The applause from the ballroom still echoed in Elena’s ears long after the crowd dispersed. She had stood her ground, silenced the whispers, reclaimed her throne. Yet when the lights dimmed and the cameras vanished, it wasn’t triumph she longed for—it was him.
Daniel found her backstage, away from the reporters who still lingered by the exits. His eyes shone, pride and something far deeper burning there. For a moment, neither spoke. Words felt too small for what had just happened.
“You were magnificent,” he murmured at last.
Elena exhaled, shoulders sagging as though the weight of weeks had finally slid free. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“You didn’t need me,” he said softly. “But I’m glad I was there.”
The silence stretched, thick with the truth neither had dared to voice. Elena stepped closer, close enough to see the faint stubble along his jaw, the curve of his lips that had haunted her in quiet moments. “Daniel,” she whispered, her hand trembling as it brushed his arm. “We can’t keep pretending.”
You Pick, You React
|
|
His restraint broke. In two strides, he closed the distance, his hands cupping her face, and then his mouth was on hers. The kiss was fierce, hungry, years of longing crashing into one breathless moment. Elena gasped against him, her fingers tangling in his shirt as if she might fall without him.
He pressed her back against the wall, the world outside forgotten. His lips trailed from her mouth to the line of her jaw, down to the delicate hollow of her throat, leaving fire in their wake. Elena tilted her head, surrendering to the storm she had resisted for too long.
“Tell me to stop,” he rasped against her skin, his breath hot, his body trembling with restraint.
She pulled him closer, her voice breaking into a moan. “Don’t you dare.”
His hands slid along her waist, fingers mapping the curves he had only dreamed of. Her gown—her own creation—shifted beneath his touch, silk yielding like water. Elena’s nails grazed his shoulders through his shirt, urging him closer, deeper. For once, she wasn’t the queen, the icon, the untouchable designer. She was a woman, undone and wanting, burning in the arms of the man she could no longer deny.
The kiss deepened, their bodies pressed tight, heat sparking like a fuse lit too long ago. Every barrier, every rule, every fear unraveled thread by thread, until nothing remained but raw desire and the dangerous, beautiful truth of them. When they finally broke apart, breathless and trembling, Elena’s lips were swollen, her eyes alight with fire.
“There’s no turning back now,” Daniel whispered, his forehead resting against hers. Elena smiled faintly, her voice low and certain. “I don’t want to.”
And for the first time, their love was no longer a secret.
Next Chapter
Previous Chapter
BLAZING COLLECTION ❤
No comments:
Post a Comment