THIRD PERSON’S POV
The room felt charged, as if the air itself vibrated with unsaid words and forbidden thoughts. Lena’s skin burned from the sting of Ethan’s earlier discipline, and the ache left in its wake made her hyperaware of every inch of her body. Her breaths came shallow, almost desperate, but her eyes were locked on him—steady, hungry, daring.
Ethan’s composure was a fragile thing now. He had always been the man in control, the calm engineer who measured each decision before acting. But Lena wasn’t a blueprint to be studied or a structure to be built. She was fire, reckless and demanding, and she had set flame to the edges of his restraint.
He paced once, twice, his jaw tight. Finally, he returned to her, standing tall over where she sat perched on the edge of her bed. “You wa
