The silence in the room stretched thin, heavy with unspoken words, heavy with the rhythm of their breaths. Damien hovered above Amara, his hand braced on the bed, his shadow spilling across her face in the lamplight. Her heart pounded, each beat echoing in her ears like thunder. She could feel the warmth of his body radiating through the small distance between them.
Amara swallowed, her lips parting as if to say something, but the words caught in her throat. It didn’t matter anyway, because Damien leaned down before she could find them.
His lips captured hers once more, tender but urgent, pulling her into the storm that had been brewing between them for weeks, maybe longer. It was a kiss that spoke of desperation, of longing, of everything he had buried under the weight of loss and respo
