“Is this okay, Aurora? I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
My body moves before my mind catches up. I close the distance between us and crash into him, arms wrapping tight around his waist.
The shadows react before he does, curling around my wrists like they’ve been waiting for this—bracing for impact, ready to hold me together.
The tears come back hot and fast, burning down my cheeks no matter how hard I fight them.
Ezra stills, then slowly lowers his head, resting his cheek against my hair.
“Thank you, Ezra,” I murmur, the sound lost in the warmth of his chest. “I really thought I was going to die. I owe you so much more than I could ever give.”
Ezra falls to his knees with a choked whimper, penance bleeding through every inch of him. His shadows follow, blackened echoes sinking into the floor.
He doesn’t beg. He doesn’t plead.
But his grey, riptide eyes offer something I never thought I’d see from him.
Surrender.
“You owe me nothing, Aurora.” His voice is rough. “All I want to do is keep you safe. To see you smile.” A bitter, broken chuckle vibrates against my chest. “Which is so fucking confusing, because I don’t give a shit about anyone. But for you?” His grip tightens. “I would do anything.”
Shadows curl around my ankles, restless and alive against my skin.
Ezra exhales sharply, his jaw clenching. “Even if you asked me to never contact you again, it wouldn’t change the fact that you belong to me … and I belong to you.”
The words slip under my skin and stay there, warm and heavy with truth, verging on something I might believe, if I let myself.
“I will forever be sorry I violated your trust,” he continues. “I should have made my presence known. I should have done … all of it differently. Hell, I don’t know.”
He presses his cheek lightly against my sternum, his breath brushing against my neck. “I just need to be near you, Aurora. I promise I will never betray your trust again. Please …”
His voice is barely more than a whisper. “Can you forgive me?”
Ezra looks up at me from his knees, his storm-grey eyes raw with something I can’t define. I reach out before I can stop myself, running a finger over the furrow in his brow.
His shadows twitch, flickering up my wrist before hesitantly curling around my fingers as if they’re trying to understand why I’m touching him. When I pull away, they hesitate before snapping back.
“I forgive you, Ezra.” The words come more easily than I expected.
“I’m willing to give you another chance. Please don’t fuck it up.”
Ezra rises, tugging me a step closer, his lips grazing the back of my hand, unwilling to let go. Shadows coil around my wrist, trailing after his lips, desperate to leave a mark, too.
“I won’t, Aurora. I can’t promise I’ll be perfect. But I want you. And if that means I need to change? Then I will try. For you.”
His thumb strokes over my knuckles before he finally lets go, settling into the chair.
“Now.” His voice turns commanding again. “Take some medicine, ice your neck, and try to rest. I will be here watching over you.”
While I do what he asks, doubt creeps in.
Can he really change?
Can I let myself believe that?
A shudder rips through me, my body curling inward as I pull the blankets to my chin. My breath catches, loud in the quiet, like I’ve forgotten how to breathe without shaking. The images wriggle deep inside my mind like maggots on rotted flesh, burrowing under my thoughts and picking at the frayed edges of my resolve.
Jameson’s hands.
