He lifts his hand and cups my face.
“I hurt people,” he admits quietly. “On purpose. I’ve turned into something fucked up. Something that feeds on fear just to feel alive. It keeps the rot quiet for a while.” His thumb brushes my cheek, reverent. “But I would never hurt you. Not intentionally. Never.”
His voice cracks. “You’re the only place where the noise stops. The only place where I don’t feel monstrous.” His forehead rests against mine. “My refuge. My heaven. The one thing I still know how to protect.”
His lips brush mine, and my body reacts before I can think. Every nerve tightens, like something in me has been waiting to be touched this way.
This is it. This is all I ever wanted. That kind of connection that rewires you quietly, then dares you to live with the consequences.
I’ve always wanted someone who wouldn’t stop when things got hard. Someone who wouldn’t try to fix me or make me easier to handle. Someone who knows what this costs and chooses it anyway.
“You’re my refuge, Adam. My sanctuary.”
He looks at me like he’s placing his life in my hands.
“I feel safe with you.” I hold his gaze. “No matter what darkness you carry, I’ll stand in it with you. And if you lose the light, I’ll be it.”
His eyes soften.
“Even if the choice costs us everything, I’d still make it beside you,” I continue. “If you fall, I fall.”
“Oh, fuck,” he mumbles.
His lips capture mine in a fervent kiss. He slides between my legs, his hands wrapping around my waist as he pulls me in, holding me tightly.
He pulls away just a few inches and looks at me.
“Falling never felt so easy.”
The doorbell rings, but neither of us cares. Someone else will open it.
“Adam?” Grayson interrupts us, his voice shallow.
“What is it?”
“It was a delivery guy at the door.”
Adam tilts his head forward, waiting. “And?”
“He brought something for you.”
Two weeks in peace.That’s all we deserved.
I’m a fool to have believed it would last.
His eyes dart between mine and Grayson’s. “Who knows I’m here?”
“You should check it out yourself.”
My stomach knots. I walk toward the door, knowing that something waits for us there, something that will fracture what we have.
Adam drops to his knees and opens the package.
My breath catches at the sight of what’s inside.
“No,” I mumble.
“Fucking coward,” Adam hisses.
