Chapter 119 Margot’s POV
Coban slid his back down the door until he was sitting on the cold floor, dragging me down with him.
I didn’t fight him. I didn’t want to.
My body still hummed from everything: the panic in the canteen, the horror in Sarah’s cell, the chaos in the hallway. But now, here, in the quiet of our cell, the weight of his arms wrapped around me felt like the only thing keeping me from shattering completely.
I settled between his legs, my back pressed against his chest, his chin hovering just above the crown of my head. His arms banded around me, tight, solid, immovable. A cage—but one that made me feel safe instead of trapped. For the first time since this morning, I let my body go heavy, let myself lean all the way into him. His heartbeat thudded against my spine, steady and grounding.
“You did good,” I whispered, the words coming out in a hum, soft but true. My hands tugged at his forearm where it circled my waist, gripping it like an anchor. “I meant it, Coban.”
I felt his chest rise against me with a short laugh, humorless but real enough to make his breath warm against my braid.
“I only did it because she’s your friend, you know.” His voice was low, casual, like he wanted to brush it off, as though everything I had witnessed hadn’t been extraordinary.
I tilted my head slightly, eyes narrowing at the opposite wall. “No. You did it because it was the right thing to do.”
He sighed, a deep, long exhale that rumbled through his chest. I could feel the vibration of it against my back. Then came the sharp click of his tongue, the sound he always made when my words landed somewhere he didn’t want to acknowledge.
“My Bella…” His voice dipped into something quieter, something that didn’t match the cool mask he wore for everyone else. “What am I going to do with you?”
His words wrapped around me just as much as his arms did, and I bit my lip to keep the blush from spreading too obviously across my face.
“One week in and you’ve already turned me soft,” he muttered, almost like an accusation, but the hand that tightened on my side told me he didn’t hate it.
“Not soft,” I corrected quickly, my voice steady this time. “Just… better.”
There was silence for a moment, heavy but not uncomfortable as he thought about it.
His hand began to move against my arm, slow and deliberate, rubbing soothing circles that made me shiver.
His breath brushed my ear as he finally spoke again. “Let’s not forget what happened this morning too fast… I fucked up today… and helping your friend tonight doesn’t change that.”
My throat tightened at the reminder, the ache starting to return in ten folds as I remembered the painkillers the doctor had given me. I should probably take those soon…
He wasn’t cruel when he said it, but his tone had lowered, the weight of guilt threaded through every syllable.
His fingers moved up my arm before they brushed lightly along the edge of the bandage on my neck, careful but hesitant, as though I might crumble to dust under his touch…
I leaned into it anyway, despite the pain it might have caused me… because I wanted him to know that it was alright.
“I want to forget it,” I whispered, my voice cracking at the edges. “Tomorrow is a new day, okay?”
The words hovered in the air between us, fragile but determined.
For a long while, he didn’t answer.
His thumb traced one last path up to my jaw where his grip got a little firmer, guiding my face round to look up at him.
Our eyes locked, and in them, I saw the war he was fighting: the anger and pent up guilt, fear and longing for something more—it was all burning behind his eyes at once, pulling him apart at the seams…
“I fear…” His voice suddenly dropped low, almost lost to the hum of the fluorescent light above us. “…that I might actually like you, Bella.”
The words landed in my chest like a stone dropped into water—sinking deep, sending ripples through every part of me.
My heart fluttered, traitorous and wild, pounding against my ribs so hard I thought he’d feel it through my back.
He exhaled, sharp and unsteady, his eyes never leaving mine. “But I’m too afraid that I’ll eventually break you down to nothing in a place like this…”
The confession was quieter than a whisper, so raw it made the air between us feel sacred.
I swallowed, my lips parting, words spilling before I could cage them.
“If you stay here, with me, then you won’t leave this place the same… I’ll ruin you, Bella…” he admitted, as though the truth of it saddened him.
But it didn’t scare me. In fact, it was the opposite…
“But what if I let you ruin me?” The words escaped before I could give them another thought.
His breath caught.
And then—after his eyes searched mine for a second longer and before I could even second-guess it—his mouth crashed down into mine.
Sparks ignited instantly, searing down my spine, bursting in my veins until the world outside of his lips didn’t exist anymore.
It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t careful.
But it wasn’t brutal either. It was desperate, consuming like two people clinging to each other on the edge of a cliff to keep one another alive.
My hands moved on instinct, sliding up into his damp hair, tugging him closer even as the rough stubble of his jaw scraped against my chin.
His grip tightened at my waist, pulling me up onto his lap now to be flush against him, no space left, no air, just our lips…
I melted into him completely, losing myself in the fire of it, in the way his lips demanded but also trembled, like he was afraid to hurt me again.
But when he finally tore back, just enough to breathe, our foreheads pressed together, his chest heaving raggedly against mine.
His hand still cupped my jaw, thumb brushing my cheekbone in slow circles, like he couldn’t stop touching me even if he wanted to.
“Bella…” he rasped, his voice shaking with something I hadn’t heard in him before. Something fragile. “You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
I held his stare, my lips swollen, my breath uneven. “Maybe I do.”
His jaw clenched, his eyes closing for the briefest second before opening again, dark and wild and torn.
Then—he kissed me again.