na's bones. It was the kind of place where shadows softened sharp edges, where strang
uld hav
knew
eet refus
to shrink without either of them taking a step. His gaze was calm, unreadable, bu
dn't
er di
that made it
if giving her time to cha
gesturing to the em
steady. Not flirtat
na n
s
d, thick with unspoken thoughts. Regina could feel the warmth of his arm clos
don't belong here
oft, humorless
why
ng. It would have
ck," she said quiet
his expression. Not
gnit
e bartender. "
ed, then no
n her shoulders slowly ease, the noise around them fad
loudly," he said after a
tled. "You sound like you
d
eyes l
What kind of life carved that
she asked before she
pau
onight?"
inked.
ted calmly, "names
. The logic was d
not use them
amused flickered in
r lived in, books they loved but never finished, places that felt like escape
natural. When his fingers bru
ve remembered
fa
aiting to
he stood w
aid, not as a comman
lse th
she r
-
et, dimly lit, a world
n't ru
what br
she mattered-like her consent
stop," he
ook he
t desperate. It was careful. Dee
omething insi
time, she wasn
subs
oblig
just...
h. The world narrowed until there was nothing but the steady
beside him, listening to his breathing. She didn't
he dressed
without w
aused, one hand pr
appened*, she
away with
ust slept with the man sh
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