The pounding on the tower door rattled the stones. Voices echoed, soldiers shouting, boots scraping mud.

Anaya’s breath hitched. Riyan’s arm pressed against her, holding her still in the shadows. They stayed frozen, so close she could feel the heat of his body against her chilled skin, his breath brushing her ear.

Minutes dragged like hours.

Then, silence.

The soldiers’ voices faded, swallowed by the storm.

They were alone.

Anaya sagged against the wall, chest rising and falling in frantic rhythm. Her hair clung to her cheeks, rain dripping down her collarbone. She tried to pull away, tried to summon the walls she had spent her life building.

Anaya (whisper, shaky): “We… we shouldn’t…”

But Riyan’s hand closed around her wrist, firm yet trembling. He turned her back toward him, their eyes locking in the dim light. His storm-colored gaze burned with hunger and something deeper, something that scared her more than death.

For one breathless heartbeat, neither of them moved.

Then Anaya leaned forward, lips brushing his in a fleeting, desperate kiss.

She pulled back instantly, gasping.

Anaya (voice breaking): “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have-”

Riyan’s lips curved into something dark and dangerous, his voice low, rough, almost a growl. Riyan: “Don’t ask forgiveness for giving me what I’ve craved since the moment I saw you.”

Before she could flee again, his hand slid to her waist, drawing her closer. She stumbled into him, palms against his chest- solid, warm, pulsing with restrained power.

The apology on her tongue dissolved as his lips claimed hers, slow at first, then deep, hungry, unforgiving.

Her fingers curled into his shirt, tugging him closer as if she hated and needed him in the same breath. The kiss burned hotter than any flame she had ever conjured. His hand threaded into her drenched hair, tilting her head back, his mouth moving over hers like a vow he had no right to make.

Anaya (breathless, torn): “This is wrong...”

Riyan (murmuring against her lips): “...Then let it be the only sin we ever choose.”

The world outside- the war, the clans, Mira, the soldiers- all of it vanished. There was only the storm hammering around them, and the storm inside them breaking free.

Clothes clung, breaths tangled, hands wandering where they shouldn’t. She melted into him, each kiss stealing reason, each touch daring her to forget everything but him.

Lightning flashed through the cracks in the stone, illuminating their shadows locked in forbidden embrace.

And just as Anaya surrendered fully, giving in to the fire she could no longer smother, a shadow passed across the doorway. A voice whispered. Someone was still out there. Watching.