Ava's POV
The kitchen clock ticked past five, but the sky outside was still dark indigo. Damien’s arms stayed locked around me long after the last strawberry was gone, his heartbeat steady against my cheek. The shirt he’d worn hung open, warm and smelling of him, but my mind was already racing. The gala. Derek’s quiet claim. The way the three of us had touched each other in public like it was the most natural thing in the world.
I pressed a soft kiss to his chest. “I’m going to the library. I can’t sleep yet.”
He hummed, eyes half-open. “Take your time. I’ll be right here when you come back.”
I slipped out of his arms, pulled the shirt tighter around me, and padded down the long hallway toward the library wing. The mansion was silent except for the faint creak of old wood and the dist
