Chapter 213: From One Storm To Another
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The drive home felt surreal, like I was gliding through a dream I wasn’t quite ready to leave. Snow-covered fields stretched endlessly on both sides of the highway, the late morning sun turning everything into a sparkling, quiet wonderland.
The heater hummed its sounds steadily, warming the car with air that smelled of Adrien’s cologne mixed with the lavender scent from Rachel’s old towels.
I couldn’t help stealing glances at him every so often, his hands resting comfortably on the wheel, dark hair still a bit messy from sleep, eyes focused on the road but with that familiar grin at the corners of his mouth that told me he knew exactly what I was thinking.
Not much had been said since we left Rachel’s...just safe, small talk about the weather, whether the mechanic had done a good job, and if we should grab some coffee.
Yet, beneath every word lingered the memory of last night: how his hands felt on my skin, that low, reverent sound he made when I pulled him close, and the soft promises whispered against my neck when we fell asleep tangled together under a pile of quilts.
I was lost in that replay...my cheeks warm, stomach doing lazy flips, when the car slowed down and pulled onto the shoulder with a gentle crunch of tires on packed snow. My heart skipped unnaturally.
I turned to him. "What’s wrong? Shit did we blow a tire or something?"
Adrien didn’t reply immediately. He shifted the car into park, turned off the engine, and then turned to me with that slow, bad-boy grin that should honestly be illegal everywhere.
His dark eyes locked onto mine...intense yet playful, then he leaned across the console, no hesitation, no warning, and cupped my jaw with one warm hand.