Liam
I had been awake for some time.
Xavier had woken me needing the toilet, and after helping him out of bed and watching him shuffle down the short hallway, I had settled back against the mattress and closed my eyes.
That was when it happened.
Just as I laid back, Lyra shifted, her body relaxing deeper into the mattress and then she was moving—slowly, unconsciously—to me. At first, I’d thought to move away. It was the logical thing to do, but when her scent hit me, Aries had stirred with a growl.
‘Don’t go.’ He urged me. ‘Stay for one second, and after that you’ll move.’
That was the deal I made with him and myself.
One second.
But one second turned into another and another, and somewhere in between, I stopped counting. My body reacted before my mind could catch up, and befor
