Chapter 298 298
Aurélie POV
The next morning passed in a blur.
I remembered sleeping some but not nearly enough, until Delphine realised we were home and promptly woke the entire house. Damien looked as though he hadn’t slept at all.
We followed Delphine downstairs, both of us heavy-eyed, where Florence had already prepared breakfast for the children. Dominique sat at the kitchen table, animated and proud as he explained a defensive move he’d practised during dawn training.
I didn’t like it. He was too young to be training that early. But after everything that had happened last night, I bit my tongue. I needed the world to settle, just for a moment. Dominique looked happy, eager, almost glowing with accomplishment and for now, that was enough.
The twins announced that Émilie and Théo had invited them over for a sleepover that night. Something about Delphine being keen to help Émilie with the nighttime changes.
We’d see.
I highly doubted Delphine would hear Renée cry through the night.
She launched into an excited explanation about the dessert she and Émilie planned to bake later that afternoon, and that was when I noticed Damien properly. His exhaustion was written into him his posture, his silence, the heaviness of his gaze.
Are you okay? I asked through the mind-link. Why don’t you go lie down?
His eyelids drooped.
I’m fine…
No, you’re not. Go rest. I’ll come up soon enough.
He didn’t argue. I let him sleep until mid-morning before finally heading upstairs myself, my own eyes burning with fatigue.
Florence offered to take the twins over to Roland’s early, their overnight bags already packed, giving me a quiet house and the promise of uninterrupted sleep.
But when I opened the bedroom door, Damien wasn’t asleep.
He sat at the edge of the bed, staring into nothing.
I crossed the room and straddled his lap. The contact snapped him out of his thoughts, his breath catching as my hands slid over his shoulders, warmth spreading where I touched him.
I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him close, grounding him.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he murmured. “Just tired.”
“The kids are staying with Théo and Émilie,” I said softly. “You should sleep. I’ll leave you to it.”
“I’ll sleep much better with you.”
He leaned back suddenly, taking me with him, and I laughed as we landed on the bed.
“I thought you needed sleep,” I teased.
“I do,” he said, his eyebrows lifting in that familiar, unapologetically suggestive way. “After.”
It was ridiculous. Cheesy. And it still sent heat pooling low in my belly.
I kissed him, slow and deliberate, wanting to lose myself in the way my skin came alive under his hands. He rolled us effortlessly, pinning me beneath him, his weight solid and grounding as his touch slid up my thigh.
When his hand cupped me, the pleasure hit hard and fast, dragging a sound from my throat as my head tipped back. My body responded instinctively, aching, opening, craving him.
I reached for him, fingers tugging at his waistband, feeling how hard he already was for me. His breath stuttered, a low curse leaving him as his eyes fluttered shut, his restraint fraying under my touch.
When he looked at me again, hunger burned in his gaze—raw, consuming, the kind that promised he wouldn’t stop until I was undone.
And I didn’t want him to.
I let him take me apart slowly, thoroughly, the world dissolving until there was nothing but heat, breath, and the quiet intensity of us colliding in the only way that ever felt right.
Afterward, tangled together, the exhaustion finally crept in heavy, earned, welcome.
Damien POV
My body was desperate for sleep, but my mind refused to quiet.
Aurélie slept against me, her arms wrapped around my torso, her face tucked into the curve of my neck. Every breath she took brushed warm against my skin, steady and soft.
The sheet barely covered her lower half, her skin glowing in the muted morning light. She looked like peace made real.
So why couldn’t I sleep?
My fingers traced slow, absent paths along her lower back, committing the feel of her to memory. Earlier moments replayed in my mind the sounds she’d made, the way she’d clung to me, the trust she gave without hesitation.
She needed rest. I wouldn’t wake her.
Knowing I’d finally kept her safe really safe eased something deep in my chest. It didn’t erase the past or the mistakes I’d made with her, but it softened the edges, gave me room to breathe.
I held her closer, pressing a quiet kiss into her hair, and let that fragile peace settle over me, even as sleep still hovered just out of reach.