A Kiss In The Dark

ht, dreamlike and thick with warmth. We stood in the middle of an abandoned street that shimmered like it had been

st my neck, and his voice... it wasn't familiar. It was something else. So

s refused to let me. They danced over his features like

ed, my heart flutter

the bare skin of my arm, trailing slowly down as if memoriz

ed under his fingertips. There was something wild and yet deeply famil

said, searching his shadowed

et me s

eane

s stole my name, my thoughts - every ounce of logic I had left. I melted into him, fingers c

e touched me. My whole body ached for more. It wasn't just physical - it was emo

th

a

cked through

k, heartbeat wild in my

ce I could clearly see now - narro

ng sharply. "Don't l

, but his form began to blur

eli

choed lik

been fighting something in my sleep. My breathing was

s a d

a d

of gold across my white duvet. The ceiling stared back at m

was

Just touch. Ju

eached for my phone. A notific

ny - Dever Hol

g back into my pillow. "Better not be hal

m bed and reached for my robe. "C

r choices I'd ever made. Toast in one hand, eyeliner in the other

it had been brewed in disappointment. My eyeliner wings were at war - one s

I sighed at m

ent. Outside, the chill slapped me fully awake. Pelham was just beginning to stir - a city caught between its heartbeat

t, breathless, heart still ec

n't just

his M

an V

r to Dever Holdings. A shadow of scandal. A legacy steeped in whispers and silence. They said he w

cky one assigned

ress

-

en he walked in

You felt him before you saw him. The hus

ed him like armor. His dark hair was still damp from the rain, slicked back effortl

his eyes

ad seen too much, trusted too lit

reception desk, t

the corner. "You're his secretary

e marble as I stepped forward. Lucia

ring my hand. "I'm Aveli

Not lecherous, not eve

nd. Warm. Str

ng secrets, Miss Cross," he

ed. "Ex

cretary isn'

e that, he w

n. Like the shado

vering when I heard his

posed to show m

s. Yes

im, nearly trippi

ho

d, a firm hand caught my wai

ci

. Too

anchoring me. His f

u o

as cold now. More like

. Than

et, brushing invisib

n said, "Careful. That floor's

hat a

again, striding toward the ele

ift, I glanced at him f

d I just met the st

o a fire I wouldn't be