Like she needs to feel it to believe time didn’t break.
“…you’re really here,” she whispers.
I kiss her temple gently, my voice breaking just slightly at the edges before I can stop it.
“I’m here.” I smooth a hand down her hair as I hold her against me. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby,”
“Please… don’t leave me again.”
Not a chance.
I hold her closer.
She’s mine.
I’m hers.
This time, no one is taking her from me.
Chapter Nine
Seraphina
Imagination – Shawn Mendes
Ishift slowly, easing out of Trey’s arms even though every instinct screams to stay right there, wrapped in his warmth, breathing him in like oxygen.
The moment I move, emptiness rushes in.
I force myself upright anyway, hands already reaching for the blanket.
I push it down his body.
My breath catches.
At first, I only see ink—black, intricate, familiar. A map I’ve traced a thousand times.
But then I look closer.
Really look, and everything in me stops.
Bruises bloom beneath the tattoos.
Deep purples. Sick yellows. Wrapped along his ribs, collarbone, shoulders—like the ink is only pretending to protect him. Healing cuts slice through it all, thin stitched lines disappearing beneath black curves.
The tattoos hide some of it.
But not enough.
Not even close.
My chest tightens painfully.
“Trey…”
My voice breaks before I even finish his name.
My hands hover above him, afraid to touch too hard, afraid of what it will mean if I do.
