I was no longer beautiful. I had fought the devil inside and won. I would no longer tempt men. I could finally reach salvation.

Suddenly, a low sigh sounded beside me, and I froze. In the reflection, I did not see anyone else in the room, but when another low noise filled the quiet, I knew I was not alone.

Turning my heavy body and head to my left, the smell of tobacco and engine oil immediately crashed over me, and my heart began to pound. Bright-blond hair tied back in a messy ponytail lay on the pillow beside me.

Ky.

My Ky, fast asleep beside me.

What was he doing here with me? He was now free, his bonds to me broken…

Darting my eyes around an unfamiliar room, I panicked when I noted strange machines gathered around me. I did not know where I was. My groggy mind, though, was beginning to clear. My hands started shaking and when I went to move my left hand, something was wrapped around it.

Glancing down, I found Ky’s firm hand was intertwined with mine. And he was gripping it so tightly, like he could not bring himself to let it go, even in slumber. Then for the moment I forgot I was in an unfamiliar place, I just focused on the fact that Ky was here.

I was no longer beautiful, yet he was here.

My skin ruined, my hair gone, and my cheek marred… yet here he was, protecting me, lying by my side.

Why?

My thumb ran over the rough skin on the back of his hand, and hearing a stirring, I fluttered my eyes up to meet his. I held my breath as his newly awoken blue eyes roved over me, staring at my face.

This was it. This was the moment I would lose him. My lungs shut down as I awaited what he would say, but then I almost cried.

“Baby,” Ky breathed out in loving relief, and he slowly leaned forward, releasing his hand from mine and carefully brushing back my hair. I closed my eyes, relishing his touch, but my mind could not stop asking the same question.

Why has he not left yet? He is now free.

Ky’s loving hand drifted down my neck and down my arm, and I reluctantly opened my eyes, trying to fight back tears.

Ky was staring at me with the most adoring expression I had ever seen, more than when I was perfect, more than I had ever seen on his stunningly handsome face before. Then, bracing for my reaction, he dipped his head down and brushed his lips so softly against mine.

I was stunned.

I did not know what to think. I had sacrificed my beauty to set my love free, but he was still here.

I could not understand why he was still here!

Ky’s lips continued to caress mine and, at first, my mouth stayed unmoving, too shocked that this beautiful man was kissing my… my… unpretty face. But Ky kept pursuing me, his tongue slowly lapping around my lips until they parted on a gasp and his tongue plunged inside.

Sensing his addictive taste, I was lost to him. Then he was everywhere—in my mouth, his cautious hands in my short hair… his soul in my heart.

Pulling back, Ky’s eyes were shiny and bright, at first I thought it was with lust, but when the flicker of a tear slipped from the corner of his tired eye and trickled down his cheek, my heart crumbled to dust.

“Ky,” I cried. Leaning forward, wincing with discomfort, I kissed away the hot, salty drop. “Please, do not cry—”

“Don’t fuckin’ do shit like that again, baby,” he interrupted in a raspy, hurt voice. There was no anger in his voice, just a desolate crushed roughness. “‘Cause I ain’t wanting to be without you. You hearing me? You’re my fuckin’ woman. We ride this road together, no matter what gets in our way.”

Blinking furiously, I tried to form a response, but I could only blink some more.

Ky’s fingertips ran around the edge of the bandage on my cut cheek, his eyes pained, and he said, “I’ll ask again, Li. Are you hearing me?”

His loving gaze implored me to say something.

“I… I do not understand what is happening,” I whispered, watching Ky’s head tip to the side as he studied me. He wiped at his cheeks with the back of his hand and pulled himself together.

“What, baby? What ain’t you getting? What the fuck’s going on in that head of yours?” he asked, his voice still graveled with emotion.

Stroking at his short beard, I asked, “Why… why are you still here? I do not understand why you are here, by my side.”

Ky’s face blanked and then all his muscles tightened, small lines crinkling around his eyes. “Where the fuck else would I be if not with my woman? My broken woman. You hacked yourself up in front of my club, baby, shot a brother while in some cult trance, and you had to come to the hospital. I was gonna be nowhere but right in this bed with you, making sure you were okay.”

“Your woman?” I asked in complete shock, and this time my heart thundered in… hope?

Could he…?

Could Ky…?

No… it was impossible!

“Lilah, baby, you gotta start making some sense, because I’m fuckin’ lost right now.” He leaned in close, his tongue licking along his perfect lips. “You’re my woman. You’ve been my fuckin’ everything since I first saw you. Do you not understand that by now?”

Tears blurred my vision and a disbelieving sob escaped my lips. Ky’s hands held the sides of my head and his face softened at my reaction. “I love you, Li. You’re mine. My woman. My property. My fuckin’ old lady… my fuckin’ forever.”

“But… but I am no longer perfect. I set you free from the devil within me. I cannot tempt you into false love again.”

Confusion clouded his features, then that confusion turned to frustrated anger. “That’s why you did all this shit? You thought I was under some fuckin’ spell? Do you think that little of yourself, Li? To fuckin’ hack yourself up?”

Lips trembling, I said, “It was not just because of you. All any man has ever wanted me for was my face… my body. I have been taken against my will since I was a child. Every touch that was ever laid upon me I was told was due to my evil and sinfully beautiful face. I was taken and touched because men could not resist. I was schooled and taken as a child by Brother Noah because it was how I would be saved.”

I could see rage boiling in Ky’s face, so taking a fortifying breath, I added, “But unlike those men, men that I could tune out, I loved you back. And because I love you so much, I want you to be happy. I could not keep you with me under false pretenses.”