“I needed to protect you,” he continued, stepping closer. “And I could not. I could barely stand. I could not fight. That terrified me more than the pain.”
Something heavy and warm settled deep in my stomach.
Of all the things he could have thought about while suffering some supernatural neurological torture… he thought of me.
No one had ever cared for me like this. No one had ever looked out for me like this.
Why didhe?
I opened my mouth to respond—to say something, anything—but the words didn’t exist yet. There was only him. The intensity. The impossible steadiness of him.
The moment hung there between.
Inevitable.
Cristian leaned in first, or maybe I did. I couldn’t tell. All I knew was that suddenly his mouth was on mine and my world rearranged itself accordingly.
The kiss wasn’t rushed or frantic. It was deep—slow—anchoring.
He kissed me like he needed to make sure I was real. And I kissed him back like my body had been waiting for him to come back to me.
His hand slid to my jaw, tilting my face up. My fingers curled into his suit jacket.
By the time he pulled back, we were both breathing hard.
“Let’s get inside,” he whispered, voice rough.
I headed inside, heart rattling around my ribs, realizing I wasn’t afraid of the same things anymore. My fears had shifted. I was no longer afraid for myself… I was afraid of losing him. I didn’t shrink or pull back from that. I let myself want.
Chapter 24
Cristian
Nadia was cooking again.
She insisted it helped her anxiety—“something about chopping vegetables keeps my neurons in line”—but the sight of her with a knife made every instinct I possessed coil tight. I sat at the kitchen counter, watching her shoulders move beneath the fabric of her shirt, prepared to steady her if she so much as wobbled.
Ezra sat at the table with his laptop open, typing rapidly, barely acknowledging us. Upstairs, Lena slept. The house was finally quiet after the chaos of the ball.
But the tension from last night still knotted the air between us. I couldn’t get Ambrosia’s words out of my head.
Her breath at my ear. Her voice sliding into me like poison and silk.
Such a fragile little flame. Tethers fade so easily when they’re mortal.
And the way she had leaned closer still, whispering that final cruelty.
I do hope she lasts long enough for us all to have a little fun. Toys break so early.
I’d kept my face and walked away. I’d pretended I didn’t feel her claws in my spine.
But now, the truth gnawed at me: Ambrosia knew something I didn’t.
Nadia scraped chopped carrots into a bowl, humming softly under her breath. Her color was off again, her movements slower, her pulse quieter than it should have been.
The bond tugged uneasily inside my chest.
As Nadia sprinkled salt into a pan, she cleared her throat. “So, what do we think happened to Cristian last night? It was like he was being microwaved from the inside.”
