Chapter 26 Shadows On The Surface

• Ariana’s POV
• Morning found her in Damien’s bed again, curled into the warmth of his side, her cheek resting against his chest. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat was oddly calming, like the ocean at night, vast and unknowable, but constant.
• She hadn’t meant to fall asleep again. But when his fingers had brushed along her spine in lazy patterns, when his voice had murmured things that weren’t questions or expectations, only warmth… her body had let go.