Chapter 50: A Hostile Takeover

The space around was still buzzing with leftover heat. The hallway was still warm with the echo of our movements, like the air itself was holding its breath. While I struggled to catch mine. My back was still pressed into the cool wall, the chill biting against my skin that still tingled from his hands. My dress was bunched around my hips in a way that would have been indecent if either of us cared. Roman’s body caged mine in, one arm braced beside my head, the other gripping the back of my thigh as if the last intense minutes hadn’t been enough to prove a point. We hadn’t moved since it ended. We hadn’t needed to. I tried to catch my breath, my lips still swollen from his mouth. My pulse was still drumming in my ears when he finally spoke. “That’s twice.” He said quietly, almost like he was taking inventory. “And I’m done treating it like some… casual transaction.” The words weren’t loud, but they cut clean through the haze in my head. His voice was low and rough, like he’d been grind