Page 79 of Shadows of Steel

A stabbing ache settles in my chest.

My arms tighten around her, steady and unyielding, making damn sure she knows I’m the only thing keeping her above the surface.

“Never.” I promise, the word slipping out before I can stop it.

Her fingers curl into me, her exhale soft against my skin.

This maddening woman is making me want to know every single thing about her. Every hidden thought. Every guarded secret. Every part of her that she refuses to give. I want to unravel her. Strip her down, not just her body, but everything she keeps locked away.

Her thighs squeeze at my sides, her warmth pressing against my cock, which is already painfully hard. The thin barrier of her bikini does nothing to stop the slow, torturous drag of her body against mine, and the moment she shifts even slightly, my teeth clench.

I could take her like this. Right here in the water.

I could push inside her, make her sob my name, feel her walls tighten around me as she gasps and writhes, holding onto me like I’m the only thing keeping her from drowning. The thought alone makes my breathing tighten.

She shivers, still pressing herself against me, completely unaware of the effect she has on me.

Mattia swims past, still laughing, splashing around us. I force myself to look at him, at my son, happy and carefree, at my wife, wrapped around me like she belongs there.

It elicits an unexpected response in me, foreign yet insistent.

This moment, this fleeting, fragile sense of ease, feels almost natural.

Me. My wife. My son.

The realization grates against me, an intrusion I neither expected nor wanted. I was never meant for this. A life weighed down by vulnerabilities.

Mattia was inevitable, not a vulnerability I chose, but one I embraced the moment I held him in my arms. He is mine, my blood, and I would kill for him without hesitation.

But now, Harlow is becoming just as dangerous.

What happens if I lose them? If someone tries to take them from me?

I push the thought away before it can settle.

No one would fucking dare.

Because if they did, I’d kill them all.

I’d burn cities to the ground. I’d raise the fucking earth.

I’d carve a path of blood so wide they’d wish they were never born.

***

The day passes in a blur of water and sun. I don’t remember the last time I enjoyed something that wasn’t killing, breaking, or making an example of someone.

By the time we return to the estate, the sun has begun its descent, casting long shadows across the grounds.

Mattia disappears to his room, eager to shower and change. I follow my wife upstairs, watching as she steps inside our bedroom.

The words sink into my mind.

Our bedroom.

A slow, possessive heat burns beneath my skin.

She disappears into the bathroom first, the door clicking shut behind her.