Silence fell—thick enough to drown in.
Then, so faint I almost missed it:
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I echoed, rough, disbelieving.
She looked at me—calm where I was chaos—and a small, tentative smile curved her lips.
A nod.
Sure.
Certain.
And just like that, the ground gave out beneath me.
The world tilted—spinning out of its axis—as the weight of her words crashed into me.
I was falling—helplessly, recklessly, completely—into something I hadn’t dared to imagine.
Something that now might be real.
Chapter 32
***
Emma
Own me.
The words echoed through my mind—equal parts terror and temptation.
The idea of giving myself to a man, of letting go so completely, was something I’d never allowed myself to want. It went against everything I’d built—every wall, every defense—but still, my heart stuttered at the thought.
To be owned.
Not as property, but as something cherished.
To be wanted so fiercely that someone would claim me—not to cage me, but to protect what he saw.
It was terrifying.
And intoxicating.
Across from me, Damien still looked pale, a sheen of sweat catching the light at his temple. But color was returning—gradually, stubbornly.
And then I saw it.
A flicker behind his control. A glint that betrayed everything he felt.
Need.
Want.
An aching hunger he couldn’t hide.
He needed this.
