Page 66 of The Cost of Silence

He settles against me fully then, his weight pressing me into the mattress, his hand sliding up my side to rest under my ribs, thumb tracing slow circles that make my eyes flutter shut.

The room is quiet.

His breathing slows.

Mine matches it.

And for a long, slow minute, we just lie there, tangled, warm, held in a silence that feels heavy with things neither of us is ready to say out loud.

I don’t know what this is.

I don’t know if it will destroy me, or if I’ll let it.

But as Nico nuzzles into the crook of my neck, his arm tightening around me like he’s anchoring me to him, one thing is painfully, beautifully clear:

For the first time in days… I feel whole.

And I’m not ready to let go.

19.Nico

She’swarm when I wake. Her soft body curled against me like she was made to fit there, one of her legs hooked over mine, pussy pressed against my hip, her cheek resting on my bicep like it’s a damn pillow. For a few seconds, my mind refuses to reboot. I just lie there, breathing her in, her scent, her warmth, the sweetness of her sleep-heavy breaths.

Memories of last night filter through my brain like an erotic movie.

Her body under mine. Her thighs around my hips, her taking my cock like she was made for me. Her voice breaking on my name like she couldn’t hold it back if she tried.

Christ.

My arm tightens around her before I can stop it, my palm finding her waist, sliding over her skin in slow, greedy strokes, her tight nipple against my chest. She barely stirs, only nuzzles closer, like her body trusts me even when her mind might not. God, how I want to roll her over and fuck her until her sleepy body wakes, those eyes opening on a slumberous gaze, lips parting with my name as her first thought.

My heartbeat stumbles, an unfamiliar, unwelcome sensation. I’ve always liked to fuck in the mornings, waking a woman withmy cock while she still sleeps is a fucking heady thing. I stroke my cock to ease the ache.

I should get up. I know that.

So much work I need to do. Calls. Meetings. Threats tightening around us like a wire. But the second I try to move, she presses her chest closer, her breath ghosting over my collarbone as she sighs in her sleep.

Fuck.

She has no idea what this does to me. I didn’t realize what I was capable of until someone threatened her. She wasn’t mine and now…now she feels like sheismine in a way I didn’t plan for. I’ve never wanted to be someone’s warrior. But for her, I’m realizing I’d be the war itself.

I know her ribs still ache. I can feel the tension when she shifts, but she’s softer today, less guarded. Exhausted, but safe. And something in me, something I don’t let out for anyone, settles at the sight.

I run a hand down her back, slow, careful. She shivers.

My cock reacts instantly, traitor that it is, at the thought of rolling her onto her back and waking her with my mouth between her legs, tasting her until she’s shaking, crying my name, until she forgets her own.

I could do it. I want to do it. My restraint is a razor-thin thread.

But then she shifts, just a little, and a small sound escapes her. Pain, faint but real.

Her ribs. God, I’m a selfish bastard. I fucked her hard last night, and here I am thinking about doing it again.

Reality. Control.

I force myself still.

She needs rest more than she needs my hunger clawing at her.