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I stood long enough to remove them and my underwear. Ryan watched every movement with open hunger, his gaze traveling across the body I no longer tried to disguise or apologize for inhabiting.

When I reached for my shirt, he stopped me.

“Leave it.”

The command confirmed what I already understood. If my shirt remained, his could remain too. He could have my body without explaining why I wasn’t allowed to see all of his.

Not yet.

Hope tried to attach itself to the final word. I pushed it away before Ryan could see it.

He lay back against the mattress and gripped my thigh. “Come here.”

I straddled him.

Ryan took himself in hand and guided me over him, but he didn’t pull me down. He waited, leaving the final distance to me.

The choice mattered.

Everything between us had become a series of choices I once would have been too afraid to recognize.

I lowered myself onto him slowly.

The stretch stole my breath. Ryan’s hands locked around my hips, his fingers flexing as I took him deeper. His eyes remained on my face, watching for hesitation even while insisting he no longer needed to protect me from his intensity.

Some instincts survived anger.

I settled fully against him.

For one suspended moment, neither of us moved.

His body fit mine with the devastating familiarity of something time had failed to change. I placed my palms against his chest, feeling his heart pound beneath the shirt he kept between us.

Ryan looked at my hands. “Don’t start imagining shit.”

“I’m feeling your heartbeat.”

“It’s working hard because you nearly killed me with your mouth.”

“Whatever explanation helps you.”

His grip tightened and he thrust into me. “Move, Charm.”

I rolled my hips.

His head pressed deeper into the pillow, and the reaction gave me enough confidence to do it again—slowly, deliberately, taking him deep before grinding against him.

“You remember this,” I said.

“I remember everything.”

The answer struck harder than another denial would have.

I leaned forward, bringing my mouth close to his. “Then remember how good we are.”

Ryan’s eyes opened.

“This is sex.”