Page 136

Can’t.

I kiss the tears from her face instead, one from her cheek, another near the corner of her eye, then find her mouth again. She tastes like everything I’ve denied myself for years.

I shift closer, and the hard ridge of me presses against her through my jeans.

She moans into my mouth.

The sound goes straight through me.

She pulls back just enough to look me in the eyes. Her hazel gaze is darker than I’ve ever seen it, full of heat and something stronger.

Power.

“Leon,” she says, voice rough. “I want you to fuck me hard.”

I still.

Because surely I didn’t hear that right. Didn’t catch the words exactly the way they sounded.

She sees the confusion immediately. Her thumb brushes over my bottom lip, slow and steady, pulling my focus back to her.

“I have always felt like I’m fragile,” she says, voice low but clear. “Like I’m weak. Like I’ll break if anyone touches me too hard.”

She holds my gaze, refusing to let me look away.

“I’m not weak. I’m tired of thinking I am.” Her hand slides from my mouth to my jaw, holding me there. “I am strong, Leon. I want to feel that. Deep. Everywhere.”

My breath catches.

“I want you to fuck me hard because I want it.” Her eyes burn into mine. “Because I can take it.”

I search her face.

Not because I doubt her.

Because I need to be sure. Need to see no fear. No uncertainty. No old ghosts speaking through her mouth.

There’s none.

Only fire.

Only Clair.

I nod once.

The smile that breaks across her face should be carved into stone and left standing long after the world finishes falling apart. Bright. Fierce. Free.

I would fight anything to keep that smile on her face.

Every day.

For the rest of my life.

I reach for my jeans, keeping my eyes on her as I drag the zipper down. The sound cuts through the quiet, sharp and filthy in the night air, and her body shudders as though she felt it against her skin.

I crush my mouth to hers, swallowing the last of her sound as I tear open the condom with shaking hands. She watches me the whole time, lips parted, chest rising fast, eyes locked on mine.

I shove my jeans and boxer briefs down only far enough to free myself. Not off. Not all the way. There is no patience left for that.