Chapter 24

• Cornered, she found herself retreating until her back was cruelly met with the unyielding wall. His figure towered over her, an intimidating shadow boxing her in. A silent war of locked gazes ignited between them, sparking a wildfire of heat that was both unwanted and irresistible. It ignited a ravenous hunger within her, threatening to consume her in its tantalizing and delicious flames.
• Time itself seemed to bend to their will, stretching and slowing until each moment was an intoxicating torture. Their surroundings blurred and faded into nothingness, the world beyond their charged sphere nonexistent. Seconds danced by, their throbbing silence setting a frenzied rhythm to their hammering hearts.
• Caught in the storm of inner chaos, she waged a fierce battle to maintain her facade of calm. It was a struggle within herself, straining every fiber of her being to mask the earth-shattering impact of his proximity. But her body was a traitor; her knees buckled, and a longing, an ache crying out for soothing, raged within her.