WILLIAM
The first thing I noticed when my eyes cracked open was the way Asheky curled on her side like she belonged exactly where she was.
Naked, tangled in my black silk, one leg hooked over the edge of the comforter as if she had fought the covers in her dreams and lost.
Her hair was a wild mess across the pillow, strands spilling everywhere, some sticking to her cheek from last night's sweat.
I couldn't look away. That same face I had watched from across crowded rooms for months, always too far, always out of reach, was now inches from mine.
Lips slightly parted, lashes fanned against flushed skin, the faint purple mark I had left on her throat last night blooming like a secret signature.
My chest tightened. I still couldn't believe it. The woman I had spent too many nights imagining in this exact bed was finally here, bare and peaceful, and I felt something dangerously close to reverence.
