CHAPTER 6THE WAY HE TOUCHED HER
1249 Words
“Next time we won’t miss.”
Elara’s fingers tightened around the phone so hard they started trembling.
The photo on the screen stared back at her like proof of a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from.
Someone had been inside this penthouse.
Watching them.
Watching her.
Watching the way Anik looked at her.
And somehow that last part terrified her the most.
Because the look in his eyes tonight hadn’t been subtle.
Not even close.
Anyone who saw that photo would know immediately—
She mattered to him.
Too much.
Anik slowly took the phone back from her, jaw tight enough to crack bone.
The silence inside the penthouse became unbearable.
Then suddenly—
The phone shattered in his hand.
Elara flinched.
The screen cracked violently beneath the pressure of his grip before pieces of glass hit the marble floor.
Neither of them spoke.
But the air around Anik had changed completely.
He looked lethal now.
Not controlled.
Not restrained.
Lethal.
The man near the doorway swallowed nervously before speaking again.
“Sir… the others are waiting.”
Anik didn’t look away from Elara.
“Clear the building.”
The command came cold.
Immediate.
“Yes, sir.”
The man disappeared instantly.
A second later, the penthouse doors shut again.
Now they were alone.
Again.
But this silence felt different.
Darker.
Elara watched Anik carefully as he stood near the counter, breathing slower than before.
Too slow.
Like he was forcing himself not to explode.
“You’re angry,” she whispered.
A humorless laugh escaped him.
“Angry?”
He looked at her finally.
And the expression in his eyes made her pulse stumble.
“Elara, someone threatened your life.”
The way he said your life—
Possessive.
Protective.
Dangerously personal.
“They were threatening both of us,” she said softly.
“No.”
His answer came instantly.
“This is about you now.”
A chill moved through her chest.
The certainty in his voice scared her.
Not because she doubted him.
Because she believed him.
Anik moved suddenly, grabbing another phone from a drawer nearby.
His movements were sharp now.
Efficient.
Violent beneath the surface.
“Who are you calling?” she asked quietly.
“People.”
“That doesn’t sound reassuring.”
“It’s not supposed to.”
The answer should have bothered her more.
Instead—
She found herself watching the tension in his shoulders.
The sharp line of his jaw.
The dangerous calm he wore whenever he was close to losing control.
God.
This man was terrifying.
So why did part of her feel safest near him?
Anik ended the call quickly before turning toward her again.
“You’re staying here tonight.”
Elara folded her arms.
“You keep saying that like I don’t have a choice.”
“You don’t.”
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“That controlling thing.”
Something dark flickered across his face.
Then slowly—
He walked toward her.
Every instinct told her to step back.
She didn’t.
Big mistake.
Because now he was close enough again to destroy her ability to think clearly.
“Elara,” he said quietly, “do you really think this is about control?”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
His voice dropped lower.
“It’s about the fact that the idea of something happening to you is making me violent.”
Her heartbeat stopped for a second.
The honesty in his tone hit dangerously hard.
Anik noticed immediately.
Of course he did.
He noticed everything when it came to her.
“You need to stop looking at me like that,” he muttered.
Elara swallowed slowly.
“Like what?”
“Like you already know exactly what you’re doing to me.”
The tension between them thickened instantly.
Heavy.
Hot.
Electric.
This was becoming a problem.
A serious one.
Because every conversation between them somehow ended the same way—
Too close.
Too intense.
Too dangerous.
Anik exhaled sharply before stepping away again.
Like distance physically hurt him now.
“You should get some sleep.”
Elara stared at him.
“You really think either of us is sleeping tonight?”
Silence.
Then—
A quiet laugh escaped him.
Real this time.
Small.
Dangerous.
“You’re impossible.”
“And you’re avoiding the question.”
Anik loosened the top button of his shirt slowly, clearly trying to regain control of himself.
Unfortunately for her—
Watching him do that wasn’t helping.
At all.
His eyes lifted back to hers instantly.
And judging by the slight shift in his expression—
He noticed where her attention had gone.
That made things worse.
Much worse.
“Elara.”
Her pulse jumped.
The way he said her name now sounded different.
Rougher.
More intimate.
“What?”
His gaze held hers for one long second.
Then dropped briefly to her lips again.
God.
There it was.
That look.
That dangerous look that made her chest tighten every single time.
Anik caught himself first this time.
Barely.
He turned away sharply.
“You’re staying in the guest room.”
A smile almost appeared on her lips.
“Guest room?”
“Yes.”
“You sound disappointed.”
Wrong thing to say.
Very wrong.
Because Anik slowly looked back at her.
And suddenly the atmosphere shifted again.
“You need to stop testing me.”
The warning in his voice sent heat through her instantly.
Elara stepped closer before thinking better of it.
“Or what?”
Big mistake.
Anik’s eyes darkened immediately.
Now there was almost no space between them again.
“You really want to ask me that right now?”
Her heartbeat exploded.
Because no matter how controlled he sounded—
She could feel the tension underneath it.
The restraint.
The effort it took for him not to touch her again.
And somehow knowing that made her want him more.
This was bad.
Dangerously bad.
Anik’s hand lifted slowly.
For one terrifying second she thought he was about to touch her face.
Instead—
His fingers brushed lightly through a strand of hair near her shoulder.
Tiny movement.
Massive effect.
Elara inhaled sharply.
And the look in his eyes after hearing that sound—
Pure destruction.
Like he was one second away from forgetting every reason they shouldn’t do this.
“You need sleep,” he muttered again.
But his voice sounded wrecked now.
Not convincing.
Not stable.
Wrecked.
Elara held his gaze carefully.
“You keep trying to push me away.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Silence.
Then finally—
“Because if I stop…”
His voice lowered dangerously.
“…I don’t think I’ll be able to.”
The confession wrapped around her chest like fire.
Neither moved.
Neither looked away.
And suddenly the distance between them felt impossible.
Anik’s hand tightened slightly beside him.
Like he was physically restraining himself.
Then—
The lights inside the penthouse went out.
Instantly.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Elara froze.
“What happened?”
Anik’s voice changed immediately.
Cold.
Alert.
“Don’t move.”
Fear slid through her chest.
“Anik—”
A loud crash echoed somewhere downstairs.
Then another.
Not thunder.
Footsteps.
Coming closer.
Anik grabbed her wrist instantly, pulling her against him.
This time not out of desire.
Protection.
Raw.
Immediate.
And in the darkness—
She heard him say the one things guaranteed to destroy whatever peace remained between them.
«“They’re inside the building.”»
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