"Stay with me tonight," he breathed against my lips. "Not because you're scared or because it's convenient. Because you want to."
"I want to."
"I can't promise—" He pulled back, forehead against mine. "I'm still figuring this out. What I want. Who I am."
"I know."
"It might take time."
"I've got time."
He kissed me again—softer now, slower. A promise instead of a plea.
"Then come to bed." He stood, pulled me up with him. "Let me hold you."
I let him lead me downstairs, past the quiet common room, past Jake sleeping under Maria's watchful eye, past all the evidence of this new life I was choosing.
In his room, we undressed in silence. Not for sex—not tonight. Just skin against skin, his heartbeat against mine, his powerful arms wrapped around me like he'd never let go.
"Thank you," he whispered into my hair.
"For what?"
"For seeing me. The real me, not just Reaper." His arms tightened. "For not running."
I pressed a kiss to his chest, right over his heart.
"Thank you for giving me somewhere to run to."
We fell asleep like that, tangled together, breathing in sync. Outside, the city hummed with danger and possibility.
7
COMBUSTION
Iwoke to the feeling of Axel's mouth on my neck. Not soft. Not tentative. Hot, open-mouthed kisses trailing down my throat, teeth scraping over my pulse point. His body was a furnace against mine, hard in every sense of the word—I could feel his cock pressing against my ass, thick and insistent through the thin fabric of his boxers.
"Axel?" My voice came out rough with sleep.
"Couldn't stop thinking about you." His hand slid down my chest, my stomach, fingers tracing the lines of muscle. "Watching you sleep. Feeling you against me." He rocked his hips forward, and I bit back a groan. "I need?—"
"What do you need?"
He pulled back enough to meet my eyes. In the grey morning light filtering through the window, he looked wrecked. Hungry. Desperate in a way that made my heart pound.
"You," he said. "I need you."
I kissed him before he could take it back.
He responded like a dam breaking. Hands everywhere—in my hair, down my back, gripping my ass and pulling me flush against him. I gasped into his mouth as our cocks aligned,the friction sending sparks up my spine even through layers of cotton.
"Off," I managed, tugging at his boxers. "I want to feel you."
He froze for just a second. I felt the hesitation, the old fear trying to surface. But then he exhaled—a shaky, deliberate release—and lifted his hips so I could drag the fabric down.
His cock sprang free, and I let myself look. Thick, flushed dark with need, already leaking at the tip. Bigger than I'd expected, because of course he was. Everything about Axel was larger than life.
"Your turn." His voice was strained as he hooked his fingers in my waistband. "Fair's fair."
