He touched her, too, brushing his fingertips over one nipple, then the other, his caress light, undemanding. A rush of arousal streaked through her, and he responded with a low, approving growl in the back of his throat.
His cock had been erect since he’d entered the shower with her, but now it surged even harder in the narrow space between their naked bodies.
“I’m afraid, Zael.” It was apparently a night for first admissions, because these were further words she had never said to anyone before in her life. “You scare me. You have from the very first day I saw you.”
He lifted her chin, holding her gaze as he lowered his mouth to hers. His kiss seared her senses, despite its gentleness. It answered all of her fears, more than any words could.
She’d never had someone take care of her the way he had tonight. She didn’t know she could enjoy someone’s touch like this, or need someone’s comfort so profoundly.
No, not just someone.
Just this man.
Only Zael.
And, yes, that scared her.
It terrified her, how deeply she was beginning to care for him.
He cupped her face in his broad hand and she turned into his palm, pressing her lips to the center of it, the spot that had been glowing earlier tonight. Her tongue darted out to taste him and he growled, low and deep and primal.
It was all the warning he gave her before he swept her off her feet and up into his arms.
With her hair dripping and their bodies still wet from the shower, he strode into the bedroom with her.
CHAPTER 23
Brynne was light in his arms, her face nestled against his chest as Zael carried her out to the bedroom. He held her close, hoping she couldn’t feel the fury that was coursing through him after hearing what she had suffered at the hands of the man who made her.
He seethed over those other things she didn’t say.
Abuse so heinous she didn’t—or could not—put it into words. But it had been evident enough on her tormented face. Whatever had been done to her physically had left no traces on her body. Her advanced metabolism would have taken care of that. It was the other scars she carried inside that had obviously wounded her far worse.
Zael wanted to roar with his rage over what she had endured.
Never again. Not so long as he was alive to stop it would she ever know pain or mistreatment.
She would never have to be alone, locked in a prison of her own making because of fear for what she was.
It was a ridiculous promise for him to make even to himself—and all the more so when he knew his actions in the alley may have jeopardized everything. Using his power in the open as he had was tantamount to broadcasting his location to every Atlantean around the globe. His kind were all connected by the light within them. It was their strength as a people, but for fugitives like Zael, it was also a weakness that could have led his enemies right to him tonight.
But the need to help Brynne had eclipsed any risk to himself.
They had made it out of the city despite his carelessness, and she was safe.
So long as he drew breath, she would always be safe. He swore it with every fiber of his being as he brought her to the edge of the bed and carefully placed her there.
He thought she would lie back, but instead she came up on her knees in front of him as he stood at the edge of the bed. Unable to keep from touching her, from kissing her, he cupped the back of her neck beneath the tendrils of her damp hair and brought her mouth up to meet his.
She tasted even sweeter tonight, her vulnerability twining with the sexy strength that had attracted him to her from the start.
That she had trusted him with her past humbled him. It made the connection he felt toward her deepen, despite old habits that not so long ago would have urged him to get out while he could.
Too late for that and he knew it. He was in deep with this woman. And the baffling thing was, he couldn’t think of anywhere else he wanted to be.
When he lifted his head from her lips, she was staring up at him with searching eyes. Although fire simmered within her dark green irises, he saw hesitancy in her gaze.
“You still want me?” Her voice sounded so small and uncertain, it raked at him. “After everything you saw tonight? After everything I told you?”
His lips curved with the arching of his brow. “Isn’t it obvious?”
He could hardly hide how much he wanted her. His arousal had been achingly evident from the moment he first stepped into the shower with her. It had taken all of his self-control to simply comfort and listen to her as he lathered her beautiful body and held her in his embrace. But she had needed his understanding in those moments more than anything else he had to give her.
Now, her smoldering gaze and awakening glyphs told him something different.
“Yes, I want you, Brynne.” He kissed her again, reaching down to stroke her naked breasts. “Nothing you said tonight diminishes that.”
She swallowed hard. “But you saw—”
“Yes, I saw. But when I look at you now, I see a woman who’s been through hell and back and hasn’t broken. What I see when I look at you is the woman I crave more than any other.” He caressed her cheek, brushing his thumb over her parted lips, noting the bright glint of her emerging fangs. “I see you, Brynne. And, hell yes, I want you.”
His name was a jagged sigh on her lips as he reached out and framed her lovely face in his palms. He drew
