POV: Lucian Voss

I didn’t close my eyes the entire night.

Not because sleep refused to come.

But because I didn’t allow it.

I chose to stay awake.

Siena lay beside me, buried beneath the soft layers of her bed sheets, her back turned gently toward me. Her breathing was slow and steady, peaceful like the ocean at dawn. One of her hands had slipped over and rested on mine, fingers loosely tangled with mine as if they had found their way there without her even realizing it. Her hair had spilled across the pillow in soft waves, and some strands had fallen over my arm, brushing against my skin...