“Can I come in?” he asked in that low, rough voice that never failed to make her skin tingle.
“Just say what you need to say,” she said. “I’ve had a long day—we all have.”
“I …” He raked his fingers through his hair and clucked his tongue. “I’m sorry. For leaving that night. I didn’t want to.”
“Why did you then?” And how the hell did you end up in the Hudson?
“I can’t … I can’t tell you right now.”
“Why not?”
“Because!” He braced his hands on the doorframe. “Sorry … you have to trust me.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “It doesn’t matter now, I suppose. What’s done is done.”
“You’re right.” He sighed. “All this time I thought there was something the matter with you … did your father cut you off when he found out you were pregnant? Is that why you’re working?”
“Ha!” she threw up her hands. “Is that what you think? Listen here, I went to work for Muccino’s because I wanted to. You men, always thinking that we need you to—”
“You have to forgive me.”
The statement, plain and simple, arrested her. “What?”
“You have to forgive me, Isabelle.”
He took a step forward, and even though she told him he couldn’t come in, she backed up. “Ransom, you can’t—”
“You have to forgive me!” The plea was urgent now. “Please.”
“I …” Her heart clenched in her chest. “For what? For walking out on me? For making me hate you with what you said? For not being here when Evan was born—”
“Yes. Yes. Yes.” He dropped to his knees. “Please, Isabelle. You have to. Forgive me.”
Shock made her take in a breath. “I— Ransom!”
His arms came around her, and he pressed his face to her stomach. “Please. Isabelle. God, I can’t fucking stand it. That you were alone though all this. That I … that I did this to you and hurt you.”
Tears pooled in her eyes. “Stop, Ransom—”
“I don’t deserve it,” he rasped. “I don’t deserve you or Evan. But please … you have to forgive me.”
The ache in his voice made her burst into tears. Why? Why did the idea of him suffering make her sad? She should be happy that he was in pain. That he could finally feel how she felt when he left.
But her heart—oh, her damned, foolish heart—wouldn’t harden against him. She pried his hands away from her waist. Her knees weakened, and she dropped down to the floor with him. Cupping his jaw, she looked into the brilliant green-gold of his eyes. “I don’t know, Ransom.” The hurt was still there, buried in her chest. All she had to do was think back to that night, and the memories made it flare up again. “What you did—”
“Please. Isabelle … I’ll never hurt you again.”
His scent, his dominant nature, his … everything was too overwhelming that she didn’t protest when his arms encircled her and he melded his mouth to hers. The desperation and hunger in his kiss made her melt, and God forgive her, she needed it. Wanted it. Want. Need. Want. Need. It was all clawing at her. And she couldn’t—didn’t want to—fight it any longer.
“Bedroom,” she managed to gasp against his mouth. “Last door down the hallway.”
All the blood seemed to rush out of her brain, and she felt dizzy as he swooped her up into his arms. He moved so fast and soon he placed her on her feet right at the entrance to her room. Pulling him in, she pushed the door gently behind her so it closed. “Soundproofed,” she said. “I—oh!” He pulled her to him and crushed his mouth to hers.
They made their way to her bed, stripping off their clothing, reluctantly releasing each other’s mouths as needed. By the time her knees hit the back of her bed, she was only in her underwear, and he was nearly naked. God, he was magnificent. She remembered the first time she saw him like that—all that glorious, golden, tattooed skin, the bulging muscles of his shoulders and arms, and that perfect six pack and the trail of hair that led down …
As if sensing her thoughts, he pulled down his underwear and stood before her, fully naked, his stiff, jutting cock bobbing up and down.
Desire curled in her, wanting him so bad. She knew the orgasm from earlier in the evening wouldn’t even compare to what it would be like when he was inside her. Reaching for him, she curled her fingers around his thick shaft and stroked him until he groaned and pulled her hand away. Pushing her down, he spread her knees and covered her with his body.
His masculine scent enveloped her, making a primal part in her growl with need. His weight on top of her was comforting, even as his mouth peppered kisses on her neck. He moved lower, trailing down her collarbone to her cleavage. A sudden shyness came over her, and she crossed her arms over her chest in instinct. Though her body was able to bounce back quickly after giving birth due to her Lycan nature, not every part of her was the same as before the pregnancy.
“Shh,” he soothed when she protested at him pulling her hands away. “You’re beautiful.”
As if to prove a point, he leaned back and pulled the straps of her bra down and looked at her with awe. His large hands cupped her breasts gently, moving down to her stomach, over the last of the stretch marks that hadn’t faded. There was a gleam in his eyes—something she couldn’t name and didn’t want to.
He leaned down again, to nuzzle at the space between her breasts, before moving to take her left nipple into his mouth. The wet heat sent pleasure zinging straight to her core. One hand trailed down to the front of her now-damp panties. She cried out when his fingers yanked the fabric aside and traced her naked,
