Verret’s Pov

“What do you mean, me?”

Her words still echo in my head, light, trembling, daring me to repeat what I’d said. I don’t even think before I move. My breath fans against her ear as I whisper, low enough for only her to hear.

“You know what I mean, Delilah.”

She freezes. Her pulse flutters against her neck, and it’s the sound that undoes me — that fragile reminder that she’s real, that she’s right here, and yet somehow still not mine. My lips find the skin just beneath her ear, a dangerous place where restraint dies easily.

“Don’t ask me what I'm doing, or tell me about...