Chapter 48

• Something indescribable flickered on his face, akin to hurt, but it was gone too soon for me to decipher. I watched as he stalked in my way, like a predator towards his prey, eyes hungry and mouth twitching.
• I was desperate to untangle myself from this situation, the hair on the back of my neck standing up—my body screamed to rid of his smile, sound, and smell. Before I could act on any of them, Reed pushed our forms flush together, large hands almost covering the entirety of my back.
• He pressed his nose into my neck then, and the air between them seemed to transform, wrought with indestructible tension. From this close, I could feel his cool breath against my pulse, a steady beat that was clear as day sounding in my ears as I counted them in my head.