Hers and mine.
I kicked the bedroom door open. Lowered her onto the mattress with a gentleness that felt foreign, terrifying.
Her hair fanned across the pillow. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Her eyes never left mine.
"Gideon." My name on her lips sounded like prayer. Like promise.
Like home.
I braced over her, broken hand trembling beside her head.
"I'm going to take my time with you."
Her breath caught.
"Going to learn every sound you make." I lowered my mouth to her neck. "Every place that makes you beg."
She arched into me.
Perfect.
My voice scraped out like gravel over broken glass. Raw. Barely controlled. "If you plan on leaving—do it now."
Belle sucked in a breath.
I tightened my hold, fingers digging into her hip hard enough to bruise. Needed her to understand. Needed her to know.
"Because I'm not letting you go again."
The words came out darker than intended. More confession than warning. A promise that should've terrified her.
Her fingers curled around my collar instead. Pulled me closer. She whispered against my mouth, "I'm not leaving."
A growl vibrated in my chest.
Low.
Hungry.
Relieved in a way that felt like pain, like something vital clicking back into place after being ripped out.
I captured her mouth again. Tasted the truth of those words on her tongue. Swallowed them whole. Let them settle in the hollow space where fear usually lived.
My hands found her jeans. Fumbled with the button. Broken fingers protested. Didn't care. Needed the barrier gone. Needed her bare beneath me. Needed proof this wasn't another hallucination conjured by the wreckage downstairs.
I tugged. Stripped the denim down her legs. Took her underwear with it. Didn't wait. Couldn't.
She kicked them off the rest of the way. No hesitation. No shame.
Just Belle—naked, flushed, trembling—watching me with eyes that held no fear.
Only want.
I braced over her, drinking in every detail. Committing them to memory. The curve of her hip. The hollow of her throat. The way her chest rose and fell rapidly. The marks I'd left on her skin days ago, fading but still visible.
Still mine.
"Beautiful," I heard myself say.
