Chapter 133

DAHLIA

For a long moment, neither of us moved.

I just lay there, curled against him, listening to his heartbeat, steady, warm, and almost embarrassingly calm compared to the chaotic flutter in my own chest. His arm was wrapped around me like he was scared I’d disappear if he loosened even a little.

And maybe I was scared of the same thing.

My body still felt… different. Tender in a new way. Soft around the edges. Like something inside me had shifted, rearranged itself to make space for what just happened.

I don’t know what I expected—awkward silence, maybe. Regret. The universe splitting open because I did something irreversible.

But all I felt was… safe.

Held.

Wanted.

And that was terrifyingly good in its own right.

Sebastian’s thumb brushed small circles on my arm, slow and absent-minded, but it made my breath hitch every time. He probably didn’t even realize what it was doing to me.

“Hey,” he murmured eventually, v