Chapter 8 - Too Close
632 Words
Thorne stepped closer, closing the distance until the air tightened around them.
He lowered his head to her level, a low snarl pulling at his mouth as his eyes caught the dim light, flecks of gold breaking through as his wolf pressed close to the surface.
“Don’t test me, Elara,” he said, his voice low, edged with warning. “The bond can only protect you so far.”
The moment stretched, his gaze holding hers, waiting.
Elara recognized the challenge and chose not to give him the reaction he wanted. Her wolf stirred at the edges of her mind, restless and alert, pressing forward before instinct forced it back. She knew exactly who stood in front of her, understood the power he carried, and still refused to give ground.
She held his gaze.
“If something happens to me,” she said, her voice even despite the tension tightening in her chest, “you won’t walk away from it either.”
The meaning lingered between them without needing to be spoken.
Elara broke eye contact first, turning away before the reaction could show too clearly.
Thorne stayed where he was for a moment longer, watching her, before he turned and crossed the room, putting distance between them.
It didn’t help.
Elara remained where she stood, her pulse uneven, the pressure beneath her skin refusing to ease before she finally moved. She crossed the room at a measured pace and made her way to the bed, his presence tracking her without needing to look back.
She sat, then shifted onto the mattress, claiming the space without hesitation.
Thorne reached for the glass he had set aside, his gaze lifting toward her as she settled.
Elara pulled one pillow closer, then another, stacking them between where she lay and the space he would take. She adjusted them until the barrier held, a clear line drawn between them.
His gaze dropped to the pillows before returning to her face.
He didn’t speak.
He didn’t need to.
Elara held the look without moving.
Something shifted in his expression before he lifted the glass and swallowed the last of the whiskey, his grip tightening briefly before he set it aside.
He moved to the other side of the bed, his attention flicking once more to the barrier before climbing in.
The mattress shifted under his weight.
Subtle.
Unavoidable.
Elara kept her gaze upward, her breathing steady even as her awareness remained fixed on him. He settled on his side, leaving the barrier untouched, though the space between them held tight.
She adjusted slightly against the pillow, her hand resting near the barrier as if anchoring it in place. He hadn’t moved it. He hadn’t crossed it.
That mattered.
“You’ll keep to your side,” he said, his voice low.
Elara didn’t turn her head. “I am.”
A brief pause passed before his voice cut through the quiet again.
“Keep it that way.”
The warning lingered.
Elara exhaled slowly. “I don’t need the reminder.”
Silence stretched between them, unbroken.
Time passed without measure as sleep stayed out of reach.
Elara lay still, her breathing even, her thoughts steady despite the pressure that refused to ease. The room held them both, leaving no space to forget what had been forced into place.
His presence remained just beyond the barrier, close enough to feel, impossible to ignore. Every shift of the mattress, every breath, carried across the narrow space between them.
Distance didn’t exist here.
Elara kept her eyes closed.
It didn’t help.
She could still feel him—
close enough to become a problem neither of them had found a way to solve.
The night stretched on, heavy with everything left unsaid.
Sleep never came.
Not with him this close.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD