Page 150 of Hard Bargain

A simple truth.

He leaned in, capturing Knox’s mouth in a slow kiss—tasting iron, sweat, and the underlying sweetness that was purely Knox.

* * *

Knox’s breathing was slow and even beside him, body warm against the sheets, hair still damp from the shower. Dominic shifted, closing the space until there was none left. His chest pressed to Knox’s back, one arm sliding around his waist, hand settling against his stomach.

He fit there too easily. Like the shape of him had been made for this exact position.

Dominic could still smell the soap on his skin. He’d washed him in the shower—standing behind him under the water, hands moving over Knox’s body with a care that he didn’t recognize in himself. Knox had gone quiet under his hands, head tipping back against Dominic’s shoulder, letting himself be held upright by someone else for once.

Dominic’s gaze followed the line of Knox’s body to where the sheets had slipped, exposing skin marked by everything he’d been through. The cuts would heal, but most would scar. His eyes lingered at Knox’s neck. The burn sat just below his ear, the shape clearly defined.

A clover. Impossible to ignore.

His fingers tightened against Knox’s stomach. That mark would likely never fade. Darkness moved under his skin, but Knox stirred before it could take hold. “That was kind of fucked up,” he whispered.

Dominic blinked. Then huffed a short laugh against the back of his neck. “Yeah. It was.”

There was no point softening it or pretending it had been anything else.

Knox turned enough to glance back over his shoulder. He looked uncertain, as if he was still trying to place what had happened between them. “We’re not… normal,” he said. “Are we?”

Dominic’s mouth twitched. “No. We’re not.”

Knox turned a little more, enough that Dominic could see most of his face. “That doesn’t bother you?”

“No.”

Knox blinked, clearly not expecting it to be that simple. “At all?”

Dominic’s thumb moved absently against Knox’s stomach. “I don’t build my life around what’s considered normal. Never have.”

Knox’s lips pressed together. “You’re telling me none of what just happened feels wrong to you?”

“It is wrong.”

It would’ve been easier for Knox if he’d denied it. But Dominic had never been interested in easy.

Knox exhaled, frustration creeping in. “People don’t just—”

“Don’t just what?”

A shake of his head, like the words wouldn’t line up right. “People don’t kill someone and then start fucking still covered in blood. It’s not normal.”

“You keep coming back to that word,” Dominic murmured, “like it matters.”

“It does matter,” Knox shot back. “It’s not right.”

“No,” Dominic agreed. “It’s not right. But it is real.”

Knox went completely still in his arms.

“You felt something intense,” Dominic said. “Violence. Adrenaline. Control—and the loss of it. Instead of shutting down, your instinct was to chase something that matched it. Something just as consuming.”

The silence stretched. He could feel the words settling into Knox, whether he liked them or not.

Knox shook his head, but the sharp denial from before was gone. “That’s not how people are supposed to work.”