I felt every pulse, every throb as he filled me, marking me from the inside in the most primal way possible. The intensity of it sent aftershocks of pleasure rippling through my oversensitive body.
He collapsed half on top of me, his weight delicious and grounding. We lay there gasping, sweat-slicked and trembling, neither of us able to form coherent thoughts. His heartbeat thundered against my chest, gradually slowing to a steadier rhythm.
When he finally withdrew, he did so with the same care he’d shown throughout. I winced slightly at the emptiness, at the unfamiliar sensation of his release trickling from me. He noticed immediately, concern replacing the languid satisfaction on his face.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked, his hand gentle on my cheek.
I shook my head, smiling at his worry. “No. Just… feeling empty now.”
Understanding softened his expression. He pressed a kiss to my forehead before rising from the bed. “I’ll be right back.”
He returned with a warm washcloth, gently cleaning the evidence of our passion from my skin. There was something profoundly intimate about this simple act of care—more intimate, perhaps, than the sex itself. When he finished, he tossed the cloth toward the bathroom and rejoined me on the bed, pulling the covers over us both.
Afterwards, he held me close, his heartbeat strong and steady against my cheek. Buster, disturbed by our activities, had relocated to the armchair in the corner and now watched us with sleepyindifference.
“That was…” I began, but words failed me.
“Yes,” Damian agreed, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “It was.”
We lay in comfortable silence for a while, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on my skin. The quiet between us felt natural, unforced. I realized with a start that for the first time in years, I felt completely at peace.
“What are you thinking?” Damian asked softly.
I smiled against his chest. “That I could get used to this.”
His arms tightened around me. “I hope you do.”
“Damian?” I propped myself up on one elbow to look at him properly. “What happens now? With us, I mean.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his expression thoughtful. “Whatever we want to happen. There are no rules now, Alex. No case, no client-attorney relationship. Just us.”
“Just us,” I repeated, liking the sound of it. “I’ve never really had a normal relationship before. I’m not sure I know how.”
“Neither do I,” he admitted with a small smile. “My work has always come first. But I’d like to learn, with you.”
I settled back against him, feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest. “I’d like that too.”
“We’ll figure it out together,” he murmured, his voice growing drowsy. “One day at a time.”
As Damian drifted to sleep beside me, I remained awake, watching the moonlight play across the ceiling. For so long, my future had been something to fear—filled with Marcus’s threats and the constant struggle to survive. Now, for the first time, I looked toward tomorrow with something that felt remarkably like hope.
I turned to study Damian’s face, all the sharp lines of the courtroom warrior softened in sleep. Whatever came next, we would face it together. And that made all the difference.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
3 Months Later
Alex
I mixed cerulean blue with a touch of white, watching the colours swirl together on my palette. Morning light streamed through the tall windows of what had once been Damian’s formal dining room but was now my studio. Three months of work had transformed the space completely—easels replacing the massive mahogany table, canvases leaning against walls where pretentious oil paintings of dead relatives once hung.
“You’re up early,” Damian said from the doorway, two steaming mugs in his hands.
I accepted the coffee gratefully. “Couldn’t sleep. The light was perfect, and I wanted to finish this before my meeting with Caroline.”
Damian studied the nearly completed canvas—a Toronto skyline at dawn, buildings emerging from mist, colours bleeding into each other at the edges. Not the precise architectural studies I’d once been known for, but something more emotional, more honest.
“It’s extraordinary,” he said, his voice soft with genuine admiration. “Caroline will love it.”
