The air shifted.
Cassian's gaze dropped to my lips again, darker this time, like something inside him had finally snapped loose.
Before I could react, his mouth found mine again.
There was no gentleness, no hesitation. It was raw. Urgent.
As if he had been holding back for far too long.
My breath caught as his hands slid under my silk pyjama shirt, his hands tracing my bare skin.
He didn't rush, but there was nothing restrained about it either. Every movement carried weight. Possession. Something dangerously close to hunger.
His warmth, his closeness, the way he touched me like I was something he had already claimed…
It was all overwhelming.
Too much.
Too fast.
Reality crashed in like ice water.
Nathan's bloodied chest flashed behind my eyelids. Ryan's deliberate smirk at the club.
The endless web of lies I was weaving to survive. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't let this happen.
