The vines above them pulsed with bioluminescent rhythm, glowing in sync with their breathing, as though the realm itself had a heartbeat. One tuned to theirs.
Parker lay there, unmoving for a moment, not because he was tired but because he was full. Full in a way he hadn't known was possible—like some yawning hole in his soul had finally been kissed shut.
Scarlett, draped across him like sin and salvation wrapped in one body, was quiet now, her fingers still sketching circles into his chest like she was trying to memorize the texture of his existence.
"You know," he said quietly, breaking the silence, "I didn't go there looking for anything. I was just running. Running from my family just for a few hours, from myself and how I was in my family."
Scarlett hummed. "And you ran right into me. Unlucky you."
