She clearly had no concept of how goddamn breakable she seemed, compared to his kind.

“You wanted it gentle and sweet, and I ruined it. Like I always will. I’ll never be able to hold back with you,” he mumbled, too ashamed to even look at her.

To his utter surprise, she chuckled, the breath from her lips brushing against his chest in a teasing caress.

“But you did give me ‘gentle and sweet,’ you big oaf. You made love to me until I asked for more. And then you fucked me just the way I needed you to. Do you not remember how you let me take charge? I know you have scars that will take time to heal, but this guilt you carry is misplaced. Everything you’ve ever done to me I’ve loved. We’ll be in Colorado tomorrow, and I…”

She paused, her voice losing steam. “I want the memory of tonight to be about how, even through all the horrors and everything I’ve lost, there was you—the one good thing in this world of darkness I’ve been sucked into.”

Kain lay still, breathing in her calming scent as her words settled in his mind and body. That sore thing in his chest hummed as if trying to alert him to something, but he was too busy replaying what she’d said to pay it any mind.

He’d never been called good before, and he’d most certainly never been the one positive thing anyone held onto in the darkness.

The ironic thing was that she was like a ray of light to him—he could almost see the bright shimmer around her when he looked at her.

And tomorrow he would lose her forever.

She was right—there was no point in wasting this limited time on regrets. He could do that on his way back from Colorado, and—he suspected—every day for the rest of his existence.

Pulling her in closer to where his chest ached, he bent his head to kiss the crown of hers. For tonight, he would forget everything apart from how perfectly the woman he could call his for one more day fit in his embrace.

18

Selma

The closer they drew to the place circled on their map over Colorado, the gloomier Selma’s mood became.

Waking up that morning wrapped in Kain’s warm embrace had been bittersweet because she knew it was for the last time. He’d given her the one night she’d asked for—a night without worries or regret—and now it was time to face reality again.

A reality in which she had been given the gift of freedom.