After the storm of our passion ebbed away, I could feel Aarini trembling beneath me, her breath hitching in short, ragged bursts. The air around us was thick with the heat of what had just happened, but my focus zeroed in on the delicate figure beneath my hands. I had already freed her wrists earlier, but the angry red marks left behind twisted something dark in my chest, a reminder of how far I had pushed her-how far I had taken her.

She lay there, her body exhausted, barely able to move. I watched her chest rise and fall, each breath shallow, weak. I ran my fingers through her damp hair, brushing it away from her flushed face, my touch softer now. Her eyes remained closed, and for a brief moment, the fierceness in her melted away, replaced by a fragile vulnerability. It was rare, seeing her like this-unguarded, broken open, completely at my mercy.