The morning light was a cruel intruder.
It spilled through the sheer curtains like soft confession, brushing across tangled sheets and sweat-slicked skin. Kai blinked against it, groaning as the ache in his head pulsed behind his eyes.
He felt... wrecked.
Like he'd run for miles in a thunderstorm.
Like he'd lost a fight, won a war, and had no memory of either.
His body was sore in strange, tender places,his lips, his hips, his hands and everything smelled faintly of perfume and heat.
And her.
There was a woman curled against him, her back to his chest, the slow rhythm of her breath syncing with his.
Naked.
And familiar.
He inhaled slowly, something in his chest tightening.
What the hell happened?
It came back in shards.
The club. The drink. That sour moment when the world tilted on its side and everything blurred. The alley. Running. Blood. The door. The dark.
And her.
"You're safe. Just stay with me. I won't let them find you."
That voice.
He clenched his jaw.
Why couldn't he hold onto that moment? It had sounded like something he'd heard before. Not just last night,but long ago. When he was small, scared, and someone had whispered comfort into the cracks of him.
But the memory slipped like water through his fingers.
What he did remember vividly was the feel of her mouth. The softness of her thighs. The way she had trembled beneath him like the earth splitting open. His name on her lips like a confession.
He remembered the pleasure.
The need.
The desperate way they had clung to each other.
But not her name. Not who she was. Not how any of it began.
He looked down at her. The curve of her bare shoulder, the faint bruise blooming at her collarbone where he'd bitten too hard.
She shifted slightly, still asleep, her brow twitching like she was dreaming something heavy.
His stomach twisted.
What if he'd taken advantage of her?
He hadn't meant to. She'd kissed him first or had he kissed her? It was all tangled now. He only remembered the heat. The surrender. The way she'd looked at him afterward like he was more than just a name on a jersey.
Like she knew him.
He gently pulled away, careful not to wake her, and sat on the edge of the bed. His body protested. His chest felt hollow. The clock on the wall blinked 6:12 a.m.
He ran a hand through his hair.
Who was she?
Why did his heart ache like he'd lost something?
She woke the moment he pulled away.
Her eyes opened slowly, but she didn't move.
She watched his back broad, tense, quiet in the morning light. The muscles across his shoulders shifted as he sighed, dragging his hand down his face.
She knew.
He didn't remember.
Or worse, he remembered everything but the only part that mattered.
The part where she whispered the words she'd held in her heart for twenty years.
"You're safe. Just stay with me. I won't let them find you."
Her throat tightened.
She had given him all of her. Her first time. Her silence. Her secret. And now, all she could feel was regret threading through her ribs like barbed wire.
She thought last night meant something.
She thought maybe,just maybe he would look at her this morning and see her. The girl from Toronto. The child who once made him promise with nothing but a name and a stolen conversation.
But he hadn't looked at her at all.
Just now, he sat on the edge of the bed like a man trying to piece together a puzzle with the wrong pieces. And she was part of that puzzle he didn't recognize.
Her fingers curled into the sheets.
Don't cry. Not now. Not in front of him.
She cleared her throat gently, sitting up and gathering the comforter around her chest. "Are you okay?" she asked, voice soft.
Kai turned toward her. There was a flicker in his eyes,hesitation, maybe. Guilt.
"Yeah," he said. "I think so. My head's still foggy."
She nodded. "They drugged you. Whoever it was… they were serious."
"I figured." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I should thank you. For helping me. Letting me crash here. I don't know what would've happened if…"
If I hadn't opened the door.
If I hadn't let you in. If I hadn't let you in completely.
Eliana gave him a small smile. "You don't need to thank me."
But what she wanted to say was:
Do you remember what I said? Do you remember me?
He didn't ask for her name. Didn't call her by it. And that silence told her more than words ever could.
He stood, gathering his clothes. She watched him in the mirror as he dressed, muscles flexing, tattoos shifting with every movement. Beautiful. Untouchable.
When he turned to her, buttoning the last of his shirt, he hesitated.
"Last night," he began, "I… I didn't mean to cross a line. I wasn't in control. But if I hurt you, if I did anything you didn't want..."
"You didn't," she interrupted gently. "It wasn't one-sided."
A pause. His brow furrowed.
"I don't even know your name."
She swallowed hard.
"Eliana."
He said it slowly, like tasting a word he might've heard before. But nothing lit up behind his eyes.
Just polite confusion.
And in that moment, her heart quietly broke in half.
He left her room with a strange ache in his chest.
He didn't know who she was.
But somehow, he felt like he should.
Like he'd forgotten something important.
Or someone.
And her voice…
It still echoed.
You're safe. Just stay with me. I won't let them find you.