Eliana Bennett sat frozen on Rafael's lap, her pulse thundering in her chest like it wanted to escape. His clouded eyes—eyes she had sworn were blind—locked onto hers with an intensity that robbed her lungs of air. The world seemed to shrink until it was just the two of them, suspended in that dangerous stillness. His hands, broad and strong, rested firmly on her hips as though he could keep her there forever, refusing to let her slip away.
The space between them was alive, humming with the taste of the kiss they had just shared, vibrating with the gravity of the words he had dared to speak. "Eliana," he murmured, his voice a low rumble that seemed to reverberate straight through her bones, "this secret… it's everything. Once I tell you, there's no going back."
