Sera couldn't sleep,Not after what had happened,Not after what she had felt.
The ghost of that touch still lingered,not rough, not cruel, but claiming. Familiar,Like she had once belonged to it...To him, The thought sent a shiver down her spine.
She needed answers And there was only one person who could give them to her,She found him in the library.
The fire in the hearth burned low, casting long shadows against the bookshelves Elias stood before the window, moonlight carving sharp lines across his face,He didn't turn when she entered But he knew she was there.
"You shouldn't have been alone," he said, voice tight, controlled,Sera's fingers curled at her sides"You knew it was coming"Elias's jaw clenched.
He turned then, his silver eyes locked onto hers intense, stormy, unreadable, A part of him looked tortured The other part? Dangerous.
"I thought I had more time"Sera took a slow, steady breath. "Who is he?"Something flickered in Elias's expression, Not surprise,She was right There was another man in this story.
A shuddering breath left Elias's lips His hands flexed at his sides, like he was holding himself back.
"He was once my closest friend," he admitted, voice heavy with something that sounded painful. "And you were once his,"Sera's stomach dropped,His?
Elias took a step closer, and the air between them shifted charged, "You were meant to marry him," he said, each word spoken like a curse. "He was powerful, dangerous and obsessed with you."
Sera's pulse quickened,"But you didn't love him."Elias's eyes darkened, his voice lowering to something rough,and intimate.
"You loved me."
The words sent a jolt through her, awakening something deep, something needy,Elias exhaled, his fingers twitching,like he wanted to touch her but was forcing himself not to. "I stole you from him," he admitted, gaze locked onto hers. "And he never forgave me."
The air between them was thick,and suffocating,"You made me forget," Sera whispered, realization sinking in "Because he still wants me."
Elias didn't confirm it,He didn't need to,His silence said everything,Sera should have stepped back, she Should have demanded more answers.
But instead, she moved closer, her heart slamming against her ribs,Because even if she couldn't remember everything…
She remembered him.
Elias had tried to erase it, to lock her memories away, But her body knew, Her soul knew,She lifted her hand, resting it against his chest,Elias went rigid.
"You can't," he rasped, his breath uneven,"Not again."
But she could see it the way he ached,The way he wanted to pull her in, to consume her.
Sera slid her fingers up, tracing the sharp line of his jaw, the tension in his body thrumming beneath her touch.
Elias let out a low, shaky breath,Then he snapped In a blur, he had her pinned against the bookshelf, his body pressed flush against hers.
His fingers curled against the wood beside her head, his breath hot against her lips,"This is wrong," he growled.
But he wasn't pulling away,Sera tilted her head up, just enough to brush her lips against his. A slow, deliberate tease.
Elias shuddered,Then he crushed his mouth to hers,It wasn't gentle,It wasn't careful,It was raw, desperate, a war between need and regret.
And Sera didn't care, Because for the first time in forever, she felt like she had found what she had been missing, She felt whole.