My eyes flew open.
“What… what are you doing?”I murmured, my voice thick with sleep and confusion as I instinctively tensed. My hands braced weakly against him as the world shifted around me. But even in that half-awake state, I knew. Knew exactly who it was.
The solid warmth alone gave him away.
“What I should have done in the beginning,” he replied, his voice low, rumbling through me in a way that made my breath catch despite myself.
“That is not…” I started, attempting some form of protest as awareness crept back in. Although it was sluggish, dulled by sleep and the very inconvenient fact that I was currently being carried as though I weighed nothing at all.
“I was fine, I just…”
“Enough,”he stated. The word wasn’t harsh, but it wasn’t exactly gentle either. No, what it was…
Was final.
Firm in a way that left very little room for argument, especially not in my current state. Where my body seemed far more interested in the warmth of him than it was in maintaining any kind of stubborn resistance.
“There is one thing allowing you to attempt to sleep on that couch,” he continued, his tone quieter now but no less certain as I felt the shift of movement. The unmistakable change as he reached the bed.
“But I will not have my woman shivering with cold.” My breath hitched slightly as I felt the mattress give beneath us. Its softness was a stark contrast to the uncooperative couch I had been battling moments before. But it wasn’t only that, it was also the way he claimed me, calling me his woman.
However, this wasn’t the only reason my heart skipped a beat, not when he knew precisely how he intended on warming me up.
“Not, when you could be sleeping comfortably…”
“Wrapped in my arms.”
12
IN THESE LOVING CHAINS
Wrapped in his arms…
The words settled over me as much as the warmth of him did. Both equally inescapable, both sinking far too easily into places I had tried not to let him reach. Because the moment he shifted, the moment his body aligned fully with mine, everything in me seemed to become acutely aware of just how close we were. My back pressed firmly against his chest, his arm curved beneath my head with the other draped securely across my waist, holding me in place in a way that wasn’t forceful. But it wasn’t something I could easily ignore either.
I went still.
Completely still.
As though any movement might somehow make this more real than it already was. My breathing then faltered slightly before I forced it to even out. Forced myself to draw in slow, measured breaths as I stared into the darkness ahead of me. Trying very hard not to focus on the solid heat of him at my back. On how much bigger he felt like this. How easily he had moved me and how effortlessly he now held me exactly where he wanted me.
“Relax,”he whispered quietly behind me, his voice softer now, less teasing, more…something else entirely.
But this single word had the opposite effect, as I stiffened instantly.
“Easy for you to say,” I muttered under my breath, my voice still carrying the remnants of sleep before clearing enough to add to my complaint,
“You weren’t just manhandled into someone else’s bed.” A quiet huff of amusement brushed against my ear.
“You are welcome to return the favor,” he replied smoothly,
“I would not object to being manhandled into yours.” I had to fight a smile at that before rolling my eyes, even though he couldn’t see it.
“Yeah… I don’t see that happening any time soon,” I scoffed, and he released a sigh before he spoke again, his voice taking on a far gentler tone.
“I understand that this may feel…fast for you,”he said, pausing long enough that it told me he was trying to find the right words. As for me, I let out a soft, disbelieving breath at that, my brows pulling together slightly.
“Says the man who just carried me into his bed without asking,” I pointed out, once again making him sigh.
