جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 30

Marcus crouched down beside me before I could lift my face the second time. I couldn’t push him away even though that was what made the most sense.His body balanced on the balls of his feet, broad shoulders blocking half the lamplight from casting on my face. The glow caught the side of his jaw, turning his beard there into tiny gold flecks. He didn’t speak. Just waited.I tilted my head up slowly. For half a second the light played tricks and I saw Alex instead, those same dark blue eyes, the same quiet way of looking right through me. My stomach clenched hard. Heat raced up my thighs even while fresh tears still burned tracks down my cheeks. I hated my mind for doing that. Hated the cruel little game it was playing.I squeezed my eyes shut fast. Maybe darkness would reset everything. Maybe it would bring back my own brain, this one in my skull feels borrowed.Warm fingertip brushed across my cheek slowly, sending shudders down my spine. It swept under my eye, gathering the wet sme

The towel clung to my wet skin, one tied casually over my head, wrapping my wet hair perfectly. Droplets of water escaped from under it, dropping onto my shoulders.I heaved almost too loudly. Shaky fingers adjusting the towel over my head, somehow I had managed to move past the sobs. It almost felt like a sin, like I was betraying Mia, maybe Sara too. I couldn't bring myself to tell myself I was comforted by him.I watched my phone ring twice more after the first, but I couldn't pick up, silencing it each time it buzzed. I knew how bothered Sara would be now, I was going to text her once I stepped out of the shower.Hand grasping the towel around my head, making sure it touched every strand of wet hair, the slippers clicked softly as I entered the room. There he sat in the armchair, one leg spread across the table before him.I stopped short, eyes widened, I had genuinely thought he already retired into his room when I bid him goodnight before stepping into the shower, but there he w

I pushed the mansion door open with my shoulder. The door thudded shut as I stepped in. I leaned softly against the door, letting a low growl rumble out of my throat. My head tilted back against the door for a minute, eyes squeezing shut for a second. My nose caught it. Omelette. My stomach clenched hard. I hadn’t realized how empty my stomach was until that scent wrapped around me.Hands shoved roughly, pulling my shoes at once. I kicked them toward the wall. The heels rolled against the floor. My toes curled against the cool floor, stretching, flexing, grateful for the freedom after a long day in Louboutins. The pair dangled from my fingers as I padded toward the kitchen, following the smell like a rope pulling me forward.“Maria?” My voice rose. No answer came.I leaned my neck into the doorway. Marcus stood at the stove, my eyebrows pulled together at once in surprise.His back was to me. Gray T-shirt stretched tight across his forearms. Water poured over his hands in the sink.

I tossed and turned. The sheets twisted around my legs like ropes. I stretched, arms high, back arching, toes pointing, until my spine popped softly, gently moving the sheets a bit. My body felt heavy, loose, like it had finally given up fighting sleep. I sat up slowly. My back against the headboard. A lazy yawn stretched my jaw wide. I reached up, pulled the sleek silk sleep mask off my eyes, and slid it onto my forehead like a headband, gently battering my eyes back to life. Light flooded in bright, white, too sharp for morning. I blinked hard. Grabbed the clock from the nightstand, both hands almost numb. The red numbers glowed: 11:47 a.m. “Oh! Gosh,” I scrambled up, my stomach dropped. I had lost the sense of time, I had lost count of how many hours I had slept. Then my mind clicked, reminding me it's Saturday! I had slept half the day away. I guess everything from the week had crashed back on me, Mia's failed trial, Mia’s small groan on the phone, Marcus’s arms a

The night wrapped around us like a blanket we hadn’t asked for. Night flies occasionally resting on our bodies, their creaking sounds the only evident sounds apart from our own voices.We’d lost track of time completely, no clocks, no phones, just the slow lap of water against the pool tiles, catching the rays of warm moonlight.I sat on the upper ledge, legs dangling in the water up to mid-calf. My sundress bunched around my thighs, letting my legs kick up water at intervals.Marcus floated deeper in, chest-deep, arms stretched along the wall behind him. Water beaded on his shoulders, dropping down his neck. His white boxers clung tight. Wet cotton turned almost see-through, outlining every curve and ridge beneath. The fabric molded to him so completely I could see the thick shape of him resting heavily against his thigh. He didn’t seem to care. Or maybe he wanted me to notice.I had always dragged my eyes away each time it hooked below his belly.I had lost count of how many times