His warmth skims my skin, and I ache. For something I do not understand. For something that terrifies me.
Forhim.
Through the thick air of the tavern—cloaked in ale and sweat—I catch his scent, dark and unshakable. Leather and something sweet, something forbidden. It lingers, not just in the air but in me, winding itself around my body like it belongs there. It isn’t just a smell—it’s a presence, a quiet claim that seeps beneath my skin. A pull at the very marrow of me. A temptation I should flee from, yet one that feels inevitable, inescapable.
Itdrownsme.
And for a heartbeat, the world shifts beneath me. My breath hitches. My fingers tremble.
Istep back.
My pulse is a frantic, erratic rhythm against my ribs, but I force my voice steady. Cool.
"Careful,"I warn."I might break your heart."
His eyes—those impossible, knowing eyes—darken, flashing with something unreadable.
"And here I thought vampires had none to break."
His words curl around me, pull me back in. And I realize, in that moment, thatI am alreadyhis.
We stand there, trapped in something far greater than just a gaze. The pull grows with each breath, each silent second stretching impossibly long. My breath comes quick and shallow, the air in my lungs thick and burning. My stomach twists, hot and heavy, and the pulse hammering through my veins no longer feels like my own. His eyes, dark and knowing,devouring, seem to strip me bare.Seeme.Knowme.
The tavern around us fades. The world itselfpauses.
Then—he moves.
His fingers slowly find the edge of my mask, daring me to stop him. I don’t. With a careful tug, he lifts it away, peeling back the last barrier I have. Cool air brushes my skin, but it’s nothing compared to his searing, unrelenting gaze.
I feel bare, stripped in a way that has nothing to do with the mask and everything to do with him. He watches me like he’s seeingsomething no one else ever has, something I’m not sure I’m ready to let him find.
Then, the barest graze of his knuckles against my cheek—a touch so fleeting, yet it unravels me. Heat blooms where his skin meets mine, the sensation electric, crackling through me like the first spark to dry kindling. The contact is light, barely there, but it destroys me.
I freeze, every nerve alight.
It’stoo much.Too close.
But I don’t pull away.
Ican’t.
His fingers should have fallen away by now, but they hover—just barely, just enough to keep me suspended in the space between one breath and the next. I can feel his warmth sinking deeper, slipping into the marrow of my bones.
“Lailah!”
Sera’s voice cuts through the air, and the spell shatters.
I flinch, ripping my gaze away from him, my heart stillpounding. Sera stands a few feet away, laughing, her eyes darting between me and Casper with wicked delight. She lifts her hand, rubbing at her cheek, mimicking the way his knuckles had touched mine. Her smile tugs wider, teasing, knowing.
My stomach knots tighter. My face is burning.
Sera twirls away, humming under her breath, leaving me alone in the wreckage of what just passed.
I turn back to him. He isstill watching me.
And gods, his presence—his presence is too much.
The weight of his stare settles into me, curling around my throat. I can’t breathe right. I can’tthink.
