The space between them tightened, charged with everything they weren’t doing. Every breath became premeditated now. Every inch of distance a conscious choice.
He released her wrist slowly, his fingers trailing back to her waist, resting there with unmistakable intent but no pressure. She leaned into him then, just slightly, her shoulder brushing his chest. The contact was almost nothing, and yet, like everything.
Alaric breathed her in. Warm skin. Heat and clean water. Her. The reality of her alive and here pressed against him settled something brutal and aching inside hisribs.
“For a second,” he said quietly, “when you didn’t answer me… I thought I’d lost you.”
Her breath caught. She turned her face toward his, close enough that the warmth of her words brushed against his skin. “I heard you,” she said. “I just couldn’t move yet.”
The knowledge hit him hard and clean. He tightened his arm around herwithout pulling her closer, just enough to let her sense the truth ofit.
“I won’t let that happen again,” hesaid.
She didn’t argue. She didn’t make light of it. She just nodded once, slow and solemn, as if she understood the strength of the promise he was making.
The water lapped gently against them, the warmth deepening as minutes passed. Alaric glanced toward the edge of the tub, counting time automatically, then back to herface.
“We should get out soon,” he said, even though every part of him resisted theidea.
“In a minute,” she said softly.
He let himself have the minute.
She shifted again, carefully this time, turning just enough that her knees brushed his beneath the water. The contact sent a slow, undeniable awareness through him, heat coiling low and dangerous. He stilled, forcing himself to breathe evenly, to keep his hands where theywere.
Her gaze dropped to his mouth.
The moment stretched, taut as awire.
When he leaned in, the kiss was slow and restrained, his mouth brushing hers. No rush. No demand. Just the promiseof everything waiting between them, held back by choice rather than doubt.
She responded instantly, her lips parting on a soft breath, her hand curling lightly into his shoulder as if to steady herself. The contact deepened the ache instead of relievingit.
Alaric broke the kiss before it could tip them over the edge, hovering so close he could feel her breath against his mouth, both of them breathing a little toohard.
“Not tonight,” he said quietly, his mouth still close enough that the words brushed her lips. It was restraint, not reluctance.
Her eyes darkened, heat and need flickering there without apology. “Yes, tonight,” she said softly. “I want us to let go.”
Alaric’s hand flexed once at her waist, possessive and dominating, as if reminding them both how thin the line already was. “Then hold on,” he said low and intent, his grip tightening just enough to make the meaning unmistakable. “Because when I let go, I’m not stopping.”
Chapter 11
SERA FELT THE SHIFTin him before he moved. That coiled tension in his muscles, the way his breath caught and held for a fraction too long. When Alaric stood, the water cascaded off him in sheets, and she watched the play of light across his shoulders, the tight restraint in every movement.
He turned and held out hishand.
She took it without hesitation, without thinking, because thinking would have meant questioning what was about to happen, and she didn’t want to question it. Not tonight. Not after they’d almostdied.
The air hit her skin like a shock, raising goosebumps across her flesh despite the warmth still radiating from the water. Alaric’s hand tightened around hers, steadying her as she stepped out, his other hand settling at the small of her back withcare.
“Easy,” he murmured, those light blue eyes tracking every micro-movement she made, cataloguing pain and hesitation with that same ruthless attention he gave everythingelse.
But there was something different now. Something burning beneath the control.
He guided her toward the house, the edge of that difference thrumming between them with every step. They’d come so close to losing this—to losing each other—and the knowledge sat heavy and urgent in her chest. Her ribs ached with each breath, asharp reminder of how fragile bodies were, how quickly everything could be taken.
Alaric seemed to acknowledge it too. His hand at her back tightened once before he eased it, his jaw set with that iron discipline she both admired and wanted to shatter.
