Chapter 426 Scars And Desire
Chapter 426 Scars And Desire
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Quinn stared at Julius, surprise flickering across her face. She had rarely seen the iron–willed head of the Whitethorn family caught without an answer, and the sight lit a small me of curiosity in her chest.
Leaning on her crutch, she moved forward, bent at the waist, and picked his tie up from the floor.
“Are you really that surprised that I want the man I love? Of course, I desire you. Of course, I imagine us together,” Quinn said, letting the silk tie drape over her fingers like a ribbon of night. “Dr. Huxley was right, though. Any strenuous bedroom activities will have to wait until the bandagese off.”
“You still want me?” Julius lifted his eyes, meeting the hazel fire of hers.
“Absolutely,” she answered without missing a beat. “I told you already–I love you. Isn’t it only natural to want to share a bed with the person you love?”
“But you saw what’s underneath when the bandages were removed earlier,” he muttered, a self- contemptuous edge roughening each syble. “All those scars, old and new, are crawling over me like dried riverbeds. Don’t they disgust you?”
<i>How </i><i>could </i><i>she </i><i>possibly </i><i>feel </i><i>desire </i><i>for </i><i>a </i><i>body </i><i>ruined </i>like <i>this</i><i>? </i>
Quinn considered for a moment, then asked softly, “And what about my body? Do you find it disgusting, too?”
Julius froze, her questionnding with the weight of a stone in still water.
“I carry my own share of scars, and there might be more in the future. Will they make you shudder?” she went on, voice calm but unyielding.
Back when she carried out missions with the Falcon Special Forces, bullets and shrapnel had bitten deep; her skin now mapped those stories in pale, irregr lines.
Julius pressed his lips together, then forced the words out. “I have never felt that way.” <fnb6cd> For original chapters go to F?nd-Novel</fnb6cd>
Each time he saw those lines on her skin, his heart flooded with self–loathing, remorse, and a tenderness that hurt.
To him, her scars were badges of honor–the price she had paid for pursuing the light she was
born to serve.
Chapter 426 Scars And Desire
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He, on the other hand, lurked in shadow, worshipping her brilliance from a ce he believed unworthy.
“Then know that I have never felt that way either!” Quinn replied, conviction ringing clear. “Your wounds make me want to shield you all the more–and these new ones, carned while protecting me, make my heart ache.”
Speaking, she looped the tie around his neck, her fingers deft as she formed a neat knot, the gesture intimate as a promise.
“By the way, I’d like to visit Lena at the hospital in a bit. Can you have the driver send me there?”
A subtle sternness tightened Julius‘ face, as though an invisible wire had pulled his features taut. His voice slipped through the hotel suite–quiet, cool, impossible to ignore. “You want to see Lena?”
“She saved my brother’s life, of course, I want to see her.” Quinn’s answer came fast, her certainty ringing like metal on ss. Besides, she might not only be Rowan’s savior, but also the one he longed for.
After all, during the years of his amnesia, the one who truly stayed by his side was Lena.
Julius straightened his cuffs with practiced ease. “I’ll go with you. I need to stop by the hospital anyway.” The words were casual, yet the promise beneath them felt carved in stone.
Quinn adjusted the tie around his cor, coaxing the knot into ce until it sat wlessly. She stepped back, allowed herself a small, satisfied smile. Not bad for a rush job.
Room–service breakfast arrived on a gleaming cart–fresh fruit shining under silver lids, delicate pastries stacked like tiny towers, coffee strong enough to wake the dead.
The spread was almost excessive, but hunger overruled modesty, and they ate it all.
After clearing the dishes, Quinn gathered her purse and reached for her shoes. Just then, Julius slipped them from her hands, lowered to one knee, and positioned himself at her feet.
“I can manage…” she murmured, surprised enough that the protest lost its momentum halfway out of her throat.
Julius didn’t look up. “Let me.” The gentlemand cut off any further argument. Onerge hand cupped her heel; the other guided the shoe into ce with a reverence usually reserved for relics.
Quinn stared at the man kneeling before her–the head of the Whitethorn family, feared in
Chapter 426 Scars And Desire
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He hadn’t promised her forever, hadn’t even promised tomorrow, yet here he was, bending low for the smallest task.
Gavin was <i>right</i>. Julius <i>does </i><i>love </i><i>me </i><i>wholeheartedly</i><i>! </i>
Shoes secured, Julius moved to lift her into his arms, but Quinn hurriedly caught his sleeve. “Don’t. You’re still injured. I can walk on my own.”
“My injuries are nothing,” he answered with that coolposure she was learning to read.
“It is to me. I don’t want the stitches to tear. I want your injuries healed as soon as possible,” Quinn retorted, keeping her voice soft but firm.
A flicker of curiosity crossed his eyes. “Why does my quick recovery matter so much to you?”
She blinked, momentarily baffled. “Because once you’re better, the bandages cane off and we can stop worrying about what Dr. Huxley warned us about.”
The exnation tumbled out, but the moment the words settled in the air, Julius‘ expression shifted–something dark, something almost amused grazing the edge of his mouth.
“So you’re eager to get me back into bed?” he asked, tone velvet–smooth, eyes sharp enough to slice through pretense.
Quinn’s cheeks went up in mes the moment she heard her own voice, a rush of heat that made the hospital corridor swim before her eyes. Good grief—she had not meant it that way at all. She had merely repeated, without thinking, something Gavin once said–words that had drifted through her mind and slipped, unfiltered, across her tongue.
“I–It’s not that I want to sleep with you,” Quinn blurted, the words tumbling over one another.
At once, Julius‘ hawk–dark eyes dimmed, like lights intentionally switched off inside a room no one wanted to revisit. So she did mind after all. For all her earlier bravado about his scarred body, she would eventually recoil–everyone did. The realization settled over him like ash after a fire.
“No, wait, that’s not what I meant,” Quinn quickly exined. “I’m not saying I never want to sleep with you. Honestly, I do want to… I really want to.”