Three days. That’s all it’s been.
But lying there, with him close, the warmth of him still present, the quiet of the room holding us in place, it felt longer.
Something has shifted.
I opened my eyes again and let out a slow breath, my gaze lingering on him.
This will end.
But with that understanding came with something else—a quiet resistance, not to the ending, but to the idea that this was only temporary.
I tightened my hand on him, just enough to feel the contact more clearly, and he moved closer this time, as if the movement had drawn him in rather than pushed him away.
He’s here for now. With me.
And whether I intended it or not, Kieran already mattered.
Chapter Fifteen
Kieran
“You don’t lookas if you’re enjoying that.”
I blinked. “What? Oh. No, it’s fine. I have no idea what quark is, but it’s delicious.” Stefan had grabbed me a plastic tub filled with quark and fresh fruit to go with my morning coffee. I took another spoonful and smiled. “See? It’s great.”
Stefan arched his eyebrows. “Okay, where are you right now? Because it isn’t here, having breakfast.”
I let out a breath that felt as if it had been sitting in my chest for hours. “I think I’m still in your bed.”
If I’d closed my eyes, I would’ve been transported back there in a heartbeat, lying with my head cradled in his arm while he?—
I stopped abruptly, dragging a hand over my face. “—while I was clearly having very wholesome thoughts,” I muttered.
Stefan’s expression didn’t change. “That’s not quite howIremember it.”
Heat flooded my face. “Youwouldsay that.”
“I would,” he agreed.
I pointed my spoon at him. “And for the record, I was trying to be discreet.”
He smirked. “Newsflash. You missed the mark.”
I dropped my gaze to my breakfast. “Right. Excellent. Good to know.” Then I smiled. “And for the record, I’m not complaining for a second about how little sleep I got.”
Stefan grinned. “Which explains where your head is at.”
“It does, does it?” I said, trying for lightness.
“It does.”
I huffed out a laugh, shaking my head, and took another spoonful of quark more for something to do than because I was hungry.
The teasing didn’t help, because underneath it, everything from last night—and this morning—was still there.
I scraped my fingers through my hair. “You don’t understand. It’s just—” I stopped, searching for the words that would explain the tumult going on in my mind. “Sex was never… like that,” I said in a low voice.
Stefan studied me for a second, then leaned a little closer. “Breathe.”