Chapter 75. This Had Not Ended

Layla’s POV

There was hardly enough time to consider the agitation in Ezra’s gaze before I was lowered onto the bed. The process was smooth and controlled, but the urgency behind the act was glaringly obvious.

“Ezra, wait—”

I never got to complete my sentence. His lips crushed against mine.

The impact of it took all the breath out of my lungs.

I should have pushed him away at that moment. I should have said something, anything, to stop it before it started. But I didn’t.

Because for that one reckless, fleeting second, I didn’t want to stop it.

It was like I was consumed by the intensity of his kiss.

Ezra was not gentle. He was not hesitant. He kissed me like a man who had just crossed every line he’d been holding back for far too long.

And I felt every bit of it.

Anger steamed just beneath his touch, frustration, and the unmistakable tie that drew us that much closer together when all reasons for distance remained.