Fire in My Veins

Chapter Twenty-Three

Alvarez POV

She stood between us.

Her body tilted slightly toward Ethan.

Her eyes were wide.

Her lips parted like she had been caught doing something wrong.

And I felt it.

The rush of blood.

The burn in my chest.

The fire is crawling through my veins, begging me to rip him apart with my bare hands.

Ethan.

Always too calm.

Always too quiet.

Like he had already won her with his silence.

And Maya—

Maya trembled, not from fear, but from the weight of being pulled in two directions.

Mine.

Not his.

She was mine.

“Maya.”

Her name rolled off my tongue like a warning, like a promise, like I could break the ground beneath us if she dared look at him again.

Her head snapped toward me.

Those eyes.

Those lips.

God, I wanted to taste her.

I wanted to drag her away, push her against the wall, and remind her who had touched her first.

Who had made her cry out until her voice broke.

Who had burned her into ash only to piece her back together with his hands.

But Ethan—

He didn’t move.

Didn’t flinch.

He just looked at me with those eyes, steady, dark, almost mocking.

Like he knew I was seconds away from losing control.

“Step back,” I growled, my voice low, dangerous.

Maya sucked in a breath, her hand twitching at her side like she wanted to reach for me.

Or maybe for him.

The thought made my vision blur red.

“I wasn’t hurting her,” Ethan said quietly.

The calm in his tone cut deeper than a blade.

I stepped closer, my boots heavy on the stone, every sound echoing like thunder.

“Hurting her?”

I let the words drip with venom.

“You think you can stand there, look at her like she belongs to you, and I won’t tear your throat out?”

Maya gasped.

“Alvarez—please.”

The plea in her voice nearly undid me.

I turned my eyes back to her.

Her lips were trembling.

Her body was caught between stepping into me or running from me.

She knew what I could do.

What I wanted to do.

And the cruellest part—

She wanted it too.

I could see it.

The flush on her neck.

The way her thighs pressed together just slightly.

She was wet for me.

Even as she stood too close to him.

I wanted to drag her upstairs.

Bend her over the bed.

Force her to say my name until she forgets Ethan ever existed.

But I couldn’t.

Not yet.

Not with his eyes still on us.

“You don’t own her,” Ethan said.

The words struck like a match to gasoline.

My fists clenched.

My chest heaved.

And in that moment, I wanted blood more than air.

Maya stepped forward, placing herself between us, her hands pressed against my chest.

Her touch burned.

“Please, Alvarez,” she whispered.

Her voice cracked.

Her eyes begged.

“Don’t.”

And God help me—

Even when I wanted to tear the world apart, her touch made me want to tear her clothes off instead.

I leaned down, my lips near her ear, my breath hot against her skin.

“Careful, querida,” I whispered, low enough that only she could hear.

“Because if you keep standing this close to him… I won’t stop at words.”

Her body shivered.

I felt it.

And I knew Ethan saw it too.

Maya’s hands pressed against my chest.

But they weren’t pushing me away.

They lingered.

Her palms spread over the heat of my body like she wanted to memorise the weight of me.

I tilted my head lower.

Close enough that my lips brushed the shell of her ear.

She gasped.

Her body trembled.

And Ethan—

He stood there.

Watching.

Silent.

I wanted to rip his eyes out for daring to witness this.

“Alvarez—” she whispered.

I hummed low in my throat.

The sound made her thighs squeeze together.

My little flame.

Always burning for me, even when she tried to hide it.

I let my hand rise.

Slow.

Deliberate.

My fingers curled under her chin.

Lifting her face to mine.

Her lips parted.

Her breath came quick.

And God, the look in her eyes—

It was a surrender wrapped in fear.

Desire coated in shame.

I wanted to swallow her whole.

But Ethan’s voice cut through like a blade.

“Let her choose.”

Maya froze.

Her breath caught.

Her lashes fluttered shut.

I stared at him.

A dark, dangerous silence stretches between us.

Let her choose?

The fool.

Didn’t he see?

Didn’t he feel the way her body melted when I touched her?

Didn’t he hear the way her breath caught like a prayer every time I said her name?

She was already mine.

Her soul already burned in my hands.

I leaned down until my lips brushed hers.

Barely.

Just enough for her to taste the edge of me.

Her soft whimper nearly undid me.

“Choose?” I whispered against her mouth.

“She already has.”

Her eyes opened wide.

Her pupils are blown.

Her lips were trembling against mine.

And then I kissed her.

Hard.

Deep.

Claiming.

Not soft.

Not sweet.

A kiss that punished.

A kiss that told her she belonged to me, body and soul.

She gasped into my mouth.

Her nails dug into my chest.

Her body arched.

And still—

She kissed me back.

Hungry.

Desperate.

Like she had been starving for me and finally found her salvation.

I pulled back, my lips red from hers, my breath ragged.

And I looked at Ethan.

His jaw is tight.

His fists clenched.

But he didn’t move.

Didn’t speak.

Because he saw it too.

The way Maya swayed toward me, not him.

The way her lips chased mine even after I had pulled away.

The way her body screamed without words.

She was mine.

I smirked.

And whispered against her lips, low and cruel, just loud enough for him to hear.

“Tell him, querida.”

Her lashes trembled.

Her chest rose and fell too fast.

Her lips parted.

And when her voice came—

It was a broken whisper.

But it was enough.

“…Alvarez.”

My name.

Not his.

The fire in my veins roared.

The triumph was a living thing in my chest.

Ethan’s eyes darkened.

But I didn’t care.

Not anymore.

I swept Maya into my arms, her body light against mine, her gasp swallowed by the sound of my growl.

I didn’t look back at him.

Not once.

Because I had already won.

And tonight—

I would remind her in every way her body could take.

That she belonged to me.

Only me.

Always me.