Chapter 103

Afterward, he didn't say much. He stayed beside me, his arm draped across my waist, fingers gently tracing lines down my spine. His breathing slowed. Mine didn't. I lay there, completely still, eyes wide in the dark, listening to the silence between us. Something had changed. I wasn't sure when. Maybe it was when he kissed me like he meant it. Or maybe when he touched me like I was more than just a body. Or maybe it was when he didn't take; he gave. He gave me pleasure. He gave me gentleness. He held me afterward instead of walking away like he always did. No cold detachment. Just warmth. And it undid me. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. We had a pattern. A rhythm. A line we didn't cross. He was the one in control. I was the obedient one, the one with the mask, the one who didn't speak his real name. But tonight, he touched me like I was someone who mattered most to him, not just his plaything. And that terrified me more than anything. Because I wanted it. I liked it. I craved th