Chapter 136

Harper's POV

Nathan’s arms are warm around me, steady and slow, like the world outside doesn’t exist. I don’t think I could move even if I wanted to. Not because I’m sore or tired, but because something deeper has shifted inside me. I’m floating, still half-caught in the haze from before. The ropes, blindfold and the gentle weightlessness that felt like being held together by something stronger than bone.

Then Nathan.

I breathe him in as I rest my cheek against his chest, the slow thump of his heartbeat grounding me. My body is curled into his side, draped across the couch like I’ve melted into him. I feel his fingertips trace along my thigh, and even that tiny motion sends a soft ripple of warmth through me. I’m not fully here. Not yet. But it’s okay, because he is. He’s always steady, even when everything else isn’t.