Lucian's POV
Afterward, as we lay tangled in her sheets, I pressed my lips to her shoulder, reluctant to break the spell of the moment. Yet when she gently extricated herself from my arms, I felt a familiar cold seep in.
"You should probably get going," she said softly, pulling the sheet up to cover herself.
The dismissal stung more than I wanted to admit. "You don't want me to stay?"
She looked away. "I think... I think we should take this slow."
I wanted to argue but remembered Ryan's warning about control. So I nodded, dressed, and left her with a lingering kiss and a promise to call her the next day.
This became our pattern over the next two weeks. We'd spend time together—sometimes with Lily, sometimes alone. We'd end up in her bed, lost in each other. And then she
