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Her breath came in slow, uneven pulls against the sheets, her body bare and boneless, every inch of her flushed and open and ruined in the most beautiful fucking way. The soft marks of my hands lingered across her thighs, her hips. Her skin was damp with sweat, her mouth parted, lashes low. Her pussy glistened with her arousal, sweet, swollen, and satisfied in the deepest possible way.

She looked likemine.

Shewasmine.

And that… that should have satisfied me.

I was supposed to be thinking about what came next—how to keep her in check, how to keep her close without letting her crack me open any more than she already had.

But instead, I stood there staring at her like I’d never seen anything like her in my life.

Because maybe I hadn’t.

This wasn’t about punishment, and it wasn’t about discipline either. I hadn’t pinned her to the bed because she broke the rules. I hadn’t made her cry because I wanted to remind her who was in charge. No. This was something entirely different.

I’d worshipped her like she was something sacred.

And that scared the hell out of me.

I sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand down her arm. She didn’t flinch. Didn’t shift away from me. Just breathed deeper, softer. The weight of her trust was heavier than I expected.

She trusted me.

After everything.

She trusted me enough to fall apart in front of me and let me catch her. She trusted me enough to moan my name, spread her legs, and come all over my tongue.

I looked down at her—the necklace still around her throat, the fading pink between her legs where I’d kissed her until she cried and came and shattered for me.

She was beautiful like this.

Unmade. Quiet.

Not because I’d silenced her, but because she hadgivenme her silence. Her softness. Her fire still burned underneath.

I brushed her hair back, fingertips grazing her temple.

“I could keep you like this,” I whispered, even though I knew she was half-asleep. “I could wrap you in gold and silk and keep the rest of the world out. And I would. Iwill.”

Because I’d tasted what it felt like to be good to her.

Togive.

And now I wanted more.

I wanted her on her knees and in my lap and under my palm, but most of all, I wanted herbeside me.At my table. In my bed. Wearing my ring and my name and every mark I ever gave her like my fucking queen.

She thought I’d brought her into this life to tame her.

But the truth?

She was taming me right back.

She was still in my arms when the first light hit the windows.

Her body curled against mine like it had always belonged there, her breath soft and slow, her thighs tangled with mine beneath the sheets. One of her hands rested on my chest, the tips of her fingers barely grazing the edge of the scar near my ribs, like she’d found it in her sleep and decided to hold it.

I watched her for a long time.