The room felt too small, the air too thick, like every wall was pressing in on her.Riyan was too close, too fierce, too much.
"Riyan…" she whispered, though she didn't know if it was meant to stop him or call him nearer.
His fingers slid from her wrist to her jaw, tilting her face up. His touch was rough at first, then unbearably gentle, like he was holding the most fragile part of her.
"Say you don't want me," he rasped, "and I'll walk out that door right now."
Her lips parted. Words refused to come. Her silence was the loudest confession.
That hesitation was all he needed.With a curse under his breath, he closed the distance, his mouth crashing onto hers—hungry, demanding, desperate.
She gasped, and he swallowed it like oxygen, like he'd been suffocating all this time.
His hand tangled in her hair, the other gripping her waist, pulling her flush against him.It wasn't soft. It wasn't gentle. It was fire meeting gasoline.
Her heart hammered so violently she thought it might shatter. She should have pushed him away. She should have said stop.
But instead, she clutched his shirt, pulling him closer, kissing him back with the same reckless abandon that terrified her.
The world outside—Aarav, the gossip, the expectations—ceased to exist. There was only this moment. This fire.
His lips trailed down her jaw, scorching her skin, leaving her trembling. "You drive me insane," he breathed against her neck.
She was melting under his touch, but he knew this wasn't safe. They were both standing on the edge of a cliff, and once they jumped, there'd be no climbing back.
Still, when she whispered his name, breathless and aching, he knew—He'd rather burn with her than live in the cold without her.
When he finally pulled back, both of them gasping, foreheads pressed together, she realized what they'd just done.
No more pretending. No more hiding.
She couldn't deny this. Couldn't deny him.
And that terrified her more than anything.