Before I’m really aware of what I’m doing, I press my lips to his neck, a light, innocent kiss that could be strictly platonic.

But my feelings for him are far from platonic.

His body stills as I kiss him, but he doesn’t stop me. Tenderly, cautiously, I kiss him again, on his cheek this time. He doesn’t push me away, but his fingers tighten ever so slightly around my waist.

My eyes have adjusted to the darkness well enough to see that his eyes are shut, so I take my chance and plant a kiss right on his delicious mouth. At first, it’s just my lips barely touched to his. After a few seconds, he responds greedily, opening his mouth, allowing our tongues to touch.

When they touch, it’s almost like a jolt of electricity buzzes between us.

And any hope of us breaking apart vanishes completely.

“Julz,” Jase moans into my mouth as his fingers tighten around my hips. I run my hands over every exposed piece of his flesh, the only thing separating us a thin T-shirt and sweatpants on me, and a pair of boxer shorts on him.

The feel of his mouth on mine, then lower as his hungry kisses dip to my neck and collarbone, is divine. It’s beyond divine—it is something I’ve been yearning for since the moment we lost each other in the most violent and tragic of ways. It’s almost like we’re back in my bedroom that horrid day reliving the moments we lost.

The moments that were stolen from us.

I groan involuntarily as Jase pushes my T-shirt up, exposing my nipple to the cool night air. He takes it into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the tender flesh before sucking gently, his growing hardness pressing into my thigh. He does the same thing to my other nipple, and as his teeth brush the spot where Dornan’s teeth punctured my flesh, my entire body freezes and I yelp loudly.

Jase pulls back, my body immediately missing his touch.

“Wait—” I say, just as he flicks on the bedside lamp. Before I can pull my shirt down to cover my breast, he’s staring at the purplish teeth marks.

He looks from the bite marks to my eyes, questions and urgency in his hooded eyes. “He did this to you?”

I tug at my T-shirt, but Jase’s hand is holding onto the hem, keeping my breast exposed. “Answer me, Juliette.”

Angered, I twist away, pulling my shirt back down. “Who else would do it?” I say, suddenly furious with him. He gives up the shirt wrestle and instead reaches for my thighs, yanking my left leg up and gripping it tightly.

I follow his gaze to land upon the jagged white scar on my thigh, the scar Dornan created when he plunged his knife into my flesh, another scar that irreparably marks me as his.

I stare at the ceiling, blinking hot tears of anger and shame from my eyes. I don’t fight. I let him study my thigh, and when he pushes my T-shirt up to study my midsection of tattooed cross-scars, I speak.

“Got what you wanted?” I ask bitterly, embarrassed to be so exposed in front of him.

He continues to stare at my tattoos, almost dream-like, his eyes clouded and far away.

“No,” he says. “That’s not what I wanted. Is this it? Where else has he scarred you, Julz?”

His voice isn’t angry anymore. It’s gentle and horrified, and it washes away my own rage.

“It’s not the scars on my skin that hurt,” I whisper. “It’s the ones inside my mind.”

Right then, he looks sadder than I’ve ever seen him.

“I should go,” he mutters.

“No!” I protest. “I’m sorry, okay? I can’t help what’s already happened, Jase. I can only try to make sure the right things happen now.”

He stands by the edge of the bed, apparently undecided, and I claw anxiously at anything I can say that might make him stay.

“I wish things were different,” I whisper to him, hearing the tears in my voice. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” he says, his eyes clouded over again.

And then he leaves me alone.

He heads into the bathroom and immediately I hear the shower start. Maybe he needs a cold shower.

I sure do.

I lie there for a few minutes staring at the ceiling. I’m saddened and frustrated. Saddened by his sudden change of heart, his brisk departure.

Frustrated because my entire body is alight, ready for his touch, his caress, and now he’s left me alone.

Finally, I decide to hell with it. I’m not finished with him. We can’t leave things on that note.

The bathroom door is slightly ajar, and I push it open, steam immediately greeting me.

I can see his outline in the shower as he stands under the stream of water, tiny droplets hitting his skin at every angle.

Brazenly, and without giving myself any time to chicken out, I lift my T-shirt over my head and toss it in the corner. Jase sees the sudden movement and turns to face me as I shimmy out of my borrowed sweatpants, leaving them on the floor. I pull the glass door to the shower open and step inside, happy that the water is warm, not cold.

“What are you doing?” Jase asks, seemingly unimpressed.

I shrug. “I don’t think we’re finished yet.”

He laughs dryly. “Oh yes, we’re finished,” he says, turning to the side and grabbing a bar of soap from the caddy.

I tilt my head to the side, gesturing to his rock-hard erection.

“You’re lying,” I say.

He turns away, running soap over his hair and rubbing at it angrily. “I can’t look at you without thinking about what you did with him,” he says bitterly, and my stomach twists painfully.

“Jase—” I plead.

“Everywhere I look!” He cuts me off. “This bathroom, the clubhouse. Everywhere! I can’t think of anything else when I look at you, Juliette!”

I hang my head, the warm water soothing and scalding all at once.

“I did what I had to do,” I say vehemently. “You would have done the same thing if you were me. I didn’t know he’d take such a shining to me, for shit’s sake. I wanted a job at the burlesque club, that’s all.”

He slams his palm against the tiles so hard, it seems like the whole glass shower cubicle shakes.

Right. Guess that was the wrong thing to say.

“What do you want from me?” I ask, setting my jaw. “Do you want me to leave?”

Unexpectedly, he cages me with his arms, pushing me back against the cold tiles. Every brush of his skin on mine, and his eyes on me, sends a thrill down my spine and evokes a delicious wetness between my legs.

“No,” Jase growls. “What I want is to throw you up against this wall and erase any trace of him ever touching you. What I want is for you to be mine, and mine only.”

My breathing quickens as he says that. His eyes are bright, wild almost, but I’m not afraid of him.

“So do it,” I whisper.

He hesitates, his hands loosely around my waist, his hard cock pressing into my stomach.

I know why he’s hesitating. The past that lies between us.

Let her go!

“I want this,” I say to him. “I want this more than I have ever wanted anything in my life. I want to be with you, Jason. I’m not leaving you again. Ever.”

My words seem to move something inside him. His hesitation disappears, replaced by a look of pure lust. He makes a deep noise in his throat as he presses my hips with his palms, driving me back again so I’m pressed harder against the wall. The combination of hot water running over my front and the cold tiles at my back is thrilling; there’s a slight draft coming in from the window and my skin springs to life in a million tiny bumps. Jase’s lips crash against mine as we desperately seek to reclaim what should have always been ours.

“Julz …” he moans into my mouth, his hand leaving my hip and trailing lower. He traces a line with his index finger down my thigh and back up, where he swipes it along my slit.

“You’re so wet,” he whispers, pressing a finger inside me. I clutch at his hard arms as he strokes his finger in and out, moaning when he hits that sweet spot inside.