Her reaction is a hard press of her palm to my chest, and an attempted stiff arm I don’t allow. I capture her arm, bend it, and hold onto her like I should have two years ago, but she isn’t so easily won over. “I can’t do this rollercoaster with you, Luke.”
“I took the coward’s way out,” I confess. “Leaving was the cowardly thing to do.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“I didn’t want to see your pain. I didn’t want to know I caused it.”
“You didn’t make Kasey do what he did.”
“But as you said at the funeral, pain, and guilt aren’t logical emotions. I didn’t leave because I didn’t want to marry you. I left because it’s what I thought you wanted. I left because—”
“You didn’t know how to get by the divide?” she challenges. “Isn’t that what I said to you last night? You were angry, but we both know it’s true. The divide is too big. I know it. You know it.”
“No,” I say. “No, I do not accept that answer.”
“That doesn’t make it false.”
I cup her face and force her gaze to mine. “I can. You can. We can, Ana.” My mouth closes down on hers, my tongue licking against her tongue even as I drag the towel away and fold her close.
She stiffens for a blink of a moment, before she moans one of her sweet little moans, and softens against me, the very act of her submission undoing any further restraint I had in me. I want everything and more, with Ana, right here and now, and there is no turning back. There was never a moment when that was an option. And if it takes a lifetime, she’ll know that again.
I rotate her, and lift her, setting her on top of the counter, my gaze raking over her high breasts and perfect pink nipples, even as I press her knees apart. She catches my arms, her gaze searching my face, looking for answers I want her to find. “You didn’t come for me until you had no choice.”
“Because I knew that the minute I saw you again, I’d be selfish and try to force myself back into your life. Because that’s where I want to be, Ana.”
“How do I know that?”
“You know me like no one else knows me. You know.”
Her gaze lowers, seconds ticking by before her eyes find mine. “Blood.” She lifts my hand from her knee. “You still have blood all over you.” She pushes against my chest, pushes me away in what feels more than physical. “You need to shower. Undress.”
It might seem like a fair demand, considering it’s Darius’s blood, but Ana is Kurt’s stepdaughter, and is simply not that delicate, not when it comes to battle wounds and betrayals. Which leads me to believe it’s not Darius’s blood she wants me to wash off. It’s Kasey’s and if that’s what this is about, I’ll never wash away the past or the damage it left behind.
She reaches for the towel and I bend down with her, our hands colliding, a jolt of energy between us. “I’m still fucking crazy about you, you know that, right?”
“I don’t know what I know anymore. Please wash off the blood.”
“I will,” I say, and while there’s much more I’d like to say, I force myself to hold my tongue, to give her what she wants. I release the towel and help her to her feet, aware of her naked, perfect body, even as my eyes remain on her face. “Or maybe I should say, I’ll try, Ana.” I step back, give her space, and then pull the shirt over my head.
By the time it hits the ground, she’s wrapped the towel around her body, but I’m also aware of her eyes on mine. Our attraction was always powerful, our hands always all over each other, but wanting each other doesn’t mean we can live together. I don’t know how I wake up every day and look into eyes that see only the man who killed her brother. I don’t know how I walk away from her again, either.
Maybe I’ll just keep her so fucking turned on, she can’t think about anything else. It’s an idea that sounds pretty damn good right about now. I walk to the shower, turn on the water and then finish undressing, the heaviness of her stare following me. Once I’m under the hot stream of water, I regret not dragging her in here with me.
I’ve tried giving her space, two years of too much damn space.
Decision made, I turn and intend to exit the shower to hunt her down. I never get the chance.
The shower door opens and Ana joins me. Just that fast, I’m hot and hard, and ready to fuck but this isn’t going to be a gentle fuck at all. Proven by her proclamation of “I’m angry with you. So damn angry.” She steps into me and pushes me backward, against the wall. I drag her with me, cupping her head, and tangling my fingers in her damp hair.