Chapter 7

The cold was the first thing to return, seeping into my bones through the thin cotton of my dress, but the warmth was the second, and it was far more significant. I blinked my eyes open, the heavy lid lifting slowly against the crust of sleep, and found myself wrapped in the solid, unyielding heat of his chest. We were in the VIP lounge of the Halloween event, a space that had been hastily cleared for us after the general public had been ushered out. The air still hung thick with the scent of dry ice fog and stale popcorn, a weird, lingering perfume that marked the end of our night. He was still asleep, or at least resting, his head resting on the pillow of the plush velvet sofa we had claimed as our own sanctuary. His arm was a heavy bar of muscle across my waist, pinning me to him with a possessiveness that made my heart flutter even in the quiet. I lay perfectly still, afraid that any movement would break the spell of the morning after, that shift from the frenetic energy of the maze to this quiet, domestic intimacy. The fog machines had finally powered