Page 124 of Fighting With Light

I pinch her thigh and she yelps. “Don’t be mean to me, princess, it gets me all hot and bothered.”

“You’ll just be bothered if you don’tshower.” She stands and holds out her hand, tugging me back into the house. I close the doors, flip the lock, and follow her into our room.

“Go, you’ll feel better. I’ll wait for you.”

***

When I open the door to the bathroom, it’s dim, with the TV as the only light in the room. Aelia is lying on her side, watching the screen.

“I swear you take longer showers than me,” she says, holding the remote up to turn the TV off. We plunge back into the darkness and it finally feels calm. The robe is gone, and her silky shorts and lacey camisole are all that covers her.

“Well, you said I stank, so I made sure I was extra clean.”

“Gee thanks, Tarzan, now you don’t smell like the jungle.”

I grunt and beat my fist against my chest. She giggles and gets on her knees towards the edge of the bed. “Come here,” she whispers.

Stepping closer, she drags her fingers over my lips, pulling my lower one down. My hands remain at my sides, giving her control. She releases my lip, and it pops as she drags her fingers over my chin, ghosting my neck, brushing my chest, and grazing my abs. The air in my lungs feels like it’s not enough and I inhale short breaths. Her fingers reach the edge of my towel tucked at my hips and she scrapes a nail across my skin, teasing me.

Aelia leans in, bites my chin, and untucks the towel. It brushes my thighs as it falls to the floor, and her lips touch mine. I try to catch them, but she pulls away at the last second. Growling, I lift my hands to reach for her, and she pulls back.

“Ah, ah,” she says.

I grunt, dropping my hands again.

Her lips move from my face down to my chest to my abs and lower. I fist and relax my hands, ignoring the need to touch her.Feelher within my grip. Her nails gently scrape down my chest and my skin twitches under the sensation.

“I love how your body reacts to my touch. It’s very reassuring.”

“What do you mean, reassuring?” I ask.

“I just…” she trails off and I reach for her chin, tilting it up.

We can barely see each other in the dark. The blinds are closed, and the moon is dim, but I feel like I can see what’s within her and that shines brighter than any light. I can see the heart that has broken over and over again, whose pieces somehow fit with mine. I see the woman who longs to be loved for exactly who she is and not who she pretends to be.

“You are my weakness, you know that?” I tell her. I can feel her gaze drilling holes through my heated skin. “You make me stronger because of it.”

She remains quiet as my heart threatens to punch through my chest.

”Iseeyou, Aelia.” I catch an audible gasp from her lips and drop to my knees in front of her. “Look at me,” I command.

She looks down and I wish I could see those spring eyes. “I am on my knees for you. I’m yours, princess. All I am belongs to you, and I want you to have it. I loveyou,“ I say, almost choking up. I’m not used to saying those words to anyone but my family. Sheismy family now.

Aelia drags her hands through my long hair and I groan.

“Stand up,” she whispers. I rise to the edge of the bed and she stands up on the mattress.

Her fingers grip the edge of her camisole and I watch her undress. She pushes the silk shorts over her hips and kicks them to the side.

Vulnerability is not in either of our natures, we are more likely to cover it with something else. But standing here without an inch of clothing, and a whole lot of feelings for a woman that was never supposed to be mine, it’s hard not to be.

She drops back down to her knees, bouncing gently on the mattress, and puts her hands around my neck, rubbing her thumbs on the underside of my jaw. My pulse leaps out like it’s trying to wrap itself around her.

“I have never felt so loved as I do by you. You are the mountain tops. You are the reason I am fighting with the light instead of succumbing to the darkness that has been nipping at my heels. You’vefreedme. I don’t just love you, Liam, I belongto you. My heart isyours.”

I lift a knee to the edge of the bed, and she lays back as I crawl over her. Her arms loop around my neck, and she lifts her chin, kissing me briefly. We’re so close, almost sharing breath, that I press my lips to hers again.

“I don’t deserve it, Aelia. I don’t deserve to hold your heart.”