SILAS POV
Having Helena in my lap, warm and trembling, her breath uneven and her body reacting to every single touch like it had been waiting three years for permission to fall apart, was pure, unbearable torture.
A sweet one.
Her skin was hot under my hands, sensitive, alive. Every time I kissed her, every time my mouth lingered somewhere just a second longer than it should have, she shivered. Not exaggerated. Not forced. The kind of shiver that starts deep and spreads, impossible to control.
She was already gone.
And knowing I was the one doing that to her—knowing I could make her come undone with nothing but my mouth and my hands—made something dark coil tighter in my chest.
Claiming her slowly was the worst part.
My entire body was tight with it, muscles locked, breath shallow,
