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But then, he wound his arm around Khalani’s neck, fastening her to him and kissed her like it was their last night on Earth.

Her lips moved against him with equal abandon. She slid her tongue into his mouth, and Takeshi groaned, pulling her closer, sliding his other hand to her lower back.

She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and stood on her toes, breathing his intoxicating scent in, begging for time to stop.

In one fluid motion, Takeshi lifted her off her feet.

She instinctively wrapped her legs around him, letting out a small noise as he slid his hand from the back of her neck to the front of her throat. He gently squeezed, pulling her breaths into his own as he licked her tongue, holding her as if someone would have to kill Takeshi to make him let go.

Khalani winced when the edge of his teeth caught her lip, but she refused to let anything or anyone ruin that moment. But Takeshi drew back an inch, noticing the flicker of pain she desperately tried to hide.

“Did I hurt you?” Takeshi asked, his voice gravelly and his lips deliciously swollen. The raw emotion in his eyes blended with the deep fury simmering just beneath the surface.

“I’m okay. Just a scratch,” Khalani reassured him.

His eyes softened—actuallysoftened—as he gazed at her. Takeshi cupped the side of her face and gently kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her nose, the tops of her eyelids, her jaw.

His lips were an apology.

Not just for the pain others had caused, but the hurt he’d dealt. For all the times they spent at each other’s throats instead of in each other’s arms.

But he hesitated and said, “Khalani, before we continue, I need to ask you something.”

Her eyes crinkled as he set her down.

“What?”

“Why did you stop me from killing those two men earlier? Is it because you’re ashamed of my past? Of the things I’ve done?” A vulnerability he normally didn’t show pooled in his dark gaze as he waited for her answer.

She considered his question, wanting to unbury her truths with him.

“I’m not ashamed of your past, Takeshi,” she stated firmly. “We’ve all made mistakes. I stopped you because for too long, you’ve let the ugliness of this world define you. I realized that you’ve spent so much time watching over others that you forgot what it’s like to have someone protect you. And I thought…maybeIcould be that person.”

Khalani’s muscles locked into place, her heart laid bare on a silver platter.

Her eyes strayed to the floor, but Takeshi put his finger under her chin and pulled her gaze toward him.

And every moon and star in the sky couldn’t compare to the sheer beauty and power reflecting back at her when he said,

“You already are.”

She stilled, his deep voice reverberating through her very soul.

They didn’t have to say those three words.

No sentence could ever be enough.

Their lips met at the same time, and she started unzipping the back of her uniform. Takeshi growled and snapped his hand around her wrist, halting her movement.

“Khalani,” he exhaled harshly, “if we keep going, I won’t be able to restrain myself. So, if you don’t want this to move any further, tell me now. This is your only chance to say no.”

Their eyes met in the dark, the finality in his deep tone reverberating around them.

If they continued, everything would change.

She hated change. Change was terrifyingly uncomfortable, like an itch that couldn’t be reached.

But she didn’t want to go through life wondering about the what ifs.