“Do you still want to be with me?” Costin asked.

Sally’s heart broke again as she heard the fear in her mate’s voice. He thought, because she didn’t want him to touch her, that she was rejecting him. She just didn’t know how to explain what was going on inside of her.

She brushed her lips across his neck and the memory of their Blood Rites filled her mind. Costin had just bitten her again because he needed to reestablish his claim. Maybe if she did this too, he would realize just how desperately she wanted to be with him.

She opened her mouth and bit—hard—on the spot she’d bitten once before. Costin’s arms tightened around her and he moaned as she pulled the blood from his body. She didn’t want to stop. She wanted to keep the connection between them so that he wouldn’t doubt her, no matter what her feelings seemed to be saying.

“Beautiful, that’s enough. I hear you,” Costin whispered to her as he ran his fingers through her long hair. She was so thankful that her hair had returned to normal. She hadn’t expected this to happen, but she was glad to be rid of anything that would remind her of her time in Oceanside. She released his neck and licked the wound and then pressed a kiss to it. Hers, she thought. He was hers.

“Always,” he told her as he pulled back to look at her. The need burning in his eyes scared and excited her. She needed him, holy hell how she needed him. But she didn’t feel like she deserved him. She felt as though her body was tainted, contaminated, no longer fit for him to touch.

He growled as her thoughts filtered through the bond. “Your body is mine. No matter what happens to it, it will always be mine and I will always want to touch you.”

Tears formed in her eyes again as Costin ran a finger across her jaw, down her neck, and across the tops of her breasts. He let his other hand roam up her thigh and across her backside and then up her back until he was grasping her neck. It was as if he needed to show her that he wanted to touch her and that he would touch her.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked her as his eyes dropped to her lips.

Sally hated that he felt like he needed to ask.

He shook his head at her. “I don’t feel like I need to ask. But you’ve been through something terrible. Someone touched you against your will. I want you to feel in control of your own body. I will respect whatever you need or want. If you want me to strip you out of your clothes and kiss and touch and love every inch of you, I will. If you want me only to touch your hand, I will. All I beg of you is that you let me touch you in some way. Even just your ankle, I need your flesh against mine.”

She was speechless. She stared at him, watching his hazel eyes shift back and forth from wolf to man. She’d missed him. Even though she hadn’t remembered him, her soul had remembered him, and she had missed him so very much.

When he leaned forward, she did as well and before she knew it, his lips were devouring hers. He nipped, kissed, sucked, licked, and repeated on her lips. It was as if he were reclaiming them. They sat there kissing for a long time. And Sally drank him in like a desert drinks the rain.

Finally, he pulled back. He was breathless, as was she. “I would love to continue this and if you allow it, we will. But now I think showers are in order.”

Sally looked down for the first time at his clothes. He was covered in blood. She looked back up at him and saw no remorse for those he’d killed.

“How?” she asked. He understood that she was asking how he killed Jericho.

“Are you sure you want to know?” he asked as his eyes began to glow again.

She nodded.

“Tell me first, what was Peri talking about before she left?”

Sally’s heart plummeted. “Costin, it has to do with last night.”

He looked shocked, but then recovered quickly. “So it happened last night?” he asked. His voice was gravelly from his wolf.

She nodded.

“Is that the only time?”

“That’s the only time it went that far.” Her memories of the different encounters with Jericho rushed forward, no matter how she tried to keep them at bay. “I didn’t desire him. I only thought of him as a friend.”

“Why did you continue to see him?” His question wasn’t accusatory; he just wanted to know what happened.

“You’re going to think I’m stupid.” She tried to hide her face but he wouldn’t let her.

“I could never think you’re stupid, Sally mine.”

“I didn’t want to hurt his feelings,” she said quickly.

Costin nodded slowly as if he were considering her words. “Did he ever push himself on you? Other than when he used the bracelet?”

“No, not really. He was intense. Bloody hell, Costin, how are we going to do this? I can’t talk about him with you.”

Costin growled. “I’m your mate. I’m the one you should talk to about this. Sally, trust me. Trust my commitment to you.”

He picked her up as he smoothly rose from the ground and walked toward their bedroom.

“Where are we going?” she asked him.

“To take a bath. We can continue our discussion there. We need to talk about this and I think the sooner you get it all out the sooner you can start healing. But I won’t lie, it is hard to hear. It will help if we have more skin touching. It reassures my wolf that you are his—no one else’s. I want you here with me, present in mind and body.” He set her down in their bathroom and it felt as though it had been years instead of months that she’d been here. In fact, the last time she’d used their bathroom she’d been taking a shower with Costin. Sally felt her skin blush.

“Are you comfortable with taking a bath with me?”

She nodded.

“Do you want me to turn around so you can undress?”

“Do you want to turn around?” she countered.

He gave her a dry look. “You’re asking me if I want to look away as you get naked? No amount of turmoil or pain will stop me from wanting to see you naked.” He winked at her and her heart skipped a beat. He was so freaking handsome and sexy and funny and, holy smokes, she’d missed him.

She wasn’t surprised when he stripped off all of his bloody clothes without any hesitation. Costin had never, ever been bashful about being naked in front of her. He could even have a fight with her while he was butt naked. She had to have clothes on to argue with him. She felt too vulnerable to be naked and fighting. And he wouldn’t keep his eyes on her face while she growled at him.