Page 135 of Velvet Corruption

Instead, I stayed. I ran my hands down her shoulders, over the curve of her back, anchoring her without pulling too hard.

“I don’t know how to feel,” she said, the words barely a breath.

“You don’t have to,” I replied.

She turned then. Eyes rimmed red. Lip trembling. Breath hitching just once.

Wrecked.

Raw.

Still beautiful.

Still fucking mine.

“How do you deal with this, Kieran? That’s a person,” she said. “That is vengeance. Vengeance isn’t justice.”

I shook my head. “You’re wrong, Ruby,” I said, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear. “A man tried to kill you. You put him in prison because he was dangerous and he got out and tried to kill you. That isn’t justice, sweetheart. That’s fucked.”

“But that isn’t your place.”

“Maybe you’re right. But if I hadn’t killed him, would Rosie still have a mother?”

She shook her head, sighing deeply. Her gaze flickered to my mouth, and my control snapped like a thread pulled too tight. Her eyes flickered to my mouth. My gut twisted, a warning I ignored.

I should have turned away.

But there was no going back now.

I kissed her—deep, hard—like I’d earned it, like I had any right at all.

She gasped against my mouth, but it wasn’t a protest. It was a challenge. And I met it head-on, pressing her back against the cold tile as the water rained down around us. Her body jolted at the contrast, and then she arched—into me, not away.

Her fingers dug into my shoulders, sharp little crescents of want.

She pulled me closer.

So I gave in.

“You’re in the shower,” she muttered when we broke apart, breathless. “Why the fuck are you still dressed?”

“You were crying,” I said, voice rough. “Didn’t seem like the right time to ask for a towel.”

She blinked. Then smirked, slow and dangerous. “So you decided to stand there like a brooding wet dog instead?”

“I decided to get in the shower with a naked woman. Don’t make me rethink my choices.”

Her eyes flicked down, then up. “You’re dripping.”

“You’re welcome.”

She huffed, somewhere between a laugh and a groan, and for a second I thought she was going to push me away.

But she didn’t.

She grabbed my face with both hands and kissed me like she’d earned it too.

The water pounded against my back, my shirt sticking to my skin, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was her—the soft give of her mouth, the way her body fit against mine like we’d been built for each other.