Page 88 of Bad Girl Dilemma

Like letting go might break him more than it breaks me.

His breath shudders out. His arms tremble around my hips, his forehead pressed against mine like a prayer, or maybe a promise.

I lift my bound wrists. I mean to touch his jaw. To anchor us both. But he leans in first and kisses the inside of my elbow. Soft. Gentle. Like it’s sacred.

LikeIam.

Neither of us says anything for a long while. We don’t need to.

Eventually, he unbinds me with fingers that linger too long on every strap. Then he lifts me, carries me to bed like the end of a ritual, and tucks me against him as if sleep were safety, as if the world could wait.

We curl together like we’re learning each other all over again.

His breath at my temple.

My hand splayed over his chest.

No more contracts. No more commands.

Just this. Just us.

And for the first time in my life, I don’t dream of loss and guilt and ghosts.

I dream offorever.

EPILOGUE

Dahlia

One Year Later

Steam curlsaround us like juicy secrets and silk.

I’m perched on the edge of the counter in nothing but one of his shirts—white, crisp, smelling like him. Dante’s fresh out of the shower, towel slung low on his hips, hair wet and mussed. Ridiculously handsome. Unfairly smug.

I tilt my head, watching him in the mirror as he runs a hand through his hair, those dark eyes tracking my reflection like a target. He’s so used to being the one in control. So used to watching me fall apart.

Not tonight.

“Something on your mind, little thief?” he asks, his voice warm with amusement.

I smile slowly. “Yeah. You.”

Then I stretch—just a little—and let the shirt ride up high on my thighs. I don’t miss the way his gaze drops, darkens. How his fingers flex like he’s already imagining them on my skin.

I hook a finger at the collar of the shirt. “You know, I’ve been thinking…”

“Dangerous,” he murmurs, stepping closer.

I let him.

Until he’s right between my knees, hands braced on either side of me. But before he can kiss me, I smirk and whisper, “You’re awfully tall for someone so easy to topple by someone solittle.”

He stills.

“What?” he breathes, almost disbelieving.

I lean in, brush my lips over his jaw. “I mean, for someone so big and bad, you really letlittleole me wreck you.”

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