She quickly brushed her teeth and then jumped into the shower. Hot water sluiced down her body as she reached for the shampoo bottle. A noise behind her had her turning. Liam stood in the doorway of the shower. Completely nude, his eyes gleaming with heat, and a sexy smile on his face, he said, “Mind if I join you?”
Breathless, her heartbeat double-timing, she held out her hand in invitation. He was beautiful. With broad shoulders, a slight sprinkling of dark hair on his chest, hard abs, and long muscular legs, Liam Stryker exuded male perfection.
Aubrey was suddenly self-conscious. She was far from perfect. She rarely thought about her scars. They had been part of her for so long, and she had survived the ordeal. But now, with Liam, she wanted to be beautiful for him, to be as perfect to him as he was to her.
As if unaware of her hesitancy, Liam walked purposely toward her. Cupping her face, he set his mouth on hers and gently, thoroughly devoured her lips. Moaning her approval, Aubrey gave him everything in that kiss—her love, desire, need, and devotion.
He lifted his mouth from hers and spoke softly, emphatically, “You are, without a doubt, the most beautiful creature in the universe.”
Tears filled her eyes at the complete adoration in his expression. He believed that—he really believed that. Fear and anxiety evaporated into wisps of nothingness. This was the man she had loved for twelve years. Liam Stryker, her Lion, was her soul mate. They had become one long before this intimacy they were about to experience. He was hers, she was his.
Fully confident in her beauty and his love, she forgot everything but how very much she adored this man. And how long she had been waiting for this moment.
* * *
Liam gently turned Aubrey around. “I’ll take care of your hair.” He grabbed her shampoo and squirted a quarter-sized amount of liquid onto his palm. Inhaling deeply, he smiled at the scent. The mystery of why her hair always smelled like peaches was solved. Lathering the mass of thick, golden strands in his hands, he rubbed her scalp, careful of the sore spot on the side of her head from the car crash. When she moaned her delight and leaned against him, he figured he was doing it right.
When he finished, he pulled them both under the pulsing water. Rinsing her hair thoroughly, he then added a dab of conditioner. She turned and looked up at him in wonder. “You’re very good at that.”
He grinned down at her. “I worked in my mom’s salon after school until I joined the Navy. Shampooing and floor sweeping were my specialties.”
“I would imagine you were very popular with her clientele.”
“Let’s just say I probably made more money there in tips than I did my first couple years in the Navy.”
He turned the water off and opened the shower door. Stepping out, he snagged a towel from the warming bar and held it out for her. Yeah, he knew she was hesitant. Not only was this new to her, the uncertainty in her expression was easy to read. She thought the scars would bother him. They did, but not in the way she feared. He wished once again that he’d been the one to find the man who’d done this to her and do the very same thing to him. But in no way did her scars do anything but make him love her all the more.
Enveloping her within the warmth of the towel, he thoroughly dried her, and then brought her close, murmuring against her ear, “I love you, Katarina Aubrey Starr.”
With that, he picked her up, towel and all, and carried her to the bedroom. Laying her on the bed, he took a few seconds to drink her in. She was lovely, curvy, and luscious.
She held out her arms to him, and he joined her on the bed. Kissing and caressing up and down her body, he paid particular attention to her scars. He refused to pretend they didn’t exist. There were eight of them—one on each extremity, two on her abdomen, one on her shoulder, and the last one, possibly the deepest one, was on her left breast.
After he’d kissed each one, he returned to her breast and paid special attention to the scar.
“I know the scars are ugly. I thought about getting plastic surgery, but going back under the knife wasn’t something I wanted.”
“You see scars, I see badges of courage. What you endured, what you survived….you’re one of the strongest, most courageous people I’ve ever known. Do not, for one moment, think otherwise.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “I love you, Liam. With everything that I am, everything that we are together, I love you.”
Lowering his mouth to hers again, he delighted in every sigh, every gasp. He wanted to take away her nightmares, erase all memories of every horror she had endured. When they were both at the shattering peak, Liam rose above her and held still for a moment. He watched her face, looking for any signs of fear or hesitancy. What he saw made his heart turn over. Love, like he’d never known, shone in her eyes.
“You’re my everything,” he whispered, and with that, Liam slid inside her, making her his own in the most elemental way possible.
She had been his from the beginning. She would be his until his last breath. Together, they were one.
Chapter Forty-Three
New Port Beach, California
Rudolph Ulrich’s Estate
Bringing a killer inside one of his homes wasn’t something Rudolph took lightly. However, things were getting dire and he needed the privacy. No one here would talk, as his servants were eternally loyal. Tying him to any murder would never happen. Conducting the meeting here would ensure complete privacy and anonymity. That didn’t negate the fact that the man before him had killed dozens of people. He had to tread carefully, but he also wanted to get his point across.
Rudolph put as much anger as he dared into his accusation. “I don’t have to tell you how disappointing the outcome of your last job was.”
“Disappointing?” The killer raised an arrogant brow. “I made the kill. That’s what you hired me to do.”