Marie’s POV

But he wasn’t angry or impatient. He was just watching me with that same dark desire, mixed with something softer, something that made my chest ache. He nodded faintly, a silent way of telling me it was okay.

My fingers fumbled at his belt. The sound of metal clicking as I unfastened it echoed strangely loud over the steady fall of water. My breath came faster, uneven, as I slid the belt free. My whole body trembled, not from fear but from the heavy anticipation hanging between ...