"IâI canâtâ" she gasped, her head falling back, banging lightly against the wall behind her. "Oh my God, itâs too much. I canâtâ" Her body arched again as I grazed my thumbs beneath her bra, feather-light touches that had her sobbing with need.
I kissed the hollow of her throat and felt her swallow hard under my mouth.
Her moans were louder nowâfull-body cries, drawn from some primal place sheâd kept locked up for too damn long.
"Ahnâahh... oh fuckâright thereâGod, please..."
Her thighs were trembling. Her stomach tightened with every stroke of my hands. Tears welled up in her eyes again, spilling over, but they werenât sad. They were release. Relief. The sensation of being wanted so hard her body didnât know how to handle it.
"Please," she sobbed, her nails clawing into my back. "Donât stop. Donât stop. Iâve neverânever felt like this. Please, PeterâGod, donât stop."
I moved one hand to her jaw, cupping her face, my thumbs brushing away tears as my fingertips sent shockwaves into her temples. Her skin burned under my handsâflushed, hot, electrified.
"Look at me," I ordered, voice low and heavy with that command she couldnât ignore.
Her eyes fluttered open, pupils wide with lust and need. Her lips were trembling. Her body pressed so close I could feel every twitch, every desperate tremble.
"Tell me what you need," I said, kissing the corner of her mouth. "Right now. Say it."
Her lips parted.
"I need you," she whisperedâthen moaned louder when my hands cupped her breasts. "I need you to ruin me... please."
And just like that, the rest of the world stopped mattering.
Isabellaâs eyes locked onto mine, but damn near crossedâlike she was trying to stay conscious while I wrecked her nervous system from the inside out. Her lips were parted, trembling, trying to form words through gasps and sobs and broken moans. Her voice came out ruined, her soul dragging every syllable up like it was a confession on death row.
"I... I need you to touch every inch of me~," she begged, her hands gripping my shirt like it was the only thing anchoring her to reality. "I need you to remind me what it means to
feel~
to be seen. Not survive. Not function. I need you to fuck away four years of being
nothing.
Of feeling invisible and cold and... and dead."
I didnât say a word.
I
took
her mouth like I was starving.
My lips crushed hersâraw, possessive, deep enough to make her moan so loud it echoed and bounced off the tiled walls like a scream.
Her knees buckled again, body convulsing like her whole system short-circuited under the weight of that kiss alone. She gasped into my mouth, the sound desperate and broken, but still tried to grind herself against me like her body was chasing something her mind hadnât caught up to yet.
My hands werenât gentle anymore. Not soft. Not tentative.
I grabbed herâpalms sliding up her back, fingers spreading along her spine, cupping her ass with both hands like she belonged to me. I pulled her hips into mine, forcing her to feel the hard press of what sheâd done to me.
Her thighs squeezed around me like she couldnât stand on her own anymore. And honestly? She couldnât. Her whole body was trembling like she was seconds from passing out.
"Youâre not invisible," I growled against her lips, dragging them with my teeth. "Youâre a fucking
work of art
âa masterpiece thatâs been buried alive by a man who doesnât deserve to speak your name."
Her body shook with a sobâbut it wasnât grief. It was the sound of relief and raw hunger ripping out of her all at once.
She pressed her forehead into my neck, panting like sheâd run a marathon, her chest rising and falling so fast I felt every breath against my collarbone.
"Iâve been so lonely," she cried, her voice cracking as her nails clawed at my back, trying to pull me deeper into her. "So goddamn empty. I thought this was just life now. I thought I was... broken."
"Youâre not broken," I hissed, sliding my hands under her jeans until I was gripping the curve of her bare hips. My thumbs dug into her skin, dragging slow, fire-lined circles that made her
scream
. Her head slammed back against the wall, her body arching like Iâd shot lightning straight through her.
She moaned againâ
loud
, feral, out of controlâand her thighs shook so violently they knocked into mine.
"Oh my Godâwhat the fuck are you doing to me?" she gasped, voice ragged, every word shaking like her lips couldnât form around them.
"Bringing you back to life," I whispered, letting my fingers slide lowerâtracing the curve of her thighs, the dip of her waist, the softness of skin that no one had touched like this in years. She bucked into me like she was trying to crawl out of her own skin.
"I canâtâfuckâI canât take thisâ" she whimpered, her nails digging into my neck as her head lolled to the side, lips parted in helpless, mewling moans. "Itâs too much. Itâs
too much.
Youâre rewiring meâoh Godâwhat the fuckâ"
"You
can
take it," I said, biting her earlobe gently before letting my breath flood her ear. "Youâve
needed
this. Craved it. Even if you didnât know how to say it. But your body knows. Doesnât it, baby?"
Her response wasnât wordsâit was her hips grinding into mine like she wanted to fuse our bodies together. Her jeans were damp nowâsoaked through from just thisâand her thighs were trembling hard enough I had to hold her upright.
She was unraveling in real time. Four years of numbness of cold nights and empty mornings and sexless silence, were being
burned alive
by my touch. Her body couldnât keep up. Her moans were
feral now
, high-pitched and raw, and she kept gasping like she couldnât breathe.
"Please," she begged, barely able to form the word. "Please, donât stop. Iâm not ready. Iâm
not done.
"
Her hands were everywhereâgripping my shoulders, sliding into my hair, pressing to my chest like she wanted to feel my heartbeat just to know I was
real
. She was shaking so hard now that her legs gave out completely, and I caught her by the waist before she slid down the wall.
"Look at me," I ordered, voice sharp and deep, full of the command that sent shockwaves down her spine.
She tried. God, she tried.
Her eyes fluttered open, pupils blown wide, face flushed and damp with sweat and tears. Her lips were swollen, her professional and housewife gracefulness smudged, her whole-body trembling like she was seconds away from breaking apart completely.
"Tell me what you need."
Her lips parted, voice hoarse, but the words came out with no hesitation.
"I need you," she whispered. "I need you to show me what it means to
feel.
I need you to fuck me like Iâm real. Like Iâm worth it. Like Iâm
yours.
"
I smiled.
"You already are."
And I wrapped her up in my arms again, feeling every inch of her burning against me like fire had taken human formâand I was the only one who could survive it.
The bathroom had become a fucking fever dream.
Steam was pouring off the marble like we were trapped inside some bougie spa fantasy gone wild. The mirrors were fogged, the lights were soft and golden, and the air was so thick with heat and lust it felt like it could choke you.
I was soaked to the boneâhair dripping, chest gleaming, water running in steady streams down every inch of muscle. My skin was flushed, glistening like molten bronze under the light, and the heat wasnât just from the damn shower anymore.
Outlining every flex, every shift of power in my body. Each drop that slid over my chest traced the deep cut of my abs, flowing between muscle like liquid fingers, and Isabella... fuck, she was
staring
.