Axle's POV
This was dangerous.
I knew it the second the words left her mouth.
"If it meant nothing… if I mean nothing, then prove it."
My hands curled into fists so tight my knuckles ached. "You're playing with fire, Narda."
Her chin lifted, defiant and proud, her eyes sharp and shimmering like twin blades cutting straight into me. "Maybe…" she whispered, voice trembling but laced with iron. "…maybe I want to get burned."
The sound of it…soft, reckless, raw… hit me like a punch to the gut. For a heartbeat, I forgot how to breathe.
"Don't," I rasped, but even to my own ears, it sounded weak, defensive.
She took one step closer, slow and deliberate, like a lioness testing her prey. And I… I didn't move. I couldn't move.
Her eyes locked onto mine, and what I saw t
