Aria looked over at him, her expression soft.
Killian's tone was quiet, almost deliberate. “You know,” Killian said in a low voice. Thoughtful. "I asked you to come to this place because I come here when I need to feel calm, when I need to keep everything out - it is quiet here—the kind of silence I find with you.
Aria straightened a strand of hair behind her ear, drooped her head, and smiled feebly as her cheeks grew warm with a gradual, faint blush.
Killian leaned closer. She watched him as he delicately touched her jaw. He said, "Don't look away. Not when I mean it.”
She replied, her voice nearly invisible above the roaring fire. “No one ever looked at me like this before.” A vulnerability surfaced beneath her tender gaze. "Like I’m… something worth holding onto.”
Then, without
