Her voice came rough with sleep, the edge worn down but still unmistakably hers.She did not soften it further.“Permanently.”
The words settled into him without warning.Not light.Not easy.Something that reached deeper than anything she had given him before.
His chest tightened around the meaning.Not a retreat.Not a mistake.A decision placed down between them with no room for negotiation.
He exhaled once, slow, then moved.
His arms came around her waist and drew her down against him in one clean motion.No hesitation.No space left between them.Her body followed, settling fully over his, her thighs bracketing his hips, her knees pressing into the mattress on either side of him.
Her weight came down solid and certain.He felt it everywhere.Through his ribs.Through the ache in his shoulder.Through the line of his hips where she settled herself without asking.
She did not pull away.
She let her forehead rest against his.Their breaths met and matched, falling into the same rhythm without effort.Her hands moved over his shoulders, pressing into muscle, memorizing him in a way that did not ask permission.
His grip tightened at her waist.He kept her close, kept her grounded against him as if distance could undo what she had just said.
She stayed there, breathing shallow, steadying herself as much as him.He lifted one hand and set it at the small of her back.His thumb moved once, slow, tracing the line just above her tailbone.He felt the faint tremor that followed.
Her breath faltered.
Her eyes closed for a moment, lashes catching the light.When she opened them again, nothing in her expression had shifted.The decision remained.Firm.Unmoved.
His hand moved upward, fingers trailing along her spine, following each ridge as if he could fix the path into memory.He did not rush it.He did not press harder than necessary.
She leaned into him, her nose brushing his, the contact light but intentional.No retreat.No second-guessing.
His throat tightened.Words pressed up and stalled there.He swallowed them back.He kept touching her instead.
Silence stretched between them.It settled over them with a steadiness that matched the way her body stayed pressed to his.
Titus slid his hand into her hair, fingers threading through the dense coils at the base of her skull.He cradled her there, careful without loosening his grip.His thumb found the tender curve of her neck where his teeth had marked her hours before.
She shivered under his touch.Not from cold.A slow, contained reaction that moved through her without breaking her composure.Her chest lifted, pressing against him, then settled again.Her arm draped across his ribs, her knuckles grazing the bruise she had traced earlier.
He adjusted beneath her, shifting just enough to keep her balanced, to keep her close.His hand moved lower, following the line of her spine to her waist.The quilt had twisted away in the night, leaving her thigh bare.His fingers traced along her skin, passing over faint scars, old marks that told their own stories.
He did not pause.He did not question.He let his hand continue, slow, deliberate in its path.He found the bruise at the inside of her thigh.Fresh.Tender.His thumb circled it once, light enough to register without pressing.
Her body answered before she spoke.Her hips shifted against him, a small, involuntary movement that carried more meaning than anything she might have said.Her breath hitched, sharper now, brushing across his cheek.
He hardened under her instantly.
She turned her head, their noses brushing again, her breath uneven now, closer to the surface.He did not rush her.He did not pull her down or push her forward.He let his hand stay where it was, let the moment build on its own terms.
Her arm tightened across his torso.Her back arched slightly, offering more of herself without asking.His jaw clenched.He swallowed back the sound rising in his chest.He kept his movements measured.His thumb still tracing the bruise.His hand steady at her waist.
The silence between them shifted.Stretched tight enough to break.
Kyla lifted herself upright.She planted her knees firmly on either side of him, her posture changing in one decisive motion.No hesitation.No uncertainty left in her expression.
She caught his hand and laced their fingers together for a brief second before guiding it down.Slow.Intentional.Until his palm pressed against the heat between her thighs.
She did not look away.Her breath caught high this time, sharp and visible.Her gaze stayed locked on his.
He let out a rough exhale that he did not try to hide.His hips lifted slightly under her, drawn forward by instinct.She leaned down, her body draping over his again, her mouth brushing his.
“Show me again.”
