His eyes darken.
“But not in the way you think.”
He turns fully now, facing me.
Moonlight cuts across his face.
“I’m scared of losing this,” I say. “Not of you.”
Something in his expression breaks open slightly.
Small.
But real.
He pulls me back down into the bed and this time, when he wraps his arms around me, it feels different.
Less claiming.
More holding.
“Sleep,” he murmurs into my hair.
“You too,” I whisper.
His breathing gradually evens out.
I stay awake. Listening.
Feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest.
The man who stormed into a club without hesitation.
The man who warned me he doesn’t do gentle.
The man who wakes up screaming.
He’s not invincible.
He’s not just Blade.
He’s human.
And somehow that makes him feel even bigger.
More real.
More dangerous.
And more mine.
Chapter 8
Violet
Morningcomesquieterthanit should.
For a few slow seconds, I don’t remember where I am. The bed is bigger than mine. The sheets smell like smoke, leather, and something darker, something distinctly him. My body feels heavy, used in the best possible way, every muscle aware in a new, tender way.
