Page 72 of Twisted Steel

“You’re fucking beautiful,” he says roughly, and I believe him.That’s the terrifying part.

I believe him because Steel doesn’t say things to be kind.He doesn’t flatter.He doesn’t soften the world so it hurts less.If Steel says I am beautiful, it’s because he sees me beneath the fear and blood and smoke.He sees me and what he sees is beautiful to him.

I pull him back down, kissing him hard enough to bruise.My hands shake as I work at his belt, desperate and clumsy, needing him out of every barrier between us.

He catches my hands.“Slow.”

“I don’t want slow.”

“I do.”

I freeze, and Steel lowers his forehead to mine, breathing hard, eyes burning into mine.

“I want you here,” he says.“Not running from fear.Not trying to drown the night.Not using me because the world went to shit and I’m the closest thing that feels solid.”His voice drops.“Here, Harper.With me.”

My throat tightens.Damn him.Damn him for seeing too much.Damn him for being violence wrapped around patience.Damn him for making me want him more with every filthy, careful word.

“I’m here,” I whisper.

“Yeah?”

I slide my hand to his jaw, fingers tracing the scar there.“Yes.”

That’s the moment he finally lets go.Not of his control.Of the distance.His mouth crashes into mine, and this time there’s no hesitation in it.He kisses me like he has been starving quietly for years, like I am the thing he has denied himself so long he no longer knows how to be civilized about wanting me.

His hands learn me with rough patience.My bra goes next, dragged down and away until I am bare beneath him.His eyes drop to my breasts, and the look on his face makes my skin flush hot.

“Steel.”

“I know,” he mutters.“Fuck, I know.”

His mouth closes over one nipple, and I nearly come off the bed.He sucks hard enough to make me cry out, tongue circling, teeth grazing just enough to turn pleasure sharp.His hand covers my other breast, squeezing, thumb rubbing until my body goes soft and frantic under him.

“That’s it,” he says against my skin.“You like that, don’t you?”

“Yes.”The word comes out broken, and he gives me more.More mouth.More hands.More filthy praise muttered against my skin until I am shaking beneath him.

“Look at you,” he growls.“So perfectly responsive.So fucking perfect for me.”

I should have a clever reply.I have nothing.Only heat and need.

He kisses down my stomach, and panic flickers for one insane second because this is Steel.Big, brutal, terrifying Steel lowering himself between my thighs like he belongs there.

His hands hook in my jeans, and he looks up at me.“Say no, and I stop.”

My breath shakes.“Don’t you dare fucking stop.”

His eyes darken as he strips me bare.No ceremony.No hesitation.Jeans gone.Panties gone.My legs parted beneath his hands while I lie there exposed and burning and too turned on to remember shame.

Steel stares at me, and the silence stretches.

“What?”I breathe.

His jaw clenches.“You’re wet.”

I flush so hard my skin burns.“Is that a problem?”

His gaze snaps to mine.“No, baby.That’s a fucking gift.”