Page 226 of Breeding Her: The Red Flag Edition
This wasn’t impulse.
This was control.
I paused outside her door.
Not Eris’s old guest room—not anymore. Everly had claimed it simply by existing in it. I could feel her on the other side.
I stood still for a minute.
Listening.
Nothing.
I turned the handle slowly.
The door opened without a sound.
I paused again.
Then—
A quiet, steady inhale. A faint exhale.
She was asleep. I crept closer.
Moonlight spilled through the balcony doors and washed over her body—long hair fanned across the pillow, arm curled beneath it, breathing slow and even. She’d kicked one leg out from under the duvet.
Of course she had.
Even asleep she tempted.
My eyes drifted—bare thigh, soft curves under the blanket, mouth slightly parted from deep sleep.
She looked younger like this. Softer.
And that was dangerous.
Because for a moment, I felt something move in my chest.
Not pity.
Possession.
She shifted slightly in her sleep, and the blanket slipped lower.
I stepped closer—not enough to wake her, just enough to see. To confirm.
Her breathing stayed steady.
I stood there longer than I should have.
Longer than a decent man would.
Good thing I was neither.
Her hair had fallen across her cheek. Without thinking, I reached out and brushed it back with one finger.
She didn’t stir.
