Tears freely streamed down her face as she moved her hands from my chest to her stomach, holding the flesh as she laughed. “Hurts…laughing too much…” she cackled.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this elated in the presence of another person.
Seeing her like this, so carefree and wistful, had me thinking back when we first started getting to know each other. So many of the characteristics from the oldRosiewere shining through, now mixing with the stunningly badass woman in front of me today.
I’d never get enough of her.
Reaching up, I pushed back some of the hair that fell in front of her face and tucked it behind her ear. With my touch, her laughter stopped. She swallowed thickly, leaning into my hand momentarily.
It felt like someone had reached into my chest and was squeezing the beating muscle I’d never let anyone into before Rose. Never let anyone in after Rose, either.
It was reserved only for her.
“Tell me you love me, Rose.” The words tumbled from my mouth in a low groan before I could stop them.
She stiffened, her eyes falling to my lips, then to my chest.
“I’m not an idiot. I know you feel it too. I know you’vealwaysfelt it, even back then. There isn’t a world where you and I aren’t meant to be together,” I pressed, unintentionally holding my breath as I waited for her to say something.
She went to climb off me, but I wouldn’t let her. Gripping her hips firmly, I kept her straddled over my torso.
“It doesn’t matter if you love me, or if I love you, Cain. I will never be the woman you want or need me to be. At the end of the day, I will always choose myself over you.Mygoals,mydreams,myhappiness. They’ll always come first. No man has ever loved me the way I love myself, and I don’t think that can ever change.” She held her head high, but wasn’t able to hide the quiver in her lower lip, and I felt a spark of anger ignite within my chest, knowing my brother was still at fault for how her brain had been rewired.
Once upon a time, Rose had given her love freely. She’d been easygoing and vivacious. Happy to love and receive love from everyone she met, because she genuinely loved people and having fun.
Now, she kept a wall up. A barrier. And not just from me—the way she interacted with people in general was more closed off than she used to be.
Brent had really done a fucking number on her, whether she recognized it or not.
“The only woman I ever want or need you to be is yourself. Where did you get the idea I would ever want to change you?”
Instead of answering, she sidestepped the question. “Being your old lady, marriage, a future with a family…I don’t want any of those things, Cain, and I don’t think I ever will.”
I held her face between my palms, forcing her to look at me. Her skin was warm beneath my touch and I was tempted to pull her to me and kiss her again, but she needed to hear what I had to say. “Then it’s off the table. I don’t need labels and the progression normal society thinks we should have. We both know we’re anythingbutnormal. The only thing I want from you isyou.”
Without waiting for her response, I sat up, scooping my arms beneath her ass to hold her as I stood from the bed and carried her over to the oversized full-length mirror that leaned against her wall. Dropping her to her feet, I spun her body and held her back firmly against me as we both looked at our reflection.
“Tell me what you see,” I coaxed, letting my hands roam her body softly.
Her eyes locked with mine in the mirror. “Why are you doing this? Your version of foreplay kind of sucks, you know that?”
“Just humor me, Rose. Look at yourself in the mirror and tell me what you see.”
She rolled her eyes before disconnecting her gaze from mine and allowing them to travel the length of her body. “I see myself. Brown hair. Hazel eyes. Tattoos. Curves that haven’t always been there, but that I’m proud of. I see me, Cain. What is the point of this?”
“Because you’re not seeing what I see.”
“We’re looking at the same woman.”
A low growl rumbled deep in my chest. “But you’re not seeing her throughmyeyes. Do you want to know what I see when I look at you?”
She rolled her eyes at me.
Againwith the fucking eye roll. One of these days, I was going to fuck the attitude out of her.
I didn’t wait for her to answer me before I continued. “I see a fucking queen. I see strength and passion. An unmatched ferocity. A ruler with a level-headed tenacity that allows her to prevail through the chaos and ruckus around her. A kind and loving heart. I see a woman with compassion and empathy but who takes no shit from anybody. Theproblemwith you, Rose, is that you think yourphysicalattributes shape you. And they do, because you’re the most irresistible woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, but that’s only one component of what makes you, you.”
She sighed with a shaky breath, letting my words absorb for a minute before verbally sparring with me again. “You speak as though you’ve known me for years, Cain. What makes you an expert?”
