27

It’s not about being perfect.

It’s about letting your failures go.

Khalani tapped her foot against the cold tile floor of her cell.

She rested her chin on her knee, back firmly against the wall as she stared at Takeshi.

Even in the shadows, his features were sharp and honed. He sat against the opposite side of the cell with one leg stretched out, eyes firmly closed.

He wasn’t asleep though.

His muscles were too tense, jaw too tight to be in slumber. Like a loaded gun lifting, preparing to wreak havoc.

She didn’t know what to say.

Maybe silence and pretending to ignore each other’s existence was the only defense left.

Maybe that’s what she wanted.

No.

Yes.

The lines between her needs and her fears blurred until she couldn’t distinguish one from the other.

All Khalani could do was tap her right foot against the floor, the staccato beats providing the only sound in the stiff quiet.

“How long are you going to keep doing that?” Takeshi asked, his eyes still closed.

“Not sure.” She halted mid-tap. “Were you planning on being silent the whole night?”

“Probably.”

“Then I think I’ll keep doing it.”

Takeshi tilted his head back and stared at her, his dark irises drawing her in like a magnet. She licked her lips, careful to avoid the cut, and his attention flickered to her mouth. The temperature in the cell rose as they silently appraised one another.

“How are you feeling?” he finally asked.

“Better.” The truth. “My face hurts but I’ll survive.”

Takeshi’s muscles held taut, his infernal energy wrapping around her like a cloak.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, so low, she almost didn’t hear him.

“For what?”

“For ever agreeing to this plan. For letting them bring you here.”

“You didn’t let them do anything.” She shook her head. “It was my decision.”

“And I should’ve tied you down and forced them to take someone else.”

“You don’t think I can get the job done?”

“That’s not it, Kanes.”

“Then what is it?! I told you that I’m fine,” Khalani insisted, raising her voice.

Takeshi’s jaw ticked, stubbornly keeping his mouth shut as his gaze drifted to the door.

Ready to be done with the conversation.

“Don’t do that,” she snapped, not letting him off the hook. “Don’t shut me out. Just tell me the truth. You think I’m too weak, right? Isn’t that what you’re trying to say?”

Takeshi’s stare shifted, his intense and heady gaze nearly leveling her. “You shouldn’t have to ask me that. Your strength is never a question to me. I know you can fucking handle everything thrown at you.”

“So what’s the problem? We made it this far and we’re getting out of here soon.”

Khalani held onto that hope for dear life, because if the trackers embedded in their bloodstream failed, they’d likely die in that cavern.

“They hurt you.” Takeshi breathed sharply, staring at her like she was the air he didn’t want to breathe.

Khalani rolled her eyes. “I told you I’m f—”

“Do not say that word again,” he interrupted, the deep tenor in his voice lashing out. “Not when I can see the marks on your face.”

“So what?” she scoffed. “They’ll heal. And that’s why you trained me to fight in the first place, remember?”

“Yes. But I’d rather you not have to use those skills at all.”

“What are you going to do? Lock me in a bedroom when we get out of here?” She laughed incredulously.

He raised an eyebrow, like that was the most intelligent suggestion he’d heard all week.

“No. There will be no locking or hiding.” She couldn’t believe she had to utter those words. “I’ll fight harder and train more, so you don’t think of me as a burden,” she grumbled, crossing her arms and staring at the creaks in the white tile.

For once, Khalani wished she didn’t have to prove her worth to everyone. She wanted people to look at her and already believe she was strong.

“Khalani, look at me.”

Her true name flowing across his tongue was the only thing that made her glance up.

“You’re never a burden,” he stated. “I know you can handle everything life throws at you and punch back even harder. But if something happened to you—” Takeshi cut himself off, his muscles clenching before glancing away.

Khalani stood, heart pounding against her chest like it might break free. The tremor in her hands betrayed her rippling emotions as she turned away, peering into the empty, white hallway beyond their cell.

The memory of his previous words still haunted her, festering like an open wound.

When Takeshi told her things were over between them, she hurt in places that couldn’t be touched. When he played with her feelings in the nightclub, he made her out to be the biggest fool beneath the surface.

Some wounds heal with time. But hers only deepened.

“Why do you feel the need to protect me, anyway?” Khalani took a deep breath, bitterness coating her tongue. “I don’t even matter that much to you.”

“Is that what you think?”

“It’s what I know.”

“Then you haven’t been paying attention.”

“You haven’t given me much else to go off of!” She spun, glaring back at him. “If I recall, you were only too happy to tell me that everything was finished between us. You’ve already said goodbye more times than I can count. But who am I kidding? Was there ever really an ‘us’ in the first place?”

The chaos inside of her was finally starting to break free, and Takeshi stared at her, a thousand emotions flickering across his face.

He slowly stood, stepping right into her space.

But Khalani didn’t budge.

She tilted her chin up, refusing to back away despite the coils of electricity wrapping around her spine.

Takeshi took another measured step forward, forcing her to inch back until her shoulders hit the wall. Barely an inch separated them as he towered over her.

“I’ve always been a good liar,” he whispered.

Her brows pinched together. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means that no matter how many times I told myself we were done, I knew I’d never be over you. You’re the kind of special no one ever forgets.” His pitch-black eyes bore into Khalani, demanding that she listen.

“I’ve tried very hard to keep my distance, but my control slips by the minute. When you look straight at me, all I want to do is finish what we started that night in prison and make you completely mine. So let me make one thing clear. It doesn’t matter what happens between us. From now until the day I bleed out, I will always want you. I will always keep you safe. Even if you weren’t mine,” he gritted his teeth, “I would still protect you. Just know that if anyone gave you so much as a paper cut, I would end their existence.”

The weight of his truth hit her like a battering ram, destroying her barriers. Eviscerating all trains of thoughts and reason.

The only thing that remained was a relentless spark soaring through her limbs, making her feel like she needed to jump out of her skin.

“Takeshi…”

“I don’t expect anything back, Khalani. I just…I needed you to know the truth for once.” He didn’t fully meet her gaze, like he expected her to finally walk away after his proclamation.

Khalani had never stepped foot in an ocean.

Winnie told her about them a few times in Braderhelm Prison.

There used to be giant bodies of water on the surface, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Apparently, you could jump in and duck your head all the way under, and the waves would take over.

That’s what this moment felt like.

Powerful waves crashing against her, pulling her deeper and deeper into the unknown.

She held her breath and stared into his eyes. Truly looked at him.

And what she saw was a man embedded with violent instincts and buried scars. Who fought for his beliefs. Who truly listened—not just thought about what he wanted to say next.

He pushed others to realize their strengths, and beneath the steel armor was a beating heart that bled with passion, fervor, and love.

But maybe that last word wasn’t correct.

Maybe that was the emotion screaming out of her skin, growing in intensity ever since she opened the poetry book Douglas gave her in Apollo.

She thought love was the beginning of her story, but stories always have an ending. A point where you turn the final page and it takes your breath with it.

But love doesn’t have an ending.

Love endures.

It walks this earth with no face, concept of time, or reason.

It simply is. And simply will be.

That was the thought going through Khalani’s head when she closed the distance and kissed him.

At first, Takeshi didn’t kiss her back.

But then, he wound his arm around Khalani’s neck, fastening her to him and kissed her like it was their last night on Earth.

Her lips moved against him with equal abandon. She slid her tongue into his mouth, and Takeshi groaned, pulling her closer, sliding his other hand to her lower back.

She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and stood on her toes, breathing his intoxicating scent in, begging for time to stop.

In one fluid motion, Takeshi lifted her off her feet.

She instinctively wrapped her legs around him, letting out a small noise as he slid his hand from the back of her neck to the front of her throat. He gently squeezed, pulling her breaths into his own as he licked her tongue, holding her as if someone would have to kill Takeshi to make him let go.

Khalani winced when the edge of his teeth caught her lip, but she refused to let anything or anyone ruin that moment. But Takeshi drew back an inch, noticing the flicker of pain she desperately tried to hide.

“Did I hurt you?” Takeshi asked, his voice gravelly and his lips deliciously swollen. The raw emotion in his eyes blended with the deep fury simmering just beneath the surface.

“I’m okay. Just a scratch,” Khalani reassured him.

His eyes softened—actually softened—as he gazed at her. Takeshi cupped the side of her face and gently kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her nose, the tops of her eyelids, her jaw.

His lips were an apology.

Not just for the pain others had caused, but the hurt he’d dealt. For all the times they spent at each other’s throats instead of in each other’s arms.

But he hesitated and said, “Khalani, before we continue, I need to ask you something.”

Her eyes crinkled as he set her down.

“What?”

“Why did you stop me from killing those two men earlier? Is it because you’re ashamed of my past? Of the things I’ve done?” A vulnerability he normally didn’t show pooled in his dark gaze as he waited for her answer.

She considered his question, wanting to unbury her truths with him.

“I’m not ashamed of your past, Takeshi,” she stated firmly. “We’ve all made mistakes. I stopped you because for too long, you’ve let the ugliness of this world define you. I realized that you’ve spent so much time watching over others that you forgot what it’s like to have someone protect you. And I thought…maybe I could be that person.”

Khalani’s muscles locked into place, her heart laid bare on a silver platter.

Her eyes strayed to the floor, but Takeshi put his finger under her chin and pulled her gaze toward him.

And every moon and star in the sky couldn’t compare to the sheer beauty and power reflecting back at her when he said,

“You already are.”

She stilled, his deep voice reverberating through her very soul.

They didn’t have to say those three words.

No sentence could ever be enough.

Their lips met at the same time, and she started unzipping the back of her uniform. Takeshi growled and snapped his hand around her wrist, halting her movement.

“Khalani,” he exhaled harshly, “if we keep going, I won’t be able to restrain myself. So, if you don’t want this to move any further, tell me now. This is your only chance to say no.”

Their eyes met in the dark, the finality in his deep tone reverberating around them.

If they continued, everything would change.

She hated change. Change was terrifyingly uncomfortable, like an itch that couldn’t be reached.

But she didn’t want to go through life wondering about the what ifs.

She determinedly lifted her chin and finished unzipping her uniform.

Takeshi was tensely still, not taking his gaze off her face once.

Power coiled in her fingertips.

There was strength in the way she took control of her own body, in the way Takeshi watched her, like nothing could tear his focus away.

She slid the fabric down her legs, stepping out of her boots as the uniform fell to the ground.

Khalani stood completely bare, her arms hanging by her sides, allowing Takeshi to look his fill.

He stared at her as one might look at a long-lost painting.

Like Khalani had when she gazed upon the city of Genesis for the first time. With complete awe and an inner knowledge that she’d never be the same after the sight.

She felt his gaze move over her, slow and deliberate. All the way from her breasts, to her waist, to the tips of her feet, as if every part of her was worthy of attention and reverence.

Even the parts others would overlook. Especially those.

The silence extended as he kept studying her, and she swallowed, her nerves kicking in. After a moment, Khalani placed one hand over her stomach and moved the other to cover her chest.

“I don’t think so.” The deep timbre in his voice sent goosebumps down her arms.

He moved closer, his body completely overshadowing hers. Takeshi gave her a pointed look, and she gathered her self-confidence, letting her arms fall free again.

“You’re perfect,” he breathed, but Takeshi wasn’t looking at her body. He was staring straight into her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat, the heat in the room so intense, they could’ve been standing under the burning sun and not noticed the difference.

Despite his earlier words, Takeshi’s hands remained tense at his sides.

“Aren’t you gonna touch me?” she challenged, a playful edge to her voice.

“I’m enjoying the view.”

“And what do you think?”

“I think you’re mine.”

Oh.

My.

God.

Her heart raced overtime, and her mind had to scramble to form a coherent sentence. “Pretty presumptuous to think I’m yours. What if there was someone else I had my eye on down here?”

The spark in his eyes brightened. Fighting was their own twisted brand of foreplay, and he loved it just as much as she did.

“That so?” His palm grazed her waist. “What’s their name?”

“Why do you want to know?” She fought to stay calm as his finger brushed over her breast, lightly pinching, setting her ablaze.

“So I can kill him tomorrow,” he said matter-of-factly.

“You’re unhinged.” She laughed.

“Now you’re getting it.”

Takeshi’s wicked grin widened, and she was once again struck by his raw beauty. Without another word, he grabbed a fistful of her hair, bent her back, and wrapped his mouth around her nipple.

A gasp escaped her lips as he bit gently, the vibrations of his groans sending electric currents rippling through her body. Takeshi pulled her back up, devouring her mouth again. They kissed each other like people starved. As if they didn’t need air because they were each other’s oxygen.

With her lips pressed against his, Khalani reached around his neck and started unzipping his uniform, needing to feel all of him. Takeshi quickly unfastened the zipper himself, pulling it down and discarding it roughly across the cell.

Her hands roamed over his bare chest, feeling his heart beating like a drum.

Seeing him in action was one thing. Feeling his muscles tense beneath her fingertips was entirely different.

Biting her lip, she let her hands glide lower. When her fingers grazed his hard length, Takeshi sucked in a sharp breath.

She grinned, the thought of him coming undone because of her made her feel even more powerful.

Khalani wanted to do so much more than touch him. She wanted to make him lose control and have this moment embedded in his veins for eternity.

Just as it would be for her.

Khalani lowered to her knees, but he pulled her back up.

“Takeshi, what—”

She made a small yelp when Takeshi twirled her around so her back was flush against his chest. One arm wrapped around her, fanning the skin directly under her breasts, and the other dipped between her legs.

“If you think I’m going to cum before you, think again.”

She gulped, her head falling back against his shoulder as his thumb flicked against her, while a finger slipped inside her.

His movements quickened, and Khalani felt like she was traversing a wild peak. Climbing the tallest mountaintop. Each grind against Takeshi ignited a molten fire inside her, the heat intensifying with every stroke.

Pinpricks entered her vision. She didn’t know what was happening. Had never experienced this rush with any other partner.

When she reached back, he groaned in her ear as her hand traced him up and down, matching his pace. His heart pounded against her back, a primal beat as they slowly fell apart together.

His thumb flicked as he eased another finger inside her, and she had to stifle the moan that teetered on the edge of her lips. Every movement, every shift, elicited sparks that raced through her body, burning hotter and stronger with each passing moment.

“That’s it, beautiful. Let go for me,” he commanded, just as out of breath as she was, and with another brush of his thumb, the muscles in her core started convulsing.

Her body felt like it was on fire. Like she was burning from the inside out.

Euphoria coursed through her veins as her hand continued stroking him, his whole body tensing before he came apart with her.

Takeshi cursed and he gripped her hand, moving up and down with her.

That was even hotter.

She leaned against him, her body trembling like her limbs consisted of molten liquid, still reeling from the powerful high.

“Oh my God,” she rasped, out of breath.

“No. Just me.” He pulled her tight against him and slid down the wall. She felt each rise and fall of his chest as he laid her down on the ground and held her close. Her head rested on his forearm, while his other arm wrapped around her waist.

It was a possessive hold. Protective. Like an animal guarding its treasure.

If someone had told her in Braderhelm Prison that Takeshi would be holding her like this, she would’ve laughed and dismissed the idea outright. Not even if hell froze over would she have believed them.

But life had a way of gifting you the most unexpected things when you didn’t pay attention.

Khalani arched her back slightly and wriggled her hips, feeling him harden against her once more.

“Stop that,” he said in her ear.

“Stop what?” She shifted a little, and he gripped her waist, fingers squeezing in warning.

“Khalani, I need you to stop right now. When I make love to you for the first time, it won’t be in this cold cell. But if you keep moving your hips like that, I won’t care anymore. So fucking behave.” He bit her ear.

Sounded like a reasonable plan to her.

“What if I said pretty please?” she asked in a light voice.

“You’re going to be the death of me, Kanes. Go to sleep.”

She grinned but complied, for now. After the mind-blowing release he’d given her, her body was utterly exhausted. And they needed all their strength and energy for what would transpire in the morning.

Tomorrow, they would escape and be free. Together.

Takeshi tucked her closer, chasing her nightmares away. And for the first time in forever, she found a bright future in the shadows of a dark world.