Tristan lowers her to the floor, easing her weight down until she's crumpled against the baseboard. Eyes open. Lifeless. Staring at nothing.
He straightens, rolling his shoulders.
"She had sharp nails. Wasn't expecting that."
I'm still sitting on the machine. Legs open. Frozen in place, shock holding me there as everything unravels.
I've killed like that before, when the job required it—but this isn't like that.
Tristan protected me without hesitation or remorse. With the brutal efficiency I used to possess before Ewan stripped it away.
Watching him move like that awakens something dormant inside me.
The adrenaline coursing through my veins isn't fear.
It's something wilder, mingling with the ache still throbbing between my legs.
Tristan reads my face. A flicker of surprise crosses his expression.
"Are you okay?"
I nod.
He reaches for Lotte's ankles, ready to drag her toward the supply closet. Ready to shut this down and get me out of here.
"No."
He stops, glancing up at me with concern.
"I need you to finish what you started."
He pauses for three full seconds, staring at me as he processes my words.
Then he drags Lotte's body across the floor, opens one of the larger supply cupboards, and folds her inside. He shuts the door, locks it, and pockets the key.
When he turns back to me, his gaze sharpens—territorial.
He's across the room before I can take a breath, his mouth already on mine.
There's something wrong with both of us. A darkness that feels familiar in a way nothing else ever has.
Two ruins built from the same disaster.
That's why gravity keeps dragging us together.
"Who's insane now," he growls against my lips.
"Still you. You just killed a woman and locked her in a cupboard."
"And you still want me."
"Nothing could ever change that, Tristan Hale Barlowe."
He pushes back inside me.
The machine bangs softly against the wall with every thrust. His breathing is shot. Mine is worse. His hand grips my hip hard enough to bruise, and I welcome it.
Wanting the evidence. Wanting to look at my body tomorrow and see proof of everything we've become.
