'S

st any stranger, but a man-someone I didn't know had never met bef

no missed calls-nothing. Sometimes, it feels like I'm the only one putting any effort into this relationship. Martins is so

it all heavy on my chest. Maybe it was time to walk away

ng not to disturb the stranger asleep on my couch. The thoughts swirling

do. Earlier, when he defended me against Mr. Wilson's threats, I felt a strange sense of happiness. No on

all frame, and he was lying awkwardly

er place to sleep, I thought. He was a guest in

t I couldn't ignore the way he was lying-on his injured arm. Didn't he feel t

d to help, to move him, so he would get up from the hand that was injur

hat he suddenly stirred. His eyes flew open, sharp and piercing, as though he had been alert the whole time, and if anyone dared suggest he had been drifting off in slumber seconds ago, they

thoughts tangled and my words fleeing. Those entrancing steel-grey eyes bore into min

the sheets falling away to reveal his bare chest. I felt a sudden flutter of something u

vely darting to avoid the mesmerizing fact of his nearly-naked torso, whi

shift my position in the tiny confines of my sitting room in an attempt to create some distance b

gather my thoughts. My breath caught in my throat as I attempted to form a coheren

again as he leaned in, the distance collapsin

s something so inexplicably different about him, a stark contrast to the world I inhabited, and I truly could not fathom why a man like

face and began kissing me. This felt

and placed me on his lap as I faced him. He grabbed my butt and squeezed

stead of stopping this, feeling bad, or guilt

ay. He gradually placed his hand under my pajamas a

ed me back on his lap. I could feel myse

e was menacingly using his teeth, kissing and arou