Greedily, without even realizing, she gulped down as much air as she could, never removing her eyes from those blazing blues. She didn’t recognize herself in that moment, but she recognized those.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
“Breathe.”
Breathing.
She was breathing.
The blackness fogging her senses receded slowly, long fingers of the monster that had touched her curling away, withdrawing, disappearing as her physical and mental senses joined forces again. That shadows slinked away, retreated, allowing her the clarity that had been misted over.
Slowly, eventually, she came back to herself.
Slowly, eventually, she became aware of everything.
Became aware of him.
Restraining her.
Tethering her.
Surrounding her.
She became aware of her body still on the stool, of her legs spread apart to accommodate his form between them. She became aware of his entire torso pressed deliberately to hers, so she could feel every single breath he took acutely against herself, so she could match his even rhythm and calm her thundering heart. She became aware of one of his big hands holding both of hers behind her back by the wrists, the grip tight but not painful, the angle pressing her chest deeper into his.
A huge shiver wracked her frame.
Fingers flexed on her neck.
The awareness of that large, rough hand wrapped around her throat dawned upon her.
And she didn’t feel threatened.
For the first time, even though she’d seen him crush people with that hand at the same spot, as she looked up into those ardent eyes, she didn’t feel threatened.
She felt protected.
Safe.
Untouchable.
It was a novelty and for that one moment of weakness, she let herself revel in it.
She had no memory of how he got there, or when he got there. The time between the mug spilling coffee on the floor and now was a complete blank.
What the hell had happened to her? Had there been something in the coffee?
She discarded that thought the moment it came. She’d made the beverage herself.
It was something else.
As she tried to make sense of the past few minutes and catch her breath, his hand started to withdraw from her throat.