REID
I was still inside her.
The knot, swollen and possessive, locked us together in the most intimate of chains.
I lay on my side, my arm draped over Rayne’s waist, my body curled protectively around hers. The room was silent except for the soft rhythm of her breathing.
In sleep, the harsh lines of anger and defiance had disappeared from her face, leaving behind a vulnerability that made my chest ache.
I watched the slow rise and fall of her chest.
My gaze traced the delicate column of her throat to the claiming mark just below her ear.
A faint, rosy color was beginning to come back to the skin there. Like dawn touching a bruise.
The physical evidence of our bond was healing, responding to the brutal, repeated claiming.
But the bond itself, the soul-deep thread that should h
