Chapter 116

Harper’s POV

I wake up alone, and the quiet makes me smile.

Last night with Nathan was... different. Not just intense. Not just rough. It peeled something back. Something raw and steady that lived under his surface, just out of reach before. He wasn’t cold. He wasn’t just acting out some role. He saw me. And he made sure I felt every second of it.

He prefers to gag. To blindfold. I noticed that. It’s how he keeps control, how he makes sure every reaction is earned. That level of power... it’s not about silencing. It’s about stripping away everything else. But last night? He left the gag off. He made me speak. Made me say what I was. Maybe because he needed to hear it. Or maybe because he wanted me to.

Either way, it wasn’t routine. It was real.

I stretch slowly under the covers, my s