Chapter 16
- Xavier
- As I gazed down at Ariana, sleeping peacefully on my chest, I realized this was a first for me. I couldn’t reach the last time I had woken up with a woman in my arms. Intimacy wasn’t something I allowed. Women were pawns, tools to be used and discarded. But Ariana… she was different.
- Her tiny heart beat against mine was soothing. I felt an overwhelming urge to protect her, to shield her from harm with my life.