Chapter 13: Almost
238 Words
Neither of them moved.
Not right away.
The space between them had narrowed to almost nothing now.
Breath shared.
Heat brushing against cool.
Lyra’s fingers flexed slightly at her sides.
Her fire responded instantly.
Not flaring.
Not surging.
But glowing.
Alive.
Kael noticed.
Of course he did.
“You feel it,” she said softly.
It wasn’t a question.
His voice came lower.
“Yes.”
That was all it took.
Lyra stepped closer.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Testing.
Waiting.
Kael didn’t step back.
Didn’t stop her.
Didn’t break the moment.
Their faces were inches apart now.
Too close.
Too aware.
Lyra’s voice dropped to barely a whisper.
“Then why haven’t you—”
She didn’t finish.
Because Kael’s hand lifted.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As if giving her time to pull away.
She didn’t.
His fingers brushed against her jaw.
Light.
But steady.
And the moment that contact happened—
Everything else disappeared.
Her breath caught.
His stilled.
And for one second—
One very long second—
It felt like the world itself was waiting.
But instead of closing the distance—
Kael stopped.
Just before.
Holding there.
Lyra’s eyes flickered with something between frustration and disbelief.
“You stopped.”
His voice was controlled.
Barely.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
A pause.
Then—
“Because if I don’t… I won’t stop.”
That sent heat straight through her.
Not from her fire.
From something else entirely.
- Writer
