His Substitute Bride Became His Obsession
Something broke open in his expression, relief and joy and disbelief all tangled together, and he leaned forward slowly, giving me every chance to pull back before his lips finally met mine.
The kiss was nothing like anything Adrian had ever given me, careful and searching at first, like Damian was memorizing the shape of the moment before deepening it, one hand rising to cup my jaw with a tenderness that undid something tightly wound in my chest that had been holding itself together for months out of sheer necessity. I melted into it, into him, months of fear and grief and cautious hope finally settling into something solid, something real.
When we finally broke apart, both of us slightly b