The night was thick with the scent of rain, but it couldn't drown out the tension hanging between them.
Lucien's fingers hovered near Elena's chin, just a whisper of a touch. His breath came slow, steady—almost a challenge. His lips were mere inches from hers, a dangerous promise in the air between them.
"You're playing a dangerous game, Elena," he murmured, his voice low, almost a growl.
She swallowed, heart hammering against her ribs. She should pull away. She should remind him who she was. She should call him out for everything he was—manipulative, calculating, a wolf in silk.
But there was something about him. Something she couldn't ignore. The way his eyes locked onto hers, like they were trying to steal everything she was. The way his presence filled every corner of the room. She knew it was a trap.
Yet, her body betrayed her. The heat of him, the power, the dominance—it all called to her in ways she hadn't known were possible.
"Don't test me," she whispered, her voice trembling despite herself.
Lucien's lips curved into that smirk, the one that both thrilled and terrified her. "You're already testing me, Elena. We both are."
He leaned in, and time seemed to stretch, the space between them narrowing until the world fell away. Her mind screamed at her to stop this, to walk away, but her body wouldn't listen. When his lips brushed against hers, it was like fire and ice all at once. A kiss that was more a battle than a comfort, a collision of wills.
His taste was dangerous, his kiss searing, igniting a rush of adrenaline in her veins. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. It was just him—just the feeling of his mouth on hers, claiming her, marking her in ways she couldn't understand.
When they pulled apart, neither of them spoke for a long, charged moment.
Elena's chest heaved, her fingers clenched into fists at her sides. "What was that?" she demanded, her voice hoarse.
Lucien watched her with dark, predatory eyes. "A warning," he said, his voice low and steady. "You think you can play this game without consequences. But everything comes with a price. And that kiss? That was the cost of your mistake."
She recoiled, heart pounding in her chest. "You're a monster."
He tilted his head, as if amused. "I'm just a man who knows what he wants."
For a moment, Elena stood frozen, torn between the fury coursing through her veins and the undeniable pull she felt toward him.
She couldn't decide which was worse—facing him as an enemy or facing him as... something else. Something that might just destroy everything she had fought to build.
"You won't get away with this," she finally said, stepping back, her voice sharp as steel.
Lucien didn't move. He simply watched her, the same cold smirk playing on his lips. "You've already let me in, Elena. You just don't realize it yet."
The words hung in the air like a promise—or a threat. And Elena had never felt more exposed