The tension between them had been building for days—thick, electric, and impossible to ignore. Aria had spent every waking hour on edge, and every night curled against Dominic’s chest while he stayed awake watching security feeds. The fear never fully left, but beneath it something else had started to grow: a raw, aching need to feel something other than terror. She wanted him. Not just his protection or his comfort. She wanted his body, his strength, the way he could make her forget everything except the two of them.
Dominic felt it too. The constant vigilance was wearing on him, and the sight of Aria—exhausted, frightened, yet still looking at him like he was the only solid thing left in her world—had been steadily eroding his restraint. He needed to let some of that pressure out, and h
