I wanted to lick him like a popsicle.
And my body—
My body reacted instantly, heat coiling tighter, sharper, pulling low and hard until my fingers dug into my own skin.
Traitor.
Kara’s voice echoed in my head, low, stunned, certain—
'We need him. NOW'
Oh.
Oh—
Another wave crashed through me and I gasped, my head dropping forward for a second as everything inside me twisted tighter, hotter, unbearable.
I barely registered the movement around us.
Chairs scraping.
Voices.
Everything felt… distant.
Like I was underwater.
And then Alaric moved.
Fast and blurry in my peripheral vision.
The sound of something hitting the ground echoed behind him, but I didn’t even flinch.
Because he was right there.
Right in front of me.
And suddenly the air felt too thick, too tight, too fill
