“Again,” he murmured, his voice a dark promise against my hair.
I smiled, my body already humming with anticipation. “Again.”
And we went again and again all night.
The sky was turning purple at the edges when I woke up.
Kai was asleep next to me, one arm thrown across my waist like even unconscious he needed to keep me close. His face was softer in sleep, the sharp edges smoothed out. He looked younger. Almost peaceful.
I stayed very still, just watching him. Memorizing the exact curve of his jaw, the way his dark hair fell across his forehead, the small scar above his left eyebrow I'd traced with my fingers hours ago. Every detail burned itself into my brain because this was all I'd get to keep.
My body ached in ways I'd never experienced. Good aches. The kind that made me hyperaware of every place he'd touched, kissed, claimed. My skin still felt warm where his hands had been, like he'd left marks I couldn't see.
I wanted to stay. God, I wanted to stay so badly it hurt worse than anything physical.
But the sky was getting lighter, and reality was creeping back in with the sunrise. In a few hours, I'd be Aria Romano again. The dutiful daughter. The arranged bride. The girl who had obligations and expectations and a future that had been decided for her before she was born.
And Kai? Kai was my one perfect night. My rebellion. My moment of being someone else.
That's all this could ever be.
Moving slowly, careful not to wake him, I slipped out from under his arm. He shifted slightly, murmuring something Icouldn't make out, but didn't wake. I stood there for a moment, naked and shivering, just looking at him.
I wanted to crawl back into bed. Wanted to wake him up and ask him to take me away from everything waiting for me at home. Wanted to pretend this could be more than one night.
But fairy tales didn't exist in my world. Girls like me didn't get happy endings with mysterious strangers. We got arranged marriages and family obligations and lives that were mapped out before we could walk.
I found my clothes scattered across the floor—evidence of how desperately we'd wanted each other. Getting dressed felt like putting armor back on. Each piece of clothing another layer between who I'd been tonight and who I had to be tomorrow.
My dress was wrinkled, the fabric torn slightly where he'd been too impatient to find the zipper. I looked like exactly what I was—a girl who'd spent the night doing things that would horrify her family.
One last look. Just one more.
Kai was still asleep, the sheet pooled low on his hips, his chest rising and falling with steady breaths. Beautiful and dangerous and completely out of reach.
I memorized it. All of it. The rumpled sheets, the half-empty bottle of water on the nightstand, the way morning light was starting to filter through the curtains. This moment, crystallized in amber, perfect and untouchable.
Then I left before I could change my mind.
The drive home should have given me time to process. To prepare myself for the return to reality. Instead, I just felt numb. My body remembered every touch, every kiss, every whispered word. But my mind was already building walls around it, protecting the memory by locking it away.
This was perfect, I told myself. One perfect night. That's more than most people in my world ever got.
The ache between my legs was a reminder with every breath. The tenderness in my lips from his kisses. The slight burn on my neck where his stubble had scraped. I'd carry these marks for days, hiddenbeneath clothes and makeup, secret proof that I'd been brave for once.
It was enough. It had to be enough.
The sun was fully up by the time I turned onto the road leading to the Romano estate. My eyes were gritty from lack of sleep, my hair was a disaster, and I probably looked exactly like what I was—a girl sneaking home after a night she'd never forget.
But something was wrong.
Too many cars lined the driveway. Black sedans and SUVs, the kind that meant family business. The kind that meant something serious. My stomach dropped.
It was six in the morning. Nobody conducted business at six in the morning unless—
I pressed harder on the gas, my heart suddenly racing for entirely different reasons. The numb feeling evaporated, replaced by cold, creeping dread.
People were everywhere. Men in suits, women crying, and oh god, why was everyone crying?
