The question makes me sort through weeks of stolen moments. When he saved me during the Hydra trial and we kissed for the first time. Him doing everything he could to stop me from turning those flames purple during the sigil ceremony.Killing the Lampades in the Drowned Tower together. His leading me through the trials. All those nights of training, with him pushing me to be the best I can be, and never giving up on me, no matter how frustrated I became.
But one moment stands out the most.
“Our first training session in the Ember Ring, when I admitted I was scared.” The memory is crystal clear now, and I can’t believe I didn’t realize it earlier. “You didn’t mock me. You didn’t tell me to be stronger. You just said my power responds to acknowledging emotions, not suppressing them, and taught me how to contain them in the sphere.”
He moves closer, amusement crossing his eyes. “That’s when you fell for me? While I was teaching you meditation exercises?”
“I fell for you while you were teaching me it was okay to be human.” I gaze up at him, willing him to understand. “No one’s ever done that for me. My parents wanted perfection. My sister wanted me to be more similar to her. My ex wanted someone easier. My friends wanted someone who fit their mold. But you wanted me exactly as I am—electricity, fear, and all.”
His hands settle on my waist, but the touch is so light it’s barely there, like he’s ready to pull away at any second. “So, I fell first.” There’s something bitter in his smile. “One full day before you fell for me over a simple visualization technique.”
“Anexcellentvisualization technique.” I try to keep my voice light, but it’s hard when I can feel him holding himself back, even here, where the Fury Loop is surely pushing for his emotions to break through again. “That sphere thing really works.”
“I’ll add it to my teaching credentials.” His lips quirk, but the humor doesn’t reach his eyes. “Logan Ashford: excellent at combat training, magical control, and making witches fall in love through anxiety management.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.” I smile up at him. “The way you held me during the pain trial helped, too.”
“Because nothing says romance like soul-destroying agony.” His hands tighten on my waist, and I know he’s remembering it, too. How desperate he was to anchor me, how his soul wrapped around mine in a way that felt like it should be impossible but somehow wasn’t.
And now, in the Fury Loop, it isn’t anger that’s rushing through me.
It’sdesire.
“When we were in the observatory, you said you wanted all of me.” My hands slide up his chest to rest over his racing heart, my gaze fixed on his. “That’s exactly what I want from you. Right here, right now.”
Darkness flashes in his eyes, his whole body goes rigid, and I feel him start to retreat.
But I won’t let him shut down. So, I grip his shirt and pull him closer, not letting him push me away again.
“Jade.” My name comes out like a prayer wrapped in a curse. “Do you understand what you’re asking? You want to do this here, where everything is?—“
“Amplified,” I finish, already working at the fastenings of his shirt with trembling fingers. “Where we can’t lie to ourselves or each other. Where everything we feel is impossible to ignore.”
His hands catch mine, stilling them, war raging in his eyes. “Are you sure?”
“I can’t think of anywhere more perfect,” I tell him, my heart racing faster than his now. “No walls between us. No holding back. Just me, you, and everything we’ve been dancing around for weeks.”
JADE
For an unbearably long moment,Logan just stares at me, and I can practically see him cycling through arguments, trying to find reasons to stop this.
Then his expression cracks, and he’s slamming me against the Fury Loop’s scorched stone wall, his mouth claiming mine with a desperation that makes my knees weak. His hands are everywhere—fisting in my hair, sliding beneath my shirt, and gripping my hips like he needs me to stay rooted here with him. Every touch ignites sparks along my nerves, silver crackling between us, illuminating the circle in jagged flares of light. And when I grind myself against the hard ridge of him through his clothes, he growls so low it vibrates in my chest, like he wants to devour me whole.
“I’ve wanted this for so long,” he murmurs against my neck. “Wantedyou.”
He pulls his shirt over his head, and even though I’ve seen him shirtless during training, here in the Fury Loop, every line of muscle looks sculpted for my hands alone. The air trembles with heat, my magic sparking beneath my skin as if it wants him as badly as I do. But there’s a tension in his stance, a coil ofrestraint that makes me hesitate. Because even now, after saying he loves me, he looks like he might vanish if I move too fast.
“Don’t.” I press my palm flat against his heart, feeling it race beneath my hand. “Don’t pull away from me now. Not after everything we just said.”
“I’m not pulling away,” he says, his hands gentle as they frame my face. “I’m giving you one last chance to?—“
“To what? Change my mind? Because it’s too late for that.” I kiss him before he can answer, pouring every ounce of love and frustration into it.
He groans and goes rigid, his forehead resting against mine. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me,” he breathes, desperation sharpening every word. “What you’re asking for.”
“Then tell me. Help me understand why you look at me like I’m everything you’ve ever wanted, but everything you’re terrified of having.”
Instead of answering, he kisses me again, and this time there’s no hesitation. There’s just need and want and surrender as our clothes hit the stone, until we’re completely bare to each other. And while the night air should be cold against my bare skin, the Fury Loop burns hot around us, feeding on our emotions, turning desire into something almost painful in its intensity.
