-Ronan Hale:
I shouldn't have looked at him.
I knew Lucien was still standing there. I felt him. His presence clung to the air, heavy, charged—like the calm before a storm. Like something dangerous waiting to snap.
I felt his heated gaze.
But I turned my head anyway.
And fuck, I saw him.
Lucien stood frozen in the doorway, white hair falling over his wide, stunned eyes. His lips were slightly parted, his chest rising and falling in uneven breaths.
His whole body was tense.
Like he wanted to run.
Like he wanted to stay.
And then I saw it.
The way his fists clenched at his sides. The way his throat bobbed when he swallowed. The way his pupils were blown wide—too wide. And the huge hard bulge in his pants.
Oh.
Oh, fuck.
He wasn't just watching.
He was feeling this.
Something dark and cruel coiled inside me, something I didn't know how to name. It made me want to push him, to see just how far this would go. To see if he'd break first.
So I smirked at him.
