REINA

His hand tightened slightly on my waist, brushing his fingers up and down, rubbing my stomach, turning me on even more. And when he spoke, his tone was almost pleading. “Just this. Just… to be close. For tonight.”

My body betrayed me before my mouth could argue. I didn’t push him away.

The quiet stretched on, thick with things we didn’t dare say.

“I hate you sometimes,” I said, because I needed him to know.

“I know,” he murmured, his breath brushing my skin. “Sometimes I hate me too.”

It wasn’t an apology, but somehow it felt like one.

Minutes passed. My eyes adjusted to the dark, tracing the...