Elena's Point Of View

“You’ll burn.”

The words slid off his tongue like smoke, sultry and threatening. I felt it. I felt it in my bones, in the tremble of my knees, in the way my pulse suddenly throbbed in my throat. And yet, I pushed him away.

Hard.

“Don’t,” I said, my voice sharp, almost cracking. “Don’t come close.”

I needed to breathe. I needed space. I needed… God, I didn’t even know what I needed. Just not him. Not right now. Not this.

He raised an ...