HIS FORBIDDEN OBSESSION

armth of his hand on her waist didn't chase away

asses. Chandeliers bathed the room in golden light, and guests moved with effortless

he same. But Celia d

mory of the stranger's voi

know Etha

wo years falling in love with him. She had said yes when he as

rds stick to her lik

e was smooth, careful, but there wa

ile. "Yes. Just ov

, his touch gentle, possessive

ted them. Celia barely registered their voices. Every laugh, every co

d to push it away, her mind kept cir

was

he come

eel like this was

ng the city, Ethan pulled her closer. The night air was

bothering you," he murmured against her t

leaning into h

ut a harm

her hair, his hands slidi

lax. The tension in her chest eased, and she turne

was

e would be hi

meone-was waiting in the shadows, jus

idn't kn

last night she would

ms encircled her. His touch was firm yet gentle, the kind that promis

eyes, a flicker of somethi

asn't

exa

e felt

tate, with the city lights stretching beneath them, she cou

id

iti

ng her chin up with a single fi

," she sai

smile touched hi

he swallowed it down. What would I even say? That a man appeared o

wouldn't believe her. He'd reassure her, tell

nt, the weight of their engagement

, resting them against the fine

r lip, slow, deliberate. His touch had always been a calculated thing-never desperate, never

his precision wa

away," he murmured,

"And where woul

hovered just above hers. "As lo

, dissolving some of the l

their lips

tha

cut through the m

ressed in the same kind of expensive suit as Ethan, though his should

s Bla

n's f

h of the Blac

ime she had known Ethan, James had always been

nothing if no

al, but Celia didn't miss the way

her for only a second before settl

sing a quick kiss to Celia's temp

ed, stepp

ide, and the balcony suddenly

aking her head at herself. You're

d y

toward the garden below

ing.

t shake the feeling th

whoever th

n't done w