Page 73 of The Madness Within

God help me, I laughed. Just a little. Just enough.

He kissed my smile before it fully faded, and for a moment, I let him. I let myself forget what this was. I let myself pretend.

But then reality crept back in, like it always did.

I rolled away, sitting up. “This doesn’t mean anything.”

His voice stayed calm, but something behind it flickered. “No?”

“It’s sex,” I said, but even I didn’t believe that anymore.

He sat up slowly, leaning his elbows on his knees as he watched me like I was a puzzle he couldn’t stop solving. “Then why did you agree to be mine?”

I hated that question. I hated it because I didn’t have an answer that wouldn’t betray everything I told myself.

“I haven’t figured out how to disable your little magical prison so I could run away again.”

He chuckled. “The ward isn’t to keep you in. It’s to keep the wrong things out. You’re smart enough to know the difference.”

“You’re the wrong thing,” I muttered, getting out of bed and grabbing the oversized shirt he’d left me. His shirt.

Before the shirt covers my skin, he’s already yanking me back into bed, his voice low and wicked against my ear, “And yet you’re still warm from me.”

Downstairs, he was already in the kitchen when I walked in, the bastard looking unfairly good while pouring coffee like he didn’t destroy lives for a living.

“Morning, again” he said, his grin unapologetic. “Feeling better since once I wore you out?”

“You’re insufferable,” I said, but I took the coffee mug he handed me anyway.

“You say that, but you keep coming back for more.”

“I don’t come back,” I said, sipping. “I just... don’t leave.”

He tilted his head. “There’s a difference?”

“Yes,” I snapped. “One makes me a willing participant. The other makes me a hostage with Stockholm Syndrome and questionable taste in men.”

“And yet, you kissed me first this time.”

I flushed. “Shut up.”

“Tell me to stop,” he said, stepping close. “Tell me to stop touching you. Stop kissing you. Stop holding you like you’re mine.”

I stared up at him, heart thudding. “You’re making this harder than it has to be.”

“No, Ember,” he said, brushing my hair behind my ear, his voice softer now. “I’m making it real.”

And I hated that itfeltreal.

I turned away, gripping the edge of the counter. “I want to leave.”

“But you haven’t.” He said it so quietly, I almost didn’t hear it. “You could’ve asked. I told you, I won’t stop you. But I will follow.”

I looked back at him, and I couldn’t help the way my body leaned toward his. “Why? Why follow me?”

He reached out, his hand brushing the edge of my jaw with unshakable gentleness. “Because I’ve spent too long walking in the dark. And you’re the first thing that’s made me want to stay in the light.”

My breath caught.

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