//CLARA//
I jolted awake, my heart hammering against my ribs like I'd been dropped into ice water. For a disorienting moment, I didn't know where I was. Then the weight of an arm around my waist registered, heavy and warm and unmistakable.
Casimir.
I'd fallen asleep curled against him, both of us fully clothed, nothing having happened between waking and sleeping. My head had been on his chest. His hand had been in my hair. And I'd just… drifted off, like some exhausted child after a tantrum.
The dawn light filtering through the terrace doors painted everything in soft amber, gilding the dust motes and catching on the sharp planes of his face.
I found myself staring, unable to look away, my fingers itching to trace the line of his jaw, the hollow of his cheekbone. He looked younger in sleep, the perpetual tension in his shoulders finally eased, his dark hair mussed against the pillow.
Something in my chest tightened, a strange pull that made my breath catch.
