Serenity's POV
I shift slightly, hesitating only a fraction before letting my body curve toward him. The quiet between us is soft but electric, a current that hums beneath my skin and threads through my muscles, and I crave it—the closeness, the warmth, the weight of him beneath my palm, grounding me. My hand finds the small of his back, tentative at first, then more certain as if my body remembers this without needing instruction. I rest my head lightly against his chest, letting the steady thrum of his heartbeat guide me, a slow, insistent drum that pulls me into a rhythm I didn’t know I needed, a rhythm that feels like it has always belonged to me.
His scent rises around me—smoky, earthy, the faint sharpness of him mingled with something warmer, more personal—and I inhale it slowly, d
