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“But I—” Tripp starts, but Knox cuts him off, not to be mean but to get through to him how fragile I am right now.

“She needs a hot shower and someone to be there. We’ll be back down in a few.”

Knox gently takes my hand, his grip steady but soft, and guides me upstairs. Each step feels heavier than the last, weighed down by sorrow, but Knox never lets go. His attentiveness is nearly my undoing.

When we reach the bathroom, the room is quiet and filled with the soft, comforting scent of cinnamon from a candle he lights on the counter. The steam from the running shower curls around us, blurring the harsh edges of the world outside.

With careful hands, he helps me out of my dress.

His touch is never hurried; it is always seeking permission.

He folds the garment and sets it aside, treating even this small piece of my day respectfully.

All the while, his eyes stay on mine, silently reassuring me.

He's letting me know that I am safe and cared for.

He's letting me know I'm no longer in this alone.

He leads me beneath the warm spray, his arms sheltering me.

The water pours over us both, rinsing away the ache of the evening.

Knox's steady presence surrounds me; his fingertips brush away tears I can't help but seem to allow free.

In this quiet sanctuary, I allow myself to unravel in front of him, knowing he will hold me together until I am whole again.

“You are mine, little omega. With every breath in my body, I live for you, because of you. There will never be a day that goes by where I won’t make sure your needs are completely met.”

I peer up into his eyes, seeing him look down at me with a soft expression on his face.

He’s careful when he cups my face in both hands.

Slowly, he leans down and presses his lips to mine.

He doesn’t coax them open to deepen the kiss.

He doesn’t do anything except give me this reassurance that he will always be here for me.

This is a different Knox than what I first saw that night, and I couldn’t be happier with it. He’s the type of male that I want to spend the rest of my life with. The kind of male who will be there when the going gets tough.

“Make love to me,” I say, my voice barely louder than the spray of the water. “I want to feel you, feel something more than pain.”

He searches my eyes. For several minutes, he stands here, tension lining his body.

He licks his lips, and then his gaze falls down to my lips.

Yet even as Knox holds me, his touch unwavering and his presence sure, I sense the war quietly raging within him.

It’s in the way his jaw clenches, the way his breath hitches.

Knox is fighting something profound inside. He wants to be my shelter, but part of him fears he’ll never be enough. He fears his devotion can somehow become a shackle rather than freedom.

In those moments of silence, with only the shower surrounding us, I feel the tension flicker.

He battles with the urge to keep me from feeling every ounce of pain, to hold me so close nothing in the world can touch me, even as he knows he can’t erase what happened or mend every wound, he tries.

His love wages war with the fear of failing me.

Still, even as Knox struggles, he chooses me again and again. He tucks those fears behind gentle words and softer hands, pressing his love into every small gesture. In his arms, I know I am cherished, not despite our scars and struggles, but because of them.

When Knox makes up his mind, I see the moment he does.

He leans down and presses his lips to mine like he cannot help himself.

He deepens the kiss and slowly walks me back into the wall of the shower.

His body presses against mine, and his hard cock presses into my stomach.

A need surges up inside me so fierce it nearly takes my breath away.

“I need it rough,” I say between kisses. “I want you to make me feel nothing except you.”

Growling against my lips, his hand trails down the outside of my leg, and he pulls it over his hip, opening me for him.

With his other hand, he touches my sensitive pussy, stroking me higher and higher.

I gasp, allowing my head to fall back against the shower wall.

He continues to kiss along the side of my neck, sucking my skin into his mouth.

I know he wants to mark me. I feel the need burning inside of him. But he won’t do that until I’m ready. I want to tell him I’m ready now, but even I don’t know the answer to that myself. I’m in a haze of lust and only want to feel him surrounding me, filling me.

Once I’m wet enough for him, he grabs his stiff cock and places it at my entrance. With a slowness that surprises me, he fills me with the entirety of his manhood. I groan as water slides down my body. The feel of him inside me is out of this world. It’s a feeling I could become addicted to.

“You feel so good,” he groans, sliding out before pushing back inside.

He sets a steady pace and maintains it consistently.

He doesn’t go any faster or any slower, but instead focuses on my needs instead of his own.

He’s here for me, to love me. He wants to give me everything I need or want.

And I love him a little more for that. His focus allows me to let go and just feel.

The steady slap of skin against skin greets my ears as I feel him bottom out each time inside of me. My leg starts to tremble from the pleasure that’s spearing through me. He’s so hard yet so soft at the same time.

“Wrap your arms around me, baby,” he says, kissing my neck.

I do.

His other hand grabs my thigh, and he lifts me into his arms, pressing me against the wall even more.

His hips snap forward hard, and I cry out into the steaming shower around us.

He delivers sharp, rough thrusts that jolt my body and ease my mind.

Every upward thrust makes me forget a little more of what happened.

With my body suspended in the air, Knox takes me to the edge again and again. He works his cock in and out of me with a force that has me nearly crying from the pleasure of it.

I feel the knot at the base of his cock swelling with his arousal. Every time he bottoms out inside me, I feel it bump up against my entrance, begging to be inside and fill me up. Our bodies move together in sync, each of us chasing our pleasure.

“Knot me. Please,” I whimper.

“Oh, fuck. Baby,” he groans out as his hips slap against me faster. His thrusts speed up, and I can tell he’s close with the way he’s moaning and the ragged breaths he’s releasing. His movements become jerky and uncoordinated.

And then, when the orgasm blooms inside of me, I feel him thrust forward once and lock us together on his knot. He yells out his release, his voice echoing off the tiled wall, and the first spurt of his cum has me tipping over the edge into my own orgasm.

He holds me to him as we slowly come down. Our chests rise and fall quickly as we fight to catch our breath. But I wouldn’t want to be anywhere other than right here, right now. Knox is being attentive and whispering praises in my ear that have me quivering around his length.

“Baby, I don’t know about you, but … you’re my forever, and I’m never letting you go.”