Kane certainly didn’t do that kind of soul-deep staring with anyone else. He didn’t shy away from eye contact with lovers, but it had never felt like this, not even really with AJ. The longer this connection went on, the more he realized how immature that love in his past had been, even if it had meant a lot to him at the time. He was a different person now, and that person was far more traumatized and scarred, but also far deeper. Adrian reached right down into that depth and made him feel like his heart was breaking and expanding in his chest at the same time. Kane let his hand trail down Adrian’s flank as he climbed out of the shower, giving his ass a little pat before he followed him. Once they had dried off and moved into the main room again, Kane sat on the edge of the bed with a little sigh and pulled Adrian in close between his splayed knees. He caressed his hips and pressed a kiss against his stomach, breathing in the smell of the soap mixed with Adrian’s skin. “Say it again?” he asked, glancing up at him with a sheepish little smile.
"What?" Adrian murmured with a teasing lilt. "You still owe me a favor?" He ran his fingers through Kane's short hair, his stomach a riot of emotions that wouldn't settle down for a while, he was sure. "I love you," he said more seriously, though it came with a gentle smile. He didn't want to leave Kane with the teasing for long, it might be fun to hurt him sometimes but not like that, no matter how light hearted it was, this wasn't something he wanted to use in that manner. The way Kane asked for it was so vulnerable it made his heart ache, made him want to repeat it until it truly infiltrated Kane's brain and let him believe it because Adrian had a feeling he didn't, not really. "I've never felt this way about anyone, I didn't even know I could. Maybe I never would have found out if I hadn't met you."
That was far more than Kane had asked for and it made his cheeks burn again and his throat feel thick, but he was getting hooked on that feeling almost as much as all the others. The trust he had that Adrian was being honest about how he felt was indeed warring with all of his insecurities, and Kane didn’t think that battle would be over anytime soon. This whole thing was changing him, he could feel it, but change always took time. Kane gave a soft huff and nuzzled Adrian’s skin for another beat before he looked up again. “You would have,” he murmured. He could at least be confident of that. “You’re too easy to love.” Someone good would have come along eventually and fallen for him. They still might, Kane reminded himself ... but Adrian had said he only wanted Kane right now, so he had that to cling to. He lightly stroked his fingers up the backs of Adrian’s thighs. “I’ve never felt this way either ... thought I’d been in love before, but this is just ... beyond.”
"I may be easy to love," Adrian said with a little huff because he wasn't so sure about that part. "But that's not what I said." He cocked a brow at Kane pointedly. "I said I haven't felt this way about someone else before. This is... yeah. Beyond." He stepped back and nudged Kane's knees together before straddling his thighs and leaning in to kiss him. "I've had people like me, it doesn't mean much if it's one way." He had loved Simon, been in love with him even, but that would never have gone anywhere because Simon was straight. Maybe if he hadn't been it could have become something grand and powerful, but Adrian knew damn well it would never have become this intense. It wasn't a bad thing, this thing with Kane was built on so many conflicting emotions that nothing could ever really replicate it.