I told her she couldn’t stay the night. She told me she didn’t want to.

And yet, here she was—sprawled across my bed in nothing but one of my shirts, hair a mess, legs tangled in the sheets like she owned them.

The sun hadn’t even cleared the skyline yet, but I was already awake. Had been for an hour. I wasn’t used to having someone else in my space this long after sex. Too intimate. Too still. Too easy to forget what this was supposed to be.

She stretched, slow and catlike, the hem of my shirt sliding up just enough to make my mouth dry. “You’re staring,” she murmured without opening her eyes.

“You’re in my bed,” I countered, leaning on one elbow. “Against the rules.”

She smirked, still half-asleep. “Your rules. I didn’t sign anything.”

“You don’t follow rules even when you make them.” I let my gaze roam deliberately, down the curve of her thigh, back up to the way my shirt barely covered her. “But you’re pushing it.”

“Am I?” she asked, finally cracking one eye open. “Because I think you like it.”

I grabbed the sheet, tugging it away from her legs. “You think too much.”

She gasped, mock-offended. “Hey—” She reached for the sheet, but I caught her wrist and rolled over her in one motion, bracing myself on either side of her. My shirt slipped lower on her shoulder, exposing warm skin I knew too well.

Her breath hitched. The smirk faded just enough to show I had her attention. “Aziel—”

“Mm?” My mouth brushed her collarbone, deliberately slow.

“This… was not the plan,” she said, voice softer now.

“Neither was you staying the night,” I murmured, letting my lips trail up her neck. “And yet…”

Her fingers curled in the back of my hair, nails grazing my scalp. Whatever she was going to say dissolved into a quiet sound I felt in my chest.

I didn’t need her to admit she wanted it. I could feel it—in the way her legs shifted, in the way she tilted her head just enough to let me in.

I should’ve told her to leave.

Instead, I kissed her like we both knew she wouldn’t.