LOGINKATHERINEI didn’t sleep even after everything went quiet in the house. My body refused to rest. My head was full, my chest heavy, and my skin burned like I was still under his hands. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his face. Christophe. The way he looked at me when I told him the truth. The way his mouth crashed against mine like he didn’t care about the world.I hated myself for wanting him.I curled up tighter under the blanket, but the heat only grew. My lips were swollen, my body sore, my thoughts a mess. I told myself I should stay away, that it was wrong, that he wasn’t mine to want. But my body didn’t listen. I remembered it too well.When I finally heard his footsteps outside my door, I froze.I thought he’d pass, go to his room, leave me alone. But he stopped. Right in front of my door. My heart almost leapt out of my chest.I waited.He didn’t knock. He didn’t say a word. He just stood there.I could feel him even without seeing him. Like his presence pressed through
KATHERINEThe door shattered.Wood splintered, crashing inward with a deafening crack. Cold night air rushed inside, carrying with it the sound of boots pounding across the porch.I couldn’t breathe. My body pressed flat against the counter, heart slamming against my ribs like it wanted out.Christophe didn’t move. He stood like stone, gun raised, aimed at the jagged opening. Calm. Deadly. The only sound from him was the slow, measured pull of his breath.Then-A man’s shadow filled the doorway.Tall. Broad. Armed.The moment he stepped through, Christophe fired.The gunshot tore through the cabin like thunder. My ears rang, sharp and disorienting. The man crumpled, hitting the floor with a heavy thud, blood pooling fast across the wood.I gasped, pressing a hand to my mouth. My stomach twisted. My eyes burned, but I couldn’t look away.There wasn’t time.Another shadow lunged through, firing back.Christophe shoved me down to the floor, his body covering mine as bullets split through
KATHERINEThe cabin was too quiet.The fire Christophe had built had burned down to embers, glowing like a heartbeat in the dark. Shadows clung to the walls, stretching long and heavy, pressing in on me the way his presence always did.I couldn’t stop watching him.He sat on the edge of the couch, shoulders tense, his wounded arm bound in the strips of cloth I’d torn from one of the old curtains. The bandage was already dark with blood, but he didn’t seem to care. His gaze was on the door, on the windows, on everything except me.That should’ve made it easier. But it didn’t.Because I knew he was listening for every sound, every shift of the night, ready to move if someone came for us.And somehow, knowing he was ready to fight made me feel both safe and terrified.I hugged my knees tighter to my chest on the other couch. The silence between us dragged like a weight, thick with everything neither of us wanted to say.Finally, I whispered, “How long do we stay here?”Christophe’s hea
KATHERINE The night pressed in thick, alive with sounds I didn’t want to hear. My back was against the tree, Christophe’s body caging mine like a shield, his hand still clamped lightly over my mouth. “Stay quiet,” he breathed against my ear, and it was both an order and a warning. I nodded once, the fear in my chest a wild drumbeat. But it wasn’t just fear. It was something sharper, hotter, a twisted mix of adrenaline, and the weight of his closeness. His scent wrapped around me, smoke and danger, and something darker that I couldn’t escape. The voices were clearer now. Two, maybe three men, their Italian thick and clipped. I couldn’t make out every word, but I caught enough. “Check over there…” “Someone saw movement…” “Don’t miss this time.” They were hunting. And I knew exactly who. Christophe shifted, moving us just enough into the deeper shadows. His hand dropped from my mouth, only to catch my wrist instead, firm, grounding. My skin burned under his grip, an
KATHERINESleep finally came, but it wasn’t the kind that rested me. It was heavy, restless, the kind where shadows clawed at the edges, and voices whispered things I didn’t want to hear.When I woke up, it wasn’t because of the sun. Christophe was already up, standing with his back to me. His broad shoulders tensed beneath the bloodstained shirt, his body a wall between me and the rest of the world.For a moment, I just watched him. The way the morning light broke through the trees and touched the sharp lines of his face. The way he stood, every muscle coiled, like he was preparing for a war that never ended.And maybe that was exactly what his life was, one endless war.When he turned, his eyes caught mine instantly, sharp and assessing. Not soft. Never soft. But something flickered there before he smothered it, like he didn’t want me to see.“You’re awake,” he said. His voice was rough, still low from sleep.I pushed myself up, brushing dirt and pine needles from my clothes. “Yo
KATHERINEThe forest swallowed the night, thick and endless. My hand was still pressed to his wound, sticky with his blood, even though my arms were trembling from holding so still.Christophe hadn’t moved in a while, just leaned back against the tree like he owned the darkness. Even half-bleeding, he carried himself like he wasn’t afraid of anything.But I wasn’t him. I was afraid. Afraid of the men who had chased us. Afraid of how close I’d come to losing him. Afraid of the way my body seemed to burn whenever his storm-grey eyes pinned me down.“You’re losing too much blood,” I whispered, breaking the silence because it was suffocating me.He cracked one eye open, slow and deliberate. “I’ve lost worse.”“That’s not comforting.”“It wasn’t meant to be.” His voice was low, husky, dragging down my spine like claws.I glared at him, even though my chest was tight. “You’re impossible.”“Good,” he said softly, almost like it was meant for himself.The air shifted. Heavy. Tense. His gaze l
KATHERINEThat voice.It slid into the room like smoke, curling through my thoughts, heavy and impossible to ignore.I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. My skin already recognized the shift in the air. The fine hairs at the back of my neck prickled, my stomach tightening as though brac
KATHERINE My heart threatened to burst out of my chest as I struggled to look at him. The difference in our heights made me feel so irrelevant. It made me feel so small and at the end of the day. There was nothing that I could say or do about it. I couldn't tell if it was fear or if it was intrig
KATHERINEThe house felt emptier than it ever had before.After the door shut behind him, the echo clung to the walls, refusing to fade. My pulse had slowed, but the ghost of it still rattled in my chest. I wanted to believe I could breathe again, that I was relieved he was gone, but my lungs refu
KATHERINEThe ringing in my ears faded slowly, like smoke clearing after a fire.Silas’s voice cut through first, “Katty—” His breath was ragged, his hand pressed against his arm where blood seeped through his sleeve. Not gushing, not fatal, but enough to leave him pale and furious.I stumbled towa







