The moment Lyra stepped into the Virelle manor, the silence swallowed her.
Kael hadn't come inside with her. The most frustrating thing was that he had behaved like a gentleman and escorted her to the door. After all the heat and breathless touches, after her skin still tingled from his mouth and her body screamed for more, he'd left her with a promise and that maddening smirk of his.
She slammed the door shut behind her.
"Coward," she muttered, tugging off her boots.
But the truth was, he wasn't a coward. Not really.
He was restraint wrapped in heat, danger wrapped in control. And gods, wasn't that worse? The ache would have been at least lessened if he had taken her then, in the woods. But no, Kael had left her wanting. Barely breathing. And now she had to try to sleep like she hadn't just begged to be devoured under a canopy of stars.
Sleep didn't come easily.
Not with his scent still clinging to her, not with the ghost of his hands tracing her skin.
And when she finally drifted off, it was Kael she dreamed of. Not as a man but as something wilder—gold-burning eyes, bared teeth in the dark, a body that moved against hers as if two storms were colliding.
She woke up breathless.
Flushed.
Frustrated.
By midday, Lyra gave up pretending to function. Her body was restless, her thoughts too loud. She needed to do something—anything.
So she stormed into the east wing library, hoping a distraction would settle her nerves.
It didn't.
Because Kael was already there.
Sitting with one leg draped over the armrest of a velvet chair, a book in hand, shirt loose and half-unbuttoned. His hair was slightly damp, like he'd just come in from the rain. Or maybe from a run. Either way, he looked deliciously disheveled.
His eyes lifted when he sensed her.
And he smiled.
Not the polite kind.
The kind that said he'd been thinking about last night just as much as she had.
Lyra arched a brow. "Is this a coincidence?"
Kael set the book aside. "Would it matter?"
She walked further in, every step more deliberate. "That depends."
"On what?"
She stopped in front of him, arms crossed. "On whether you're going to keep looking at me like that and still pretend nothing happened."
Kael leaned back in the chair, completely relaxed. "I'm not pretending anything."
"Really?"
"You kissed me like you wanted to burn," he said calmly. "I'm still smoldering."
Lyra's breath hitched. "Then why did you stop?"
His smile faded, replaced with something sharper. "Because I want you in a bed, Lyra. Not on cold dirt. Not with the taste of bark in your mouth. You deserve to be ruined properly."
Her mouth went dry.
Kael stood in one smooth motion. He didn't touch her—yet. But his presence filled the space like smoke.
"I'm not in the habit of fucking women like they're accidents," he said, voice low. "I want you begging, panting, aching—yes. But not rushed. Not like it's a mistake."
Lyra's knees weakened.
"And if I don't care?" she whispered. "If I want the accident?"
Kael's hand rose, brushing her hair back from her neck. "Then we both lose control."
His lips ghosted over her throat.
"I'm fine with that," she breathed.
He chuckled. "I know. That's the problem."
This time, when he kissed her, it wasn't with desperation. It was slower. Fuller. Like he wanted to memorize the shape of her mouth and the sound she made when his tongue traced the seam of her lips.
She leaned into him.
His hands cupped her waist, holding her gently but firmly. And she could feel it—that heat, rising like a storm beneath his skin.
Lyra pulled back just enough to whisper, "Kael."
He looked at her, eyes dark with desire.
And then—
"Say my name again," he murmured.
"Kael."
His grip tightened.
"That's the sound I'll make you repeat," he said, his voice rough. "When I'm inside you."
She gasped.
His lips were at her ear now. "Say it again."
"Kael."
He groaned, low and guttural, and for a moment, she thought he might lose that iron control. But he didn't. Instead, he pulled back, brushing his thumb across her lower lip.
"Come to my room tonight," he said.
She blinked. "Tonight?"
"I won't ask again."
Lyra stepped back, her pulse pounding.
"You won't have to."
Kael smiled like she'd just sealed something far more dangerous than a promise.
And when he walked out of the library, leaving her breathless and throbbing in the quiet, she realized the fire hadn't just started.
It had been waiting.