He swears under his breath.
Isla’s breath hitches, not panic, not yet, but awareness sharpening.“We’re locked in.”
Callum turns to look at her.The dim light catches the line of her throat as she swallows.Her eyes are wide, but not with fear, something else.
A sudden, electric understanding.
They are alone.Trapped.In a hidden room full of Keir MacLaren’s secrets.
And neither of them can pretend the tension between them doesn’t exist.
Callum feels it too, the silence tightening around them, charged and dangerous.
He doesn’t move closer.
He doesn’t step away.
Isla doesn’t either.
They stand in the cold, dusty air, staring at each other as the reality settles.
The castle has shut the door on them.
And the quiet between them is not empty.
It’s loaded.
It’s the kind of silence that can become a confession if either of them breathes wrong.
Callum keeps his hand on the useless door handle, jaw tight, pulse loud in his ears.
Isla’s gaze drifts, just once, to his mouth, then back to his eyes.
Neither of them speaks.
Neither of them looks away.
And the click of the lock feels like the beginning of something they can no longer avoid.
“How are we going to get out?”she whispers.
The question is soft, but her voice isn’t.It’s low, unsteady, threaded with something that has nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the way the room has closed in on them.
“We’re not,” he says quietly.“Not unless we call for help.”
The truth lands between them, and the worst truth follows it.He doesn’t want to.Not yet.Not now.
She takes a step closer.Then another.Each one deliberate, like she’s crossing a line she knows she won’t uncross.The air between them tightens, charged, unforgiving.
“I feel reckless,” she says, her gaze locked on his, daring him to stop her.
Callum’s breath leaves him in a rough exhale.“I’ve been fighting that since you walked into this room.”
That’s all the warning she gets.
He closes the distance in a single step and kisses her, not careful, not gentle, but raw and urgent, like the truth they’ve both been refusing to say.His mouth crashes into hers, stealing her breath, his hands coming up as if he needs to ground himself or he’ll lose control completely.
She makes a sound against his mouth, soft, broken, and grips his shirt, pulling him closer, like she’s done pretending this doesn’t matter.
