The Prison Project (by Bethany Donaghy) novel Chapter 202

Margot’s POV

It happened fast.

Too fast for me to even comprehend.

One second I was leaning into him, caught in the aftermath of everything he’d just said… and the next-

His lips were on me.

Then his hands.

Careful but firm.

Guiding.

And suddenly I was straddling him, my knees pressed into the mattress either side of his hips as his mouth found mine again.

Harder this time.

Hungrier.

Like neither of us could get close enough to one another.

Like the past few days had been some kind of intense drug withdrawal we were both finally breaking free from…

My hands instinctively tangled into his shirt, gripping tightly as his fingers splayed across my back, pulling me closer – careful not to squeeze or hurt me.

The kiss deepened.

Heat rushed through me, fast and overwhelming, chasing away every lingering doubt, every unanswered question we’d left hanging in the air.

For those few moments…

Nothing else existed.

Not the prison.

Not the danger.

Not Addison.

Not even the pain still swarming my body.

Just him.

Just us.

Together like this again…

Coban was like some kind of new drug I didn’t even realise I’d become addicted to…

But eventually-

My lungs gave out and I had to pull back from him, breathless, my chest rising and falling as I tried to steady myself.

“I’ve been terrible to you this week…” Coban murmured, his forehead pressing against mine, his lips now slightly swollen.

The shift in his voice caught me off guard, as had everything he’d said so far, but it seemed real and full of something that sounded dangerously close to regret.

“It’s okay…” I breathed out instinctively, still trying to catch my breath from the heated moment.

But he shook his head immediately, his nose brushing lightly against mine.

“No, it’s not,” he said firmly. “Don’t say that.”

There was no anger in it.

Just… certainty.

“None of what I did to you this week was okay,” he added, quieter now.

And something in my chest squeezed me again…

“But I’m going to try,” he continued, his voice low, deliberate. “I’m going to be better for you.”

His hands shifted slightly against my back, grounding me there.

“I’m not perfect, and I don’t think I ever will be, but I want this to work,” he said. “And I want you to be happy in it too. To feel safe with me as backwards as that may sound right now – I’ll try my best to give you that.”

Butterflies erupted violently in my stomach at hearing what he was saying.

It all felt ridiculous, but it was also intoxicating.

This version of him?

I hadn’t expected it.

Not after the week we’d had.

Not after everything he’d put me through.

And yet…

Here he was.

Trying to make things right between us.

Trying to improve.

“I hope we can make something good come of this…” I admitted softly. “I have always seen the good in you, Coban, you know that.”

He smirked at that.

That familiar, confident edge slipping back into place.

“Well, there’s no other option now,” he said. “I almost gave you up this week… and I’ve learned my fucking lesson with that, Bella. Believe me.”

A small laugh followed, low and breathy from the pair of us. Despite everything, we smiled. We saw the light at the end of the near pitch dark tunnel…

And as twisted as it sounded, I did feel safest with him.

Safer than I had anywhere else before in my life.

Even here, in this cell.

His body tensed slightly beneath me.

Subtle.

But I felt it.

“Great,” he muttered, his tone shifting again. “Because funnily enough… I’ve got some business up in that hospital wing too.”

My stomach dropped instantly.

Of course he did.

Addison…

I pulled back fully now, sliding off his lap to stand in front of him.

“I can’t have you getting into trouble,” I said firmly. “Not now. Not when we’re just starting over.”

His jaw tightened.

There it was again.

That edge.

“That bitch threatened you,” he said. “I’m not letting that go. At least let me scare her a little?” he added. “Tit for tat.”

I sighed, chewing lightly on my lip.

“You can be there when I do it,” he added quickly, like he knew exactly what I was thinking.

I hesitated at the offer, because I didn’t like the idea of them alone together…

But I also didn’t like the idea of standing there watching him spiral either. He could kill her right before my very eyes!

“Let’s just… take it as it comes,” I said finally.

A compromise.

Or was it?

He grumbled under his breath, clearly not satisfied – but he didn’t argue further.

For now…

I turned away before he could say anything else, heading toward the small bathroom.

Because suddenly, I needed the space.

The water.

A moment to breathe.

Before whatever came next… could pull us both right back into the chaos again.