They drove in silence. But inside Ryan, something was burning.
The car’s engine hummed steadily, the headlights carving thin beams into the night, but the quiet between them pressed like a weight. Eve sat turned toward the window, her profile a pale outline against the shifting glow of passing streetlamps. The silk of her dress caught faint light, its folds neat across her lap, hands resting still.
Ryan’s grip tightened around the wheel, the leather creaking under his fists. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her, not after what he’d just done, not after the mess of fury and desire that had exploded in the car like a match dropped on dry tinder.
Every inhale burned. Every thought circled back to the same truth: he wanted her. He hated that he wanted her.
The city fell away behind the
