The words fell from my lips, brittle as glass, but my body betrayed me, pressing itself against the cold wood of the door as if seeking an anchor. His scent, dark pine and smoke, drifted closer, and something hot, primal, and unwelcome clawed up my throat. The bond always did this; it made my heartbeat a weapon turned against me, every breath of his presence a temptation I couldn’t entirely smother.I tilted my chin up, forcing my eyes on his. “I’m serious. Don’t push me.”He smiled, not a smirk, not that familiar cruel curve, but something deeper, softer, as if my defiance amused him. “You’re trembling,” he said quietly, voice dipping low, intimate. “And you think I don’t notice?”My pulse roared in my ears. “I’m trembling because I hate you.” My hand gripped the doorknob tightly, a white-knuckled anchor. “Don’t assume it’s anything else.”He leaned in slightly, not close enough to touch, but enough for his breath to ghost my cheek. Warm, steady, infuriating. “It’s not assumption, Li
Last Updated : 2025-10-02 Read more