Page 54 of Unholy Nights

The night sky to my stars.

God, I'm in so deep I can't even see the surface anymore.

Snow crunches under our boots as we reluctantly leave the warmth of the car an hour later. My lips feel tender and swollen from his kisses, and when he takes my hand, our fingers automatically tangle together like we’ve been doing it for years. He leads me toward the wooden dock stretching out over the lake, the dark water endless and mysterious beneath its coating of snow along the edges.

"I don't want to go back," I admit, watching my breath make little clouds in the air between us. "Can't we just... stay here? Pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist?"

His arm slides around my waist, pulling me against him as we stop at the edge of the dock. "One week," he murmurs, his voice doing that low, rough thing that makes my insides turn to jelly. "Give me one more week to set everything in motion, and then no one will be able to touch what's between us."

I lean into him because apparently that's just what my body does now—seeks him out like he's gravity or something. The lake stretches out in front of us, black and bottomless, with just a thin sheen of ice around the edges that makes it look like shattered glass in the weak winter light. Everything feels different here,like we've stepped into another world where my mother's rules can't reach us. Like maybe we've found this pocket of space where we can just... be.

"I'm afraid," I whisper, and the wind carries the words away. "Not of you. Never of you. But of what happens next. Of what she'll do when she finds out."

As I lean back against him, my head resting on his shoulder, his fingers dig into my hip in that possessive way I’m learning Cohen has that makes me feel protected. Sheltered from the world. "Let her try something. I've been ten steps ahead of her since the day I married her." There's this dark satisfaction in his voice that makes me feel safe in a way I probably need therapy for. Like having my own personal villain who'd destroy anyone who tried to hurt me. "She's already making mistakes."

I turn in his arms to look up at him. Snowflakes are catching in his dark hair and his eyes match the storm clouds overhead and god, how is he even real? "What do you mean?"

"The Swiss school threat? It's not empty." His jaw gets all tight and angry. "She's already made arrangements. Paid the deposit. Booked your flight."

A chill races through me that even Cohen's warmth can't chase away. "How do you know?"

"Because I have access to all her accounts. Her emails. Her entire digital footprint." His smile is sharp enough to slice someone open and honestly? That shouldn't be hot but... it kind of is? "Your mother forgets what I do for a living. Who I work for. The kind of power that gives me."

"When?" My voice shakes like I'm freezing even though I'm burning up. "When is she planning to send me?"

"The day after Christmas." His arms tighten around me like he's afraid someone might try to snatch me away right now. "But it's not going to happen. I won't let it happen."

"How can you be so sure?"

He cups my face in his hands, his touch gentle despite the steel in his voice.

"Because you're part of me now, embedded in every cell, every breath. And I'll ruin anyone who tries to separate us." His thumb brushes across my bottom lip and my thoughts scatter like startled birds. "Besides, by then it will be too late. What we started in that chapel last night... it's carved into both our souls. Permanent. Unbreakable."

My face goes nuclear hot as memories of last night flash through my mind—his hands, his mouth, the way he claimed every inch of me. The way he filled me so completely I can still feel him. "Cohen..."

"I know, little one." He bends to brush his lips against mine, soft and sweet even with his tight grip on me. "I feel it too. That need. That hunger. Like I'll die if I'm not touching you."

I press closer, trying to crawl inside his skin where it's safe and warm and nothing can hurt me. "Don't let her take me away from you."

"Never." The word comes out like a growl against my lips. "You're mine. Forever. No one will ever take you from me."

A car door slams somewhere nearby and reality bursts back in—right, we're not actually alone out here. Cohen pulls back slightly but his hands stay on me like he physically can't stop touching me. I can relate.

"We should head back," he says, though everything about his expression says he'd rather do anything else.. "Your mother will be suspicious if we're gone too long."

I nod, even though everything inside me is screaming at the thought of going back to that house. Back to her rules and her control and her perfect plastic world that’s always been my prison.

"What do we do now?"

"We play our parts." He kisses my forehead, then each cheek, then finally my lips like he's trying to memorize the shape of my face. "Just for a little longer. I need you to trust me, even when things get hard. Even when it seems like everything's falling apart. Can you do that?"

"Yes," I whisper, curling my fingers into his jacket. I mean it more than I've ever meant anything. "I trust you more than anyone."

His eyes go coal black at that and his grip on me tightens for a second before he forces himself to let go. But even as we walk back to the car, his hand slides to the back of my neck under my hair, his thumb stroking my skin in a way that makes my knees weak.

The drive home is way too short, and with every mile that brings us closer to the house, I feel the walls closing in. But Cohen's hand stays wrapped around mine, his thumb stroking my skin in this gentle rhythm that promises everything will be okay.

When we pull into the driveway, I expect him to let go. To put distance between us like we usually do. Instead, he brings our joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles.

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