The heat came first. Not the gentle kind. Not the slow burn. This was sudden, invasive, curling through Cassie's veins, sinking into her skin, tightening low in her belly until every breath felt shallow and restless.
Then the desire followed. Sharp. Insistent. Unfamiliar in how fast it took control.
And that was when it hit Franklin.
Genevieve.
His jaw tightened as awareness snapped into place, cutting through the haze just enough to scare him. The tea. The way his body felt too warm, too alert, too ready. The way Cassie's presence alone felt like a spark to dry grass.
"Not, not at this moment," he said, but his voice betrayed him, rough, strained, nothing like the control he was reaching for.
If anything happened between him and Cassie, it had to be real. Clear-headed.
