He’s holding himself above me with one arm—one. How is that even possible? His body is massive, all muscle and tension, yet he balances effortlessly.
Warm fingers trace over my cheek, again and again, soft and slow. His eyes drink me in: my face, my throat, my hair. Every detail. Every breath.
A new emotion seeps into the air, a soft chill of concern and worry laced with disbelief.
“I’m here,” I whisper, wrapping my fingers around his, guiding his palm to my cheek. “I’m here.”
With our eyes locked, his hand holding my face, the worry melts away.
When I release his hand, and start to inch out from beneath him, he lets me. Pulling back the covers, I slip underneath and pat the empty space beside me.
“Come here,” I whisper, offering a soft smile.
He closes the distance quickly, settling beside me, elbow bent as he leans on one arm to study me. I pull the covers over him, finally hiding that ridiculous body from my poor, overworked imagination, and rest my head on the pillow.
“Now,” I murmur, closing my eyes, “we sleep.”
I slow my breathing, hoping that he’ll copy. But I feel his heavy gaze on me.
I sigh and open one eye. He’s closer now, almost sharing my pillow, still staring. Then his large hand slides over my waist, hauling me into him. My leg falls over his hip, and my knee brushes something very hard.
His chest rises and falls beneath my palm, his heartbeat wild against my touch. I meet his gaze, dark and unreadable, but somehow softer.
Everything is so quiet. Peaceful.
The terror that gripped him earlier still lingers beneath it all, but a ghost of what it was. A pale thing, eclipsed by the calm we’ve made.
I could easily lean in, press my mouth to his… but it would feel like an intrusion. A lesser thing. It would diminish this.
This moment isn’t about want, it’s about something deeper. As though he hears my thoughts, he closes his eyes.
Without hesitation, I follow.
Chapter 36: Kane
Idon’t remember leaving.
Hands wrenched me back, familiar voices rang in my ears, but I don’t know what they said. I don’t know if I fought them or if I let them drag me away.
But I remember the blood. I remember the screams. I remember what I did.
And now I’m here.
The darkness brought me to her. I didn’t think, didn’t choose. It carried me like a current, an unrelenting tide too strong to resist. Now I stand in the doorway of the room, fingers digging into the frame, shadows curling along the floor beneath me.
She’s sleeping. Peaceful. With my brother beside her—holding her.
The memories were too much for Ezekial. Seeing that place again, remembering—he lost himself the second he saw the girl in that cage.
But now… here he is.Asleep. With her.
And they’re perfect together.
He is everything I am not.
The kind of man who can hold her without staining her with his touch.
I convinced myself it was enough to just be near her. That I could exist on the fringes of her light.
