All my wounds had healed. Scars remained, but they were like faded tattoos on my skin, telling a story of every battle fought to reach the end. The ones inside were deeper, and parts of me needed to be pieced back together, still, the picture I saw of my future wasn’t a canvas covered in blood and pain. There was something amazing forming, something I’d begun sketching out myself.

The hunters hadn’t paid much for the mission, and I was usually careful with my money, but I decided to splurge on a fancy room in a nice hotel. I’d offered to get a few for my team as well, but CJ had an apartment in Pine Springs where they’d all decided to crash. They apparently didn’t mind that there was only enough space for them to sleep on the floor. All that mattered was she had all her windows covered and a subscription to Netflix.

I hoped they’d sleep well, but I needed a damn bed. One with a soft mattress, clean sheets, and the heaven of a nice, thick comforter.

Having a hot tub in the room was the perfect bonus. I showered before climbing in, letting out a porn-worthy moan.

Daederich glanced up from where he’d stretched out on the bed to read the newspaper. He was already looking for our next mission.

The man didn’t know how to relax.

“This is pure heaven.” I rested my head on the back of the tub, letting the jets hit the tight muscles in my back and thighs. The scent of vanilla from the aromatic foam I’d poured into the water filled the moist air as bubbles rose around me, almost high enough to spill over the sides. “I felt like I’d never get clean, but now I can just soak in everything that’s wonderful. Like I’ve finally convinced myself it’s over.”

His lips curved slightly. “I’ve always admired how well you recover.”

“Mmm, well it’s all I’ve ever done.” I glided across the bath, folding my arms on the edge and propping my chin on them. “You’re more cautious. Always on edge as though you’re waiting for something to go wrong.”

He inclined his head, his smile fading. “It always does.”

“True.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“It’s not supposed to be. Things will go wrong.” I shrugged and he set the paper aside. “But all I have is tonight. Then maybe tomorrow night. If I’m lucky, the night after that. Moments I’ve fucking earned, happiness I won’t let anyone take from me. Why do you think you’re here now?”

His brow furrowed. “You asked me to come.”

“Yes. Because you are one of the best things I have in my life and I almost lost you. I almost let him ruin what we had. He came close. And you helped him.” I held up my hand before he could cut in. “I know why you did it, but that’s not the point. We survived. He lost. And I still love you.”

Kneeling by the side of the hot tub, he cupped my cheek in his hand. “I never stopped loving you. Enough to let you go.”

“Love me enough to stay.”

“Done.”

“And be prepared for me to kick your ass the next time you walk away. There may be some begging involved.” I curved my hand around the back of his neck, pulling him close as water sloshed over the side of the tub, soaking him. “I won’t put up with your shit anymore, Daederich.”

“Understood.” He chuckled as he drew me up against him, claiming my lips in a deep kiss. “You’re hot when you’re demanding.”

I smirked, nipping his bottom lip. “You haven’t seen anything yet, mister.”

More water hit the floor as he hauled me up into his arms. I laughed, wiggling free before he could drop me on the bed. Slipping in puddles, I grabbed the towel I’d left by the hot tub, quickly drying off.

He came up behind me and kissed my shoulder. “I forgot about the bed. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I turned, backing him up until he was sitting on the edge of the mattress. “I’m spoiling myself tonight. And you’re part of it.”

Hooking my fingers under the hem of his shirt, I pulled it off, letting it fall to the floor. Scars I hadn’t seen before covered his chest and I cursed under my breath as he leaned back on his elbows. Rosali had used the branding iron on me once. From the marks on Daederich’s skin, she’d burned him again and again, leaving a thin white pattern covering almost his entire body.

“That sick fucking bitch.” Tears spilled down my cheeks. How the fuck had I let myself believe he’d had it easy? “If she wasn’t dead already—”

“She is. And she doesn’t get to be here with us now. These marks are nothing.” He grabbed my wrist when I reached for his belt, afraid of what else I’d find, but needing to see it all. “They’re everywhere, but they don’t matter.”

I nodded, swallowing hard as he lifted his hips. Biting hard into my bottom lip, I did my best not to react. There was a twisted beauty to the scars, brutal artwork etched into his skin. Along his thighs, his calves, his feet. She must have spent hours perfecting every line, trying to own every inch of him.

The scars on his dick weren’t as smooth. He hadn’t kept still.

“Lydia…”

Bending down, I slid my lips over him, drawing a rough groan from deep in his chest. I could feel the thin scars under my tongue, but they were just another texture, another part of him to explore. I took him all the way to the back of my throat, then picked up the pace, smiling around his dick as he shuddered.

Already his pulse throbbed hard in the thick veins swelling along his length, and pre-cum slicked the broad head, salty on my tongue. I moved faster and he leaned forward, dragging me up onto him with a laugh.

“I won’t last if you keep that up.” He tangled his hand in my hair, kissing me as though he was starved for my taste, my touch. “I want you on me like this. I want to watch you move and remember what it’s like to have you. Only you.”

I bit my bottom lip, not sure what else she’d done to him, because he’d never enjoyed being under me. He’d been used too often that way by the women Cyrus entertained. And I had a hard time being in that much control.

He must have caught a glimpse of my thoughts, because he latched onto my wrist, pulling them behind his head and holding them there. “Who says you’re in control?” He brought his other hand to my hip, lifting me up, then guiding his dick into my body. “I’ll take it all, Lydia. You belong to me.”

A deep thrust and I cried out, tugging at my wrist, relaxing as he tightened his grip. In this position, with his firm hold on my hip, I could do nothing but let him move me. Every nerve within sparked to life as his thick length stretched me, driving in at a merciless pace. But just as I adjusted to the rhythm it changed to a slow grind, his pelvis rubbing my clit. I clenched around him, my parted lips pressed to him, gasping as he stroked the spot inside me that drove me out of my mind.

Climax rushed toward me, so intense I cried out as the first wave hit, my eyes tearing as my core undulated around him. His gaze held mine as I panted, shaking as the pleasure sharpened to the edge of pain, leaving me hovering on the precipice of another orgasm. I had to keep moving, had to find a way to fall into that endless bliss.

Sitting up, Daederich released my wrist and barred an arm across my back. “You’re so beautiful like this. So desperate. Do you need more?”

Digging my nails into his shoulders, I ground my hips against him, so fucking close my brain had a hard time forming words. “Yes, but make me beg for it.”

He didn’t know why I needed that, but I had a feeling he’d figured it out. There was nothing that hadn’t been tainted by our time in chains. Not a sensation, not a moment of pleasure that wasn’t marked by shame and agony.

But we would reclaim it all, even if it took us a lifetime.

His jaw hardening, he shoved me onto my back, holding my legs up over his forearms as he snapped his hips forward, taking me hard.

“Oh…god…” I clawed at the sheets as everything inside me coiled up, trying to latch on to a consuming ecstasy that slipped just out of reach. “Please…”

He laughed, drawing out completely. “You’ll have to do better than that. Did you expect me to make this easy?”

Groaning, I watched him ease his dick into me at a torturously slow pace, his eyes on how my pussy stretched around him. He pulled out again, then pressed in, giving me only the tip of him, not enough to clench around, no matter how much I tried.

He released one of my legs and flattened his hand on my stomach, his thumb on my clit, brushing over it lightly. Even the slight touch stimulated all the sensitive nerves, and I whimpered as he continued to toy with me, as though perfectly happy to keep this going all night.

“Mmm, I would enjoy that.” He gave me a lazy smile when I frowned at him. “I’ll stay out of your head when we hunt. When we kill. But when we’re like this, every part of you is mine.”

I licked my lips, his words stealing away the last of my resistance. This was what I needed, a chance to truly let go. To let him take everything. There was no part of me I wanted to hide. Not from him.

But as he slid in a little deeper, while circling my clit in a languorous figure 8, my need to find release had me gasping and searching for the sweetest way to beg so he’d give me more.

“Please, Daederich! I’ll call you master, I’ll do anything you want. But I need to feel you. I want you to make me feel you long after we’re done. I need to know I can make you lose control because I have none. Not anymore. Not when it comes to you.” I gasped as he pulled away completely, not touching me at all. “Please!”

“Shh… That was perfect, my love.” He smoothed his hands up my thighs, over my stomach, then cupped my breasts. I squirmed as he brought his thumbs to my nipples, stroking them until they hardened to agonizing little points. “But you have to promise you’ll scream for me.”

He pinched my nipples and I sucked in a sharp breath. As he lowered one hand to lift my leg and slammed into me, his teeth closed around the aching nub. Pain and pleasure melded together, unrecognizable from the other as he pounded into me, his grip on my thigh bruising, each smack of his body against mine leaving me deliciously raw.

His fangs stabbed into my breast and I came apart, screaming as everything inside me imploded, a blaze folding into itself, intensifying, consuming mind and body and soul until all that remained was him, holding me, kissing my lips as though to remind me this was real and I could escape into that beautiful void for as long as I wanted.

The pulse pounding deep within wasn’t mine, but my own tried to match it, like it couldn’t recall how it was supposed to work. I tightened around Daederich, making both of us moan. He kissed the side of my neck, breathing hard, careful not to move too much.

“I never thought I’d have you again. It almost seemed selfish to want to.” He braced his arm by my head, gently stroking my hair. “Death would have been kinder, but I wanted you to live. Not for my son, but because this life seemed worthless until you showed me how fucking amazing it can be. I needed to see it through your eyes to appreciate it. To know it was worth fighting for.”

I smiled, closing my eyes, loving the feeling of him all around me. “I’d forgotten it was, but I remember now.”

We lay like that for the rest of the night and half the day, drifting off then waking suddenly, me to touch his face and memorize every inch of him to make sure I hadn’t been dreaming. And he would wake and bring his lips to mine, his body hardening inside me again.

By the time we finally got out of bed, I was sore everywhere, which was perfect.

Until he tossed me my clothes.

Scowling at him, I let them fall to the floor. “You seriously think I’m going anywhere now?”

Grinning, he leaned over me, his lips against mine. “I do. There are things out there that need to die.”

And this was why I loved him. He knew exactly what to say to melt my heart.