Isla’s POV
I did not remember how the car stopped or when the door opened. My sleep was deep enough that the world melted around me into soundless darkness. I only felt movement, a strange sensation of weightlessness, and then warmth. I thought it was part of a dream at first. The rhythm of footsteps, steady and careful. The soft brush of fabric against skin. The faint scent of sea wind and cedarwood, the scent that had become familiar in the villa during the past days. Something warm supported my back. Strong arms held me with the kind of caution someone gives to fragile things.
When I surfaced from sleep for a second, I felt the shape of a shoulder beneath my cheek again and the steady rise and fall of breath near my ear. I did not open my eyes, afraid that the dream would break. The a
