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“So you’ll stay with me. Tonight,” I asked, to make sure he understood the rules. Not that I did—heck, I’d just made the whole thing up to get him to stay. Where it all became a bit fuzzy was if I was talking about him staying tonight or forever. The forever part sounded better and better every minute we spent together.

“Lady,” he gritted out before tugging my shirt over my head. My pants and underwear were next. “It's a terrible idea, but okay. Though don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I nodded in the dark and stuck out my hand between us. A full, mischievous smile glimmered on his face from the small bits of moonlight pouring through the windows.

Slowly he shook his head. “I have a better way to seal this deal,” he said, lowering his lips to mine. My back arched off the bed as he bit down along the edge of my lower lip and slid in deep between my thighs.

Yep. His way was much better.

* * *

Low,scared curses from somewhere in the dark woke me what seemed like days after I’d fallen asleep. Blinking back the fog, I glanced around the room, trying to pinpoint what was going on. The bed trembled beneath me, and the sheets had been yanked to the opposite side of the bed. Again a scared cry pierced through the night.

Eyes wide, I swallowed back the fear of what the next few minutes would hold and shifted to my other shoulder to face Cas. In the dark, he twisted on the bed, muttering things under his breath that I couldn’t understand.

This was what he didn’t want me to see. But instead of being scared, my heart broke for him. What Cas didn’t realize was in his nightmares, he wasn’t the villain—he was the victim.

At another bout of mumbled words, I stretched across the sheets. My fingers slid over his cold, clammy shoulder until they rested right above his heart. My hand leapt off his skin with every thunderous beat.

“No,” he mumbled as his fist beat against the bed. “No. I’ll kill you.” His arms swung into the air over and over punching something that wasn’t there. The scent of sweat and fear leached from his skin. The sheets were ripped from the bed as his legs thrashed back and forth like he was trying to leap up from the mattress.

Unable to resist the urge, I scooted across the sheets, pressing my naked body against his.

“Not her,” he gritted between clenched teeth like he was in pain. “She’s mine.” A desperate roar tore from his lungs, startling me back. “Love her.”

My eyes widened. Curling a leg over his thigh, I tugged him closer, sealing my skin against his. For the first time since we’d known each other, I used my body heat to warm his chilled skin. Soon his breathing calmed and his muscles relaxed beneath my hold.

Did he mean… surely he meant… could he have meant…

Me?

Quirks and all.

He loved me?

Did I want him to? I did like him, a lot. More than a lot. These past several days with him, I felt more alive and happy than I had in years. I just assumed I fell fast for Cas because it’d been ages since I found someone with this kind of connection. What's crazy was I knew even before we slept together—heck, maybe I knew from the first day we met. It was never simple attraction. From the moment his hand touched mine, we connected.

In a bold move, I slid the rest of the way over his hips, straddling his naked body. The moment my hot center touched him, his cock stirred to life, hardening within seconds. Leaning forward, I pressed my bare chest against his and wrapped both arms around his shoulders, clutching him tightly. His muscles tensed, then melted within seconds of realizing I was no threat.

Head buried into his neck, I smiled as his strong arms linked around my back, holding me even tighter to him.

“Lady?” he gasped. His arms wrapped around me like a vise, pressing the air from my lungs. “You’re here.”

My cheek slid against his slick skin as I nodded. “I wanted to be close to you,” I whispered.

The silence stretched between us. The stillness in the air pressed in, making the quiet unbearable.

“Close… to me?” The bewilderment in his tone made my arms squeeze tighter.

“Yeah, you.”

“Careful, I might never let go,” he replied. Within seconds, his breathing evened with deep inhales and exhales.

The scruff along his cheek tickled my lips as I whispered back, “That’s what I’m hoping for.”

* * *

Hot.