Chapter 10: Too Close to Run
234 Words
Night fell heavy and restless.
Ariella couldn’t sleep.
Neither could Lucien.
She found him in the kitchen, standing shirtless, a faint bruise forming along his ribs. Her breath caught.
“You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing.”
She stepped closer, fingers hovering before gently touching his skin. He hissed softly.
“That didn’t sound like nothing.”
Their closeness felt dangerous—charged.
“I didn’t ask for this,” she whispered. “For you. For them.”
Lucien’s voice softened. “Neither did I.”
Her hand lingered longer than necessary.
The air shifted.
He looked down at her, eyes dark, intense. “Ariella… this isn’t safe.”
She lifted her gaze. “Neither is my life.”
For a moment—just one—he almost kissed her.
Almost.
Instead, he rested his forehead against hers, breath uneven.
“If I cross that line,” he said, “there’s no going back.”
Her heart pounded. “Maybe I don’t want you to.”
A crash shattered the moment.
Glass breaking.
Alarms screaming.
Lucien spun, grabbing her instantly.
“They’re inside.”
Fear surged—but beneath it was something else.
Resolve.
Ariella clenched her fists.
“Then I stop running,” she said. “And you teach me how to fight.”
Lucien looked at her—really looked at her.
And for the first time since this began…
He smiled.
- Writer
