“Take what you need, Xen,” he encourages, his voice is rough. Even pinned underneath me, he swings his body up to meet mine with that familiar fire. “Gods, I’ve missed this. Go ahead, princess. I know you need to.”

  The words unravel the last thread of my restraint, and I drive into him harder, the rhythm turning urgent as pleasure coils tight in my core. My lips crash into his, swallowing his moans and feeding him my own like we could sustain each other indefinitely.

  He arches beneath me and silently urges me on, nails digging into my back just enough to sting in the best way. The world narrows to this, and pressure builds until I can’t hold back any longer.

  I tear my mouth from his as I call out his name. Blinding release crashes through my body like a tidal wave that drags me under and refuses to let go. Cum and slick spill from him as I pull out, warm and messy, and coating us both. When I sink back inside, everything is slippery. Hot, wet friction makes him clench around me with a desperate whimper, drawing out the last pulses of my orgasm.

  I pin him there beneath me, hips flush against his and gasping in time with the throb of my cock buried deep inside him. Each thump echoes through my veins until it fades to a slow, satisfied ache.

  His chest heaves against mine, breaths ragged and fingers digging into my back like we could ever get any closer than this.

  Bash rolls us, flipping me onto my back in a fluid motion. He grips my cock, stroking me as my thighs quiver and my teeth clench against the overwhelming rush of sensation.

  He presses himself against my wet hole. The blunt head of his cock teases my entrance, sliding through the mess of slick already dripping from me.

  The kiss of metal from his piercing drags along my sensitive rim, the curved barbell catching just enough to send a jolt of electric pleasure sparking up my spine. My breath hitches at the sensation, that foreign bite of steel against a body I’ve long memorized.

  His eyes lock on mine, pupils blown wide. “Are you ready for me?”

  Unable to form words, I nod frantically, and he drives forward with deliberate slowness. The obscene amount of slick makes his entrance easy, but that damn piercing makes my toes curl.

  He pauses halfway, glancing up at me with a wicked smirk. “Knew you liked it.”

  “Shut up and fuck me,” I order, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing how wrecked I already am.

  He huffs a breathy chuckle, then drives forward to fill me completely. A fresh wave of fire shoots through my limbs, my body stretched and stimulated in places that make my vision blur at the edges.

  I gasp, back arching off the bed as my fingers claw at the sheets, desperate for purchase. Bash spreads my knees further and pushes even deeper, the piercing pressing right against that spot that makes stars burst behind my eyelids. My palm slaps against my mouth to keep me from crying out.

  He stays there, bottomed out inside me as his fingers dance along my length, teasing me with feather-light strokes. When they dip into my slit to collect more slick, my teeth sink into the heel of my palm, muffling the whine that tries to escape.

  He chuckles again, low and filthy, wrapping his slippery fingers around my cock and giving one slow, deliberate stroke.

  “Look at you,” he murmurs. “Already shaking and I’ve barely started.”

  I glare at his smirk, though it’s half-hearted at best. “Are you going to fuck me or not?”

  His brow lifts, metal piercing flashing in the morning light like a taunt. “Patience, princess,” he says, pulling back almost all the way before driving in with a wet slap of skin.

  My hand falls back against my mouth, muffling the cry as he sets a rhythm.

  Slow at first, then faster.

  Harder.

  “How’s that?” he teases, doing it again with a deliberate grind that has my hips bucking up to meet him.

  A low moan leaves me as I shake my head and roll my body. “More,” I demand. “Harder, Bash. Fuck me like you mean it.”

  He growls low in his throat, hands gripping my hips hard enough to bruise as he gives me exactly what I asked for. Relentless, punishing thrusts make the bed creak and my vision tunnel, and overstimulation shifts to a fresh round of delirious need. What started as controlled and sweet has turned rushed and impatient, with no intention of slowing down.

  Our bodies chase release in a fever of heat and friction. Sweat-slick skin slides together as we race toward the finish, and I’m dancing on that delicious, razor-thin line between pleasure and pain. The stretch of him inside me burns sweet and sharp, every thrust pushing me closer to the edge of overload.

  He fucks me like he still remembers every secret spot that makes me unravel, until I’m shaking, breathless, and completely undone beneath him.

  Bash’s words are broken by the cadence of his hips as he leans closer, ghosting his lips over mine in teasing brushes that make me chase them.

  “My ass is going to sting for the rest of the day because of you,” he teases, and my breathy laugh turns into a moan of his name.

  He grins, eyes wild with the same feral need coursing through me. “Every time you look at me,” he continues in a low drawl, “I’ll feel your cum dripping out of me.”

  “Fuck,” I groan, fingers digging into his back as I arch up to meet him. “Keep talking like that and I’ll flip us over and fill you up again right now.”

  His laugh is low and filthy, hips snapping harder. “Promise?”

  “Try me,” I challenge on a gasp, clenching around him just to watch his eyes roll back. “I’ll have you leaking for days, darling. Everyone will know who you belong to.”

  He shudders, breath hitching as he buries his face in my neck, teeth grazing my skin. “All yours,” he rasps, voice breaking on a thrust. “Always fucking yours.”

  My body locks, wringing tighter with each of his frantic thrusts. The edge sharpens, teetering on the brink of unbearable as every nerve ending in my body screams for release.

  Then it snaps.

  Ribbons of cum shoot across my abdomen in hot, pulsing waves, the climax ripping through me like it might split me in half.

  Bash curses under his breath, and after a few more desperate thrusts, he bottoms out inside me. My hole squeezes around him as he comes, and he slams his mouth into mine.

  “Gods, I love how easy you are,” he murmurs against our kiss. “I love being the one to make you fall apart. I’ve missed you so fucking much, Xen.”

  Burying my face in the crook of his shoulder, I clutch at his back as he lazily thrusts through the last few moments of bliss. I savor the closeness, groaning quietly as he slows.

  Our hearts pound in tandem as we catch our breath in the aftermath, bodies still entwined and slick with sweat. Bash’s lips chart a lazy trail across the side of my face, kissing a path along my jawline.

  “I love you, Xen,” he whispers as his mouth lands beside my ear.

  The world stops, for just a moment.

  For years, I’ve lived in fear that his love died in the silence I forced between us.

  That I’d killed it with my bare hands.

  I hold on to him tighter, clinging as if we could ever be closer than we are in this moment.

  “Will you say it again?” I ask in a whisper.

  He pulls back just enough to meet my gaze, thumb brushing away the track of tears on my cheek.

  “I love you,” he repeats, clearer this time, each word deliberate. “I never stopped. Not for a second. And I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it.”

  His mouth moves to my cheek, peppering soft kisses as he whispers it again and again, each confession landing on old wounds. He maps every inch of my face, murmuring quiet declarations of his love with each gentle press of his lips, and by the time he claims my mouth, my tears are flowing in earnest.

  He pushes his forehead against mine. “It doesn’t matter how much time went by, Xen. I never stopped loving you. How could I, when you’re carrying the other half of my heart?”

  A quiet sob catches in my throat as he presses another kiss to my ruined eye like its something sacred. It hits me that my eyepatch lies discarded with our pile of clothes from last night, forgotten in the tangle of sheets and skin.

  Relief floods through me at the realization, almost violent in nature. He’s seeing all of me. Every scar, every flaw. Every broken piece I’ve hidden for so long.

  No more hiding.

  No more lies or half-truths to shield the wreckage.

  And despite it all—the ugliness, the damage, the years of silence—he still loves me.

  The weight I’ve carried for years lifts in an instant, leaving me breathless in his arms. The burden has been shared, so the crushing pressure no longer threatens to break my back.

  “Every single minute,” I agree, burrowing into his arms.

  His fingers weave into my hair, grounding us both as we soak in the peace. Eventually, though, reality demands our return to solid ground, and the alarms become loud once again.

  They’re a harsh reminder of the world waiting beyond these walls.

  I prop myself on my elbows as I stare at the light peeking through the closed curtains. “How long do you think they’ll run the sirens?”

  Bash shrugs as he sits up. “In the years I’ve lived here, they’ve never run. I don’t know what will happen.”

  “What do we do now?” I ask.

  He leans in to press a kiss on my shoulder. “First, we get dressed and find some breakfast. I should’ve fed you last night. You’re probably starving.”

  “To be fair, there were other things happening.”

  He grins so wide his dimple pits into his cheek, and he chuckles as he stands. “Yeah. A few other things.”

  Bash steps into the bathroom, and I doze as the water runs. He returns carrying a towel and cleans me, taking extra care around my thighs before pressing a silent kiss over my scars. After he’s wiped away the mess from my body, he inspects my wounds, and when he smiles, it looks as satisfied as I feel.

  Bash

  Voices travel down the hallway, the words indistinguishable through the muffled blare of sirens. I peek through the door to find our freshly laundered clothes piled neatly. My nose twitches at the scent of cinnamon drifting in the air, and I hurry back inside to change.

  Xeni is sprawled out on the bed, half asleep. He’s completely naked as his fingertips drift lazily over his stomach, tracing idle patterns on his skin. The bruises on his torso have faded to lighter shades of purple and blue, and the split on his lip is mostly healed. In another day or two, physical evidence of his abuse will be gone.

  The internal wounds will take longer to heal, but right now, there’s a peaceful smile on his face. It stands in sharp contrast to the urgency I should feel. The world outside demands our attention, while he looks like he could drift off for a few more hours of sleep.

  I dress quickly, thankful for the clean clothes, but I frown at the stack of thick hides meant for Xeni. Biting my lip, I set them on the counter.

  “I’ll be right back,” I tell him.

  He only acknowledges me with a soft grunt as he burrows deeper into the pillow. He’s blissfully sexed out, with his hair everywhere in wild tangles and his long, lean limbs spread wide across the sheets. A bolt of lust hits me square in the middle, but the alarms insist that more worship will have to wait.

  I follow the delicious smells to the kitchen. Cato and Ego sit at a table with plates loaded full of steaming pancakes, while the human woman stands at the stove.

  “Good morning,” I say, and she glances over her shoulder at me with happy crinkles lining her eyes. “Last night was so chaotic, I didn’t have the chance to thank you.”

  “You don’t have to thank me, dear boy,” she says as she turns back to her skillet to flip another pancake. “Caitlin told me everything you went through. Getting your mate out of that place was quite the accomplishment.”

  “Caitlin?!” I mouth at Cato, who has frozen with his fork hovering in front of his face. “Your name is Caitlin?!”

  “Okay, Garfield,” he snips out loud.

  I stifle my laugh as the woman glances over at him in question, but her face is full of motherly affection.

  “That monster is a plague on this planet,” she says as she grabs another plate from the cabinet. “He would’ve destroyed your mate if he’d held him too long.”

  “That he would’ve,” I agree. “Thank you for the hospitality. We’ll only stay until we come up with a plan. If they start home searches…”

  “They won’t find you here.” She gestures at the last seat at the table, inviting me to eat.

  I shake my head, though my stomach wails in protest. “I have another favor to ask, if it’s something you can help me with.”

  She nods, curiosity sparking in her eyes.

  My gaze drifts down the hallway to the closed door where Xeni rests. “I don’t want him to put his uniform back on. It only brings bad memories, and they know he was wearing it.”

  The woman tilts her head toward the bedroom we’re sharing. “My wife was quite tall, though a bit thicker than him.” A nostalgic smile spreads over her face as she gets lost in a memory, but she quickly focuses again. “There are things in the dresser that should fit him.”

  “I couldn’t ask that of you,” I say.

  “Trust me,” she responds as she shakes her head. “She would want your mate to have them.”

  She turns back to the stove, flipping another pancake as a fresh wave of cinnamon hits the air. “Your plates will be ready in a few minutes, and they’re better when they’re hot.”

  It's an indirect instruction to hurry, so I return to our room with a chuckle. Xeni is still sprawled over the covers, his breath growing heavier as sleep pulls him deeper.

  “Nuh uh,” I scold as I walk to his side and lean down to kiss him. “Lazy bones. It’s time to get up and get moving.”

  His answering whimper is downright scandalous. He grabs my wrist and guides it lower, where his cock rests on his hip.

  I scoff, even as I tease him with my fingertips. “Our food will be ready in five minutes, princess.”

  “It’ll only take me two,” he promises. “It’s been so long.”

  “It’s been exactly eight minutes,” I argue.

  His bottom lip pushes out as he flexes his hips, and I huff a laugh as I kneel beside the bed.

  I have never been able to deny him.

  “Needy thing,” I murmur as I grab his thighs and twist him toward me, spreading his knees as his cock stands hard between us. My lips close around his tip, and he arches his spine as his fingers fist the sheets. I suck him down as he moans louder.

  I tap his thigh as I pull back. “You’ve gotta be quiet. Everyone’s awake.”

  “Quiet and fast?” he complains.

  I draw him in again, and his hand snaps to his face to cover his mouth. The muscles in his stomach tighten, and his thighs flex under my palms as he rocks his hips up, but I move my hands to his hipbones and hold him in place.

  More muffled sounds leave him, whines and whimpers caught by the heel of his palm. I suck all the way down, until his cock is lodged in my throat and my nose is pressed against his skin.

  He tries to thrust, but I pin him as I slide back to the tip, and when I glance up, I find him propped on his elbows watching with his lips parted. I grin at him and stick my tongue out to let a bead of spit drip down onto his cock, and he gasps before biting at his lip. He tenses as I suck my way back down, his thighs quivering in the telltale signs that he’s close.

  So fucking sensitive.

  “Bash,” he moans, too loud to stay contained to this room, but we’re too deep in it for me to care anymore.

  The blowjob turns sloppy, with fast bobs of my head and strands of spit stretching between us. His head snaps back, and the next time I wedge him into my throat he comes on a gasp. The base of his cock pulses against my lips as I suck harder, and cum floods the back of my throat.

  I swallow, but as I try to take him deeper, streams of thick release leak from my lips to pool on his groin. I suck until he starts to shudder, then use my tongue to clean him off as he draws in heavy, panting breaths.

  “Fuck,” he grunts as I run my palms along his thighs, then he yelps when I roll him onto his stomach and swat his ass.

  “Now that the princess had his third morning orgasm, we have breakfast waiting. Time to return to the real world for a while.”

  “Do we have to?” he mutters into the mattress, but obediently rolls over… even if his flop onto his back borders on a tantrum.

  “We do.” I lean over him and kiss him before grabbing his wrists.

  He rag-dolls his way to sitting as his wild hair falls around his shoulders.

  “You’re no fun,” he complains.

  “The jizz swimming in my stomach begs to differ.”

  A surprised laugh pushes out of Xeni, and his grin is magnificent as he looks up at me. I kiss him again just because I can, and head over to the dresser to search through the drawers.

  I feel his presence before his shadow casts over me. “What are you doing?”

  “The lady who owns this place said there might be some clothes in here that would fit you. I didn’t want you to have to put the uniform back on.”

  Xeni comes closer and wraps his arms around my waist, hugging me from behind. “Thank you for taking care of me,” he whispers.

  I pause my search to grip his arms and hug him back. “It was always my favorite thing to do.”

  He presses a kiss onto my cheek, and I soak in the comfort of being in his arms.

  When we separate, I nod at the pile of leather. “We’ll need to bring those with us. Your eyepatch is with them, along with your underwear.”

  Xeni snorts a laugh from behind me as I finally locate a pair of black shorts and a blue t-shirt that look to be his size. I turn in time to watch his naked ass walk into the bathroom, carrying a familiar strip of pink fabric.

  I choke on a laugh. “Were you really wearing lacy panties the entire time they had you locked up?”

  “I was,” he calls from the bathroom. “And let me tell you, they started chafing my ass after a few days. Two out of ten, would not recommend.”