The night stretched quiet and golden after the last of their words faded.
The lamp cast soft amber halos on the nursery walls, turning the room into a small, private world that seemed cut off from the rest of the estate—the only place where truth and tenderness could safely exist.
Adrian still held Yu close, his heart beating too fast, his breath uneven against Yu's hair. He didn't want to let go. He couldn't. For the first time in years, his usual calm—the cool, calculating composure he'd built to survive the business world and every war of power he'd fought on the opposite end in the underbelly—was gone. Stripped bare, what was left was only a man terrified by the thought of losing someone he truly loved.
He drew a slow breath, his hand sliding up Yu's back in long, grounding strokes.
"You scare me sometimes…"
He murmured against Yu's temple.
"Not because of what you are… but because of what you make me feel. I've never—"
He stopped himself, swallowing hard.
