Page 114 of What Comes Around

The shift was immediate.

The predator was gone.

Knox was back.

He gathered me against him, his arms wrapping around me as he pulled the covers over us. His body curved protectively around mine, his warmth steady and grounding.

His breath stirred the hair at the back of my neck.

“You good?” he asked quietly.

I had always imagined that this would be the moment regret would set in. That shame would follow. That I would hate myself for wanting something like this, for needing it.

But I didn’t. I didn’t feel ashamed.

I felt calm. Complete. Safe. This was exactly what I had wanted.

I laced my fingers with his and squeezed his hand.

“I’m good,” I said softly. “Better than good.”

“You can tell me if anything was too much,” he said. “Anything you didn’t like.”

I shook my head.

“No. It was exactly what I wanted.”

“Good,” he whispered as he pressed a soft kiss to my shoulder.

I could feel his cum slipping out of me, dripping down my thighs and onto the bed.

“You didn’t use a condom again,” I said quietly. “And you came inside me.”

I shifted slightly against him.

“I can feel it dripping out.”

I felt his breath stall in his chest, the subtle tightening of his arm around me, his fingers going still against my skin.

Then his arm beneath me curled more firmly around my torso, anchoring me against him. His other hand slid down my waist, over my hip, until his palm settled between my thighs. He cupped my sore pussy possessively.

“Fuck,” he whispered. “I wasn’t thinking again.”

His arm tightened, pulling me closer into him until there was no space left between our bodies.

“You undo me,” he murmured against my shoulder. “Every time.”

I let out a slow breath, staring at his hand where it held me.

“You make me forget too,” I admitted quietly. And that surprised even me. How easily he unraveled things I had spent years holding tight. How quickly he slipped past defenses I had built with careful precision.

I turned my head slightly, enough to look at him over my shoulder.

His gaze held mine for a moment, searching, as if he understood what I wasn’t saying out loud.

“Ashley,” he said softly. “I’m not going anywhere.”

My chest tightened.