Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Edwina
The message came without words, only a pin on the map, a silent summons that filled me with a rush of warmth I couldn’t contain.
My lips curved before I even realized, my chest tightening not with fear but with something brighter, stronger, something I no longer wanted to deny.
I stared at the location glowing on the screen, the steady pulse of it echoing in me, not as a warning but as a promise.
I didn’t hesitate. There was no second-guessing, no weight of guilt pressing against my ribs.
For once, my heart and my body moved as one, driven by a quiet certainty, a calm that left no room for fear.
My fingers didn’t shake as I slipped the phone into my hand, and when I crossed the room to open my wardrobe, it wasn’t betrayal I felt, it was anticipation, sharp and sweet, a happiness I hadn’t allowed myself in too long.
The decision was simple. Not long ago, I would have sworn I despised him, that I could never forgive the way he made me feel small and unsteady.
But something had changed, quietly, dangerously.
The edges of hate had blurred into something I couldn’t name, something that pulled me toward him no matter how hard I tried to resist. I wanted to see him.
I wanted to be where he was. And the part of me that once fought against it had fallen utterly silent.
The green dress caught my eye first. It was simple, not extravagant, the fabric falling softly at my knees.
Yet something about its color held me still.
It seemed to breathe with its own pulse, caught somewhere between daring and restraint, between what I wanted and what I shouldn’t.
I pulled it over my head, smoothing the fabric down in slow, careful motions, hoping it might quiet the ache twisting inside me.
In the mirror, my reflection stared back at me, both foreign and familiar.
My face looked pale beneath the harsh light, so I reached for makeup, soft strokes across my lashes, the faintest touch of gloss on my lips.
Nothing heavy. Just enough to look alive, as though I hadn’t spent hours wondering what it would mean to answer him.
I ran my fingers through my hair until it fell in loose waves, the strands framing my face with a softness that felt unearned.
The girl looking back at me was prepared for something she couldn’t name, someone she wasn’t supposed to want, someone she had promised herself to resist. My stomach tightened, my throat ached, but still I reached for my phone and slipped it into my pocket, the location glowing against the darkness of the screen.
I stepped out of the cab, the city air still damp from the earlier rain, the streets shining under the glow of streetlamps.
The location on my phone blinked its confirmation, leading me toward the narrow storefront in front of me—a bookstore.
Its windows were dark except for a single lamp glowing faintly near the back, as though the place had been left half-asleep.
I pushed the door open, the bell above it chiming softly, the sound far too loud in the silence that followed. The air smelled faintly of paper and dust, warm and familiar, yet the emptiness unsettled me. Every aisle stretched quiet and hollow, every shelf standing in stillness, no one in sight.
“Hello?” My voice broke the hush, uncertain, tentative. I waited, straining for the sound of footsteps, for any answer at all. Nothing came.
I took a step deeper inside, my heels clicking softly against the worn floorboards, the weight of the silence pressing heavier with every breath.
I pulled my phone from my pocket, checked the location again, as if it might shift, as if the glowing dot would tell me more than it had before.
It didn’t. Only that I was exactly where I was meant to be.
And then—
Fingers slid around my waist, firm and unyielding. My body stiffened, my heart surging into my throat. A sharp cry tore from my lips as I twisted, panic flashing through me.
But then I turned and saw him, saw Hayden, his frame shadowed by the dim light, his eyes burning with that same impossible intensity that had undone me again and again, the cry withered in my throat. Surprise flooded me, sharp and undeniable, leaving me breathless.
“Hayden,” I whispered, the name slipping out before I could stop it, before I could gather myself.
And he only smiled, the curve of his mouth dark, knowing, his hand still holding me fast at the waist as though I might vanish if he let go.
“You came,” he murmured, his voice low, his breath brushing the shell of my ear. “Part of me thought you wouldn’t. But I should’ve known you can’t stay away.”
My protest faltered before it even formed, lost to the heat of his gaze, to the certainty in his grip.
I should have pushed him back, demanded answers, insisted on boundaries.
Instead, my body betrayed me, leaning into his hold, trembling with the recognition that I was exactly where I had wanted to be.
“Hayden…” His name broke on my lips, a plea disguised as defiance, a tremor that carried the weight of surrender I could no longer hide.
He caught my chin between his fingers, tilting my face up to his. His eyes were molten in the dim glow, unreadable yet devastating, and when he spoke, it was with the quiet authority of someone who knew exactly how undone I already was.
“I don’t want to talk tonight, my Flare.” His thumb brushed over my lower lip. “I want to taste what’s mine.”
Before I could breathe, his mouth was on mine.
His lips claimed me with a hunger that stole every thought, every ounce of air, every piece of control I still clung to.
He kissed me like a man starved, as if the world could collapse around us and he would still hold me pinned, devouring me until there was nothing left but him.
The sound of my phone slipping from my hand onto the wooden floor barely registered.
My fingers tangled in his shirt, clinging as if I could anchor myself in the storm he brought with him, but there was no anchoring, no resisting.
There was only this, the desperate clash of mouths, the heat of his body pressed against mine, the terrifying sweetness of knowing that even if tomorrow never came, I would still have chosen this moment.
And in that consuming heat, in that kiss that threatened to undo me entirely, the truth I had fought to bury clawed its way free: I loved him, and there was no turning back.
My lips tingled, my body trembled, my lungs burned with the need to breathe, but still I couldn’t pull away, couldn’t stop clinging to him as though the world outside no longer mattered. Between kisses, his breath broke against my lips, harsh and ragged, each word searing into me.
“Fucking green,” he muttered, his teeth grazing my bottom lip before he kissed me harder, deeper.
I felt my back dig into the shelf as he pinned me there, reminding me I was his.
I tugged at his shirt, desperate to feel more of him, while his hands traveled to my waist, gripping me as though I were his possession.
“Fucking hell,” he rasped against my lips, pressing me into the shelf. “This dress… Do you know what you do to me? I lost my mind when I saw you.”
He nipped at my jaw, kissing down my neck, leaving love bites I’d have to hide later. His voice was gruff and filled with lust.
“You wore this for me, didn’t you? Admit it. You wanted me to see you like this, knowing every fucker in town would die for a chance to look at you, but I’m the only one who gets to touch you.”
I gasped as his hand moved up, grazing the sensitive underside of my breast before pulling back, teasing me. He was in complete control and we both knew it.
“You belong to me, Edwina,” he murmured, close enough for me to taste the desire on his breath. “Mine to ruin, mine to worship, mine to fuck until you forget your own fucking name.”
My thighs clenched helplessly, shame and desire tangling so violently I thought I might collapse beneath the weight of it, my breath ragged, my heart hammering. And still, even through the haze of his filth, I wanted more.
He wasted no time, his hands roaming every inch of me, caressing my curves as if they already belonged to him.
“I crave you, baby. I want to bury myself so deep inside you that you’ll feel me for days,” he growled, nipping at my bottom lip, his fingers teasing the hem of my dress, inching it higher.
I cried out softly, giving in to his touch as he slowly pulled the zipper of my dress down, exposing my feverish skin to him.
The cool air whispered against my heated flesh, making me tremble.
He leaned back, appreciating me with a devilish grin.
“Look at you,” he murmured, his voice dripping with desire. “Absolutely perfect.”
He lifted me with ease, my legs instinctively wrapping around his waist. He carried me to a secluded corner, pressing me against the wall, his body covering mine.
I moaned, arching into his touch, desperate and yearning for more.
Hayden didn’t hesitate. He left a searing trail of kisses down my throat and collarbone, pausing to lavish attention on my aching breasts.
I gasped, my hands tangling in his hair, guiding him closer.
He smiled against my skin, his teeth grazing my nipple, eliciting a throaty moan from my lips.
“Please,” I begged, my hips grinding against his. “I need you, Hayden. Please, I can’t wait any longer.”
He chuckled low in his throat, sliding into me achingly slow, stretching me, filling me completely.
We both moaned at the exquisite sensation, fitting together perfectly.
“You’re mine,” he rasped, thrusting hard and deep, his pelvic bone grinding against my clit.
“Tell me, Edwina. Tell me who you belong to.”