Chapter 257
Chapter 257
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We weren’t trying to play roles anymore. We just were. Despite all of the chaos and danger that followed us, when it was just Nolan and me, things felt peaceful now.
“I heard about Claire,” he said quietly.
I stiffened almost imperceptibly. “Cassian told you p>
“Yes,” he replied. “He didn’t want to alarm me, but… I could hear that something was wrong, it was in his voice. He told me they’re still looking for her p>
I exhaled slowly. “I should have seen it p>
He shook his head. “You couldn’t have known p>
“I should have,” I said again, more firmly. “She had access to the boys. I trusted her too quickly p>
“Don’t do that,” Nolan said softly. “Don’t punish yourself for trusting. You’re not the one who did something wrong, Ellie p>
I lifted my hand, pressing my palm flat against his chest, right over his heart. I felt it pounding beneath my touch.
“They’re safe,” he said. “You’re safe. That’s what matters. And I’ll make sure it stays that way p>
I met his gaze. “You can’t carry every threat alone p>
“I know,” he said. Then, quieter, “I’m trying not to p>
The admission felt significant.
Nolan was always in control, always had his hand in everything. For him to admit that he was giving up some small amount of that control, that he was trusting others to help protect us, it would have been unthinkable a year
ago.
It was just one more small bit of proof that he really had changed.
I leaned in without fully thinking it through, resting my forehead against his chest.
His arms came around me automatically, strong and sure, as if my body belonged there.
Maybe it always had.
I inhaled slowly, grounding myself in his scent-pine and steel and something warm that felt like home.
“I’m not afraid of you anymore,” I said softly.
Nolan went very still. His heart beat steadily under my touch. The pulse of it was comforting.
“I used to be,” I continued. “Not of what you might do. Of what I felt. Of how much it hurt when I thought I didn’t matter to you p>
His grip tightened slightly. “You always mattered p>
“I know that now,” I said. “But knowing something and feeling it are different p>
He tilted his head, resting his cheek against my hair. “I failed you p>
“Yes,” I agreed gently. There was no point in denying it when we both knew it was true. But that was the past. But you’re not failing me now p>
We stayed like that for a long moment, the night wrapping around us, lantern light casting long shadows across
1/3
Chopter 257
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the garden stones.
When he kissed me, it was slow.
Careful.
Not a demand. Not an apology.
An invitation.
My heart skipped at the contact. It was the first kiss since the party in Moonstone. This time, I let myself feel it. I let myself do what felt natural.
I responded just as deliberately, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as warmth spread through me, familiar and reassuring. The bond flared-not painfully, not insistently-but like a steady flame fed by trust instead of hunger.
His hand slid to my waist, anchoring me there. My breath caught, heat blooming deeper now, sharper, but I didn’t pull away.
I didn’t want to.
Not tonight. Not anymore.
We’d both spent so long fighting this. Maybe that was the reason it had become so sharp, so electric. Fighting the bond had only made it more insistent. Letting it be, allowing myself to feel it, had changed it.
I no longer felt it like lightning striking whenever we touched. Now, I felt it always. A warmth, a steady current beneath my skin that gently led me back to him.
I didn’t want it to stop.
Nolan’s forehead rested against mine, breath warm against my lips. “Ellie,” he murmured, like a question he wasn’t sure he was allowed to ask.
“Nolan,” I replied softly. I slid my hand up his arm, feeling the firmness of his muscles under my hand. His grip shifted, pulling me insistently closer.
“Can we he trailed off, and I could feel the tension in him, the struggle to find the words to ask for something he didn’t think he deserved.
I answered by kissing him again. His breath caught. His lips moved against mine.
My heart raced as I looped my arms around his neck.
The rest of the world faded.
Đ
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