Her face pressed against the sheets, her body trembling from the aftershocks of his possession, and still...still...Cole wasn’t done.
Not even close.
She felt it in the way he gripped her hips, still holding her in place. In the rasp of his breathing. In the silence stretching between them, hot and heavy and almost unbearable.
“I can feel your heartbeat,” he murmured, his fingers dragging lazily down her spine. “It’s frantic. Are you afraid?”
Aria tried to answer, but her throat was dry. Her lips moved without sound.
His hand slid up to the nape of her neck, fingers wrapping around it—not choking, just holding. Anchoring. “Speak.”
“…Yes,” she whispered.
A satisfied noise rumbled from his chest. “Good.”
Her pulse jumped.
“Fear sharpens everything. You hear clearer. Feel deeper. And
