Page 173 of Sage Haven
The word slammed into me, punched the air from my lungs.
"Say it," he demanded.
I should have fought back. I should have resisted.
But the truth was—I wanted to be his just as much as he wanted to claim me.
So, I did the only thing I could—I whispered, “Yours.”
His hand slid to the back of my neck, tightening just enough to make my breath catch.
And then he kissed me.
Deep. Consuming.Possessive.
His lips claimed me, owned me, drew me under until nothing else existed.
And I let myself fall.
Because even in the darkness—
He was the only thing I wanted to see.
***
As we returned from the restaurant, a weight hung thick between us—not silence, but tension.
Something charged. Something unspoken.
Reich’s eyes held something I couldn’t quite place—a flicker of concern shadowed by something deeper. An unspoken fear.
But if I was being honest, I carried my own unease.
It wasn’t just the way he was acting but it was the way his presence, usually so composed, felt subtly off. Like a mask slipping at the edges.
I wanted to ask. The words burned at the back of my throat, demanding to be spoken.
But I knew better.
With Reich, answers always came in their own time—never forced. Never before he was ready.
He disappeared into his office without a word.
By the time he returned, I had lost myself in the pages of The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. The story fascinated me—a man with a hidden identity, using deception not for his own gain, but to save lives.
A self-made savior.
Moving unseen through the world.
My fingers traced the worn edges of the book, a question gnawing at me.
Would I ever be that kind of person?
Would I ever be capable of saving anyone?
So far, the only person I had ever been busy saving was myself.
I felt his presence suddenly.
