Chapter 204

He pinned her wrists above her head, his breath hot against her ear, heavy and full of restraint. "Looks like I've been way too easy on you," Charles muttered, voice low and cool. Stella tilted her head, staring into the storm in his eyes. Then she laughed, a sharp, hopeless kind of laugh—like someone with nothing left to lose. "Yeah, I wanted to use your facial recognition to escape. You already figured it out, didn't you?" His pupils contracted. Her blunt honesty hit harder than any lie. His chest tightened with something he didn't want to name. "I didn't know... I thought it was real." His voice cracked a little. She froze. He thought she meant it? She'd faked it so badly, yet he still believed? Before she could say a word, he'd flipped her, pressing her into the mattress. The pop of her pajama buttons breaking mixed with his ragged breathing. His fingers trembled at her waist, then curled into a fist just before they reached her skin. "It hurts here," he whispered, biting down on h