AMARIS’S POV
For a full second, Matthias froze.
Like he hadn’t expected this.
Like he was genuinely short-circuiting over the fact that I wasn’t shoving him off—wasn’t snarling, wasn’t smacking his hands away like I had a working brain.
His fingers tensed at my waist, hesitation flickering for half a second before something shifted behind his gray eyes.
And then—
His smirk extended.
Slow. Self-satisfied. f*****g revolting.
Like he had just won something.
Like he had figured me out.
A chill curled up my spine.
I didn’t react.
Didn’t step back.
Didn’t wrench free the way every part of my body was screaming at me to—the way Eira clawed at me to.
Because this wasn’t about him.
This wasn’t about how his gaze dragged over my body—slow, greedy—like I was something new and shiny and
