asks, his gaze never dropping mine, not even as he traces his thumbs slowly against my lips.

“So soft,” he whispers.

My eyes flutter closed and a soft moan leaves my throat.

“I need your words, little one. Tell me what you want.” His voice is thick with desire and anticipation.

It’s obvious what I want. I want him to kiss me. I open my eyes, narrowing them up at him. Why is he making me say it out loud? It’s embarrassing enough how needy he makes me feel, he needs me to say it out loud?

He chuckles under his breath when he sees my expression, leaning in to brush his lips against my forehead. The innocent touch just makes me want his lips against mine even more.

“I know what you want,” he says, his eyes going soft with reassurance. “I think you need to hear yourself ask for something and get it without anything going wrong.”

I lean into his hand that’s still cupping my cheek, my gaze drifting down to his lips. “I—I want you to kiss me.”

I barely have time to blink before his lips are on mine. His stubble feels rough against my chin, a stark contrast in comparison to the softness of his lips. My eyes close and I melt into his touch.

I feel a bit clumsy and unsure of what I’m doing. I was never a real active participant in things I’ve done before and never cared what the other person thought.

But Kane is gentle with me, even as he takes the lead with the kiss. The groan that escapes from the back of his throat as he slides his hand up into my hair to get a better angle reassures me that I’m doing just fine.

I find a rhythm with him, my lips moving against his as the kiss grows in intensity. A small whine builds at the back of my throat.

This kiss is magical. It’s just a kiss but I can feel the effects of the kiss throughout my entire body.

When Kane pulls away gently, the whine I’ve been trying to keep suppressed makes its way out. It’s like part of my brain is rejecting the idea of him leaving me right now.

“Fuck,” he says, breathless.

My chest heaves up and down as if I’ve just run a mile. His eyes sparkle as he looks down at me.

“You’re magical,” he murmurs, brushing some of my hair behind my ear.

I rest my forehead against his chest, unable to meet his gaze at his compliment, my cheeks feeling like they’re hotter than the surface of the sun.