Elara's POV
How desperately I want to believe those words, even though my logical mind screams that they’re just things men say in the heat of the moment. But the way he says them, like they are sacred truths, like he means them with every fiber of his being… I want them to be sincere so badly, it hurts.
I thought he felt it, too—this pull between us, this connection that seems to go deeper than mere attraction. But maybe that was just wishful thinking.
Maybe I was reading too much into every glance, every touch, every moment of tenderness.
A sound in the hallway makes my head snap up. Footsteps. But these are different—irregular, stumbling. My heart starts pounding as they get closer, and then I hear a dull thud against the wall, followed by a low curse in a voice I recognize.
“Kael
