Noah
The heavy door clicked shut behind us, locking out the wind and the city and the rest of the world.
The entrance hall was warm, the air smelling of old wood and the clean, expensive soap Cassian always used.
I set the shopping bags down by the bench and bent over slightly, my fingers reaching down to unlace my boots so I wouldn't track dirt onto the pale rugs.
It was a completely normal, mundane movement, the routine behavior of coming back to a place where you were used to.
Then, a heavy warmth pressed into my back.
A thick, solid arm slid around my waist from behind. It wasn't rough, and it didn't pull at me with any kind of violent demand. It just settled there against my stomach, a steady, unyielding weight that stopped my movements instantly.
Before my brain could even register the touch, Cassian leaned forward, resting his forehead directly against the back of my neck.
