ia'

I'd been out before I

hazy-like drifting in that liminal space between dreaming and waking. So whe

crisp, with a hint of something expensive-was familiar. The warmth of his chest, the steady rhythm of

pulling him down over me. My fingers curled into his shirt, and in a

reeze. Compl

, sliding beneath his shirt to trace the lines of his sculpted abdomen. My finge

lly indulge in the moment, a cold, f

ar

I woke instantly. My eyes snapped open-and found m

died on

gently-but firmly-back against the bed, his hand pressing m

ht my wrist easily, pinning me d

e," he said with a cold

ver-part shame,

a single hand, keeping me trapped beneath him. He was so much stronger than

ged ta

flirtatious smile. "Well... it's because it's you," I

adable. He wasn't smirking anymore. His eyes were searching mine,

voice was low. Controlled.

yes darkened as they dropped to my lips, to the sliver of skin exposed where my nightdress had slid off my shoul

ng it to peek from beneath the fab

etting his name fall fro

fro

ze was flickering now, replaced by a dangerous heat. That kind

again?" he asked, his voice

isn't seduction," I whispered. "This is w

t, neither

ipping my waist with a suddenness that made me inhale shar

ed, voice husky, "just ho

a kiss that burned-slo

was something deeper. His lips moved with a kind of quiet fury, as if he was pouring th

ed him

. Like I could somehow erase what I did-wh

g me to him like he couldn't trust I'd stay. Like p

oing anywhere.

led my fingers into the back of his shirt, pulling him closer, needing to feel every inch of him. The

n mine, where his palm found the small of my back, where our

like a m

oman who'd been in droug

s slipped further, cool fabric gliding over flushed skin as his hands explored me with a blend of reverence and possession.

r breaths mingled in the narrow space be

ned m

se it swallowed me.

.. si

ing raw behind his usually impenetr

d to ask: Why

ed to say: I

coul

deliberately. Less about punishment, more abou

letting go of fear,

wasn't just a mother, or a runaway, o

as

. was st

-whatever judgment or co

fall back into the arms

his t

eld