The distant wail of the alarm bled through the walls, thin and ghostly, like a warning that couldn't quite reach her here. Inside the office, everything felt… suspended. The world had shrunk to the soft scrape of a chair leg against the floor, the whisper of movement, and the cool, steady weight of a glass cradled between her fingers. Her pulse thudded louder than the siren, each beat echoing in the hollow space between fear and the fragile calm she was pretending to hold onto. Cassian lowered himself to one knee in front of her, the movement smooth, deliberate—like nothing in the world could rush him. One hand steadied the glass, his long fingers brushing hers, cool against her trembling grip. The other braced on the arm of her chair, close enough that the faint scent of his cologne—clean, expensive, and dangerously familiar which wrapped around her. Heat radiated from him in quiet waves, pulling her in despite every line she'd drawn. "Small sips," he murmured, the words pitched
Last Updated : 2025-08-13 Read more