The stretch stole my breath. He stopped almost immediately, trembling above me, his face tight with restraint.
“Breathe,” he said against my temple. “I have you. As slow as you need.”
I breathed.
He gave me a little more. Then stopped. Then more. Every inch was careful. Every pause was for me. He watched my face like nothing in the universe mattered more than knowing whether I was all right.
It should’ve been terrifying.
It should’ve felt like something I had to survive.
Instead, I had Kazan above me, holding himself back with everything he had, making sure I felt safe even now.
When he was finally all the way inside me, we were both shaking.
“All right?” he asked.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me. That was answer enough.
He moved. Slow at first. Deep. Careful. Devastating.
I clung to him, nails digging into his back, my face pressed against his throat. His heart pounded beneath my cheek, and that low sound rumbled through his chest and into mine.
I didn’t know where the fear ended and the pleasure began. Maybe it didn’t matter. Maybe this was what happened when fear finally had somewhere safe to go.
His hand slid between us, and the pleasure built again, faster this time. I held onto him harder, afraid of falling and knowing he’d catch me anyway.
“Maisie,” he said, ragged. “With me.”
I came apart first, crying out against his skin.
He followed a breath later, his whole body shuddering over mine, my name breaking in his mouth.
For a long time, neither of us moved.
Eventually he shifted onto his side and gathered me against him. Even then, he was careful. One heavy arm wrapped around me, holding me close without trapping me. My body fit against his in a way that didn’t make sense and somehow felt perfect.
I listened to his heart slow.
I’d come here to disappear.
I’d made a plan to leave before James could ruin this place. Before Kazan could get hurt. Before I could want too much and lose it anyway.
But now I was in the arms of the most dangerous man I’d ever met, and I felt safer than I had in years.
James was still out there.
The Agency could still call.
The contract still existed.
None of that had changed.
I pressed my palm over Kazan’s heart, cuts stinging, and felt the steady beat beneath my hand.
We’d find a way.
I didn’t know how. Not yet.
