The first thing I felt when I stirred awake was the ache.
A slow, deep throb that pulsed through my body, making every muscle remind me of what had happened last night. Heat rushed up my neck and into my cheeks before my eyes even opened.
I hadn’t dreamed it.
For a terrifying second, I thought maybe I had—that my mind had conjured up the way Damian’s body had moved over mine, the way his voice had broken on my name, the way he’d consumed me like I was the only thing keeping him alive.
But the soreness told me otherwise. The mess of sheets tangled around my legs, the faint scent of him still clinging to my skin—leather, smoke, and sin—told me otherwise.
It was real.
I rolled over, reaching out instinctively for him. My hand met nothing but cold sheets.
My chest tightened. I sat up sl
