Chapter 16 – Conflicted Hearts
The room was heavy with silence, broken only by the faint rhythm of rain still dripping against the window. The sheets were tangled around their bodies, damp with heat and sweat, the air still thick with the taste of their reunion.
Aria lay curled against Damien's chest, her cheek pressed to the rise and fall of his breath. His arm draped lazily around her waist, but even in his calm, there was a certain possession in the way he held her—like she was something he refused to release.
Her body still hummed from the way he had claimed her, every nerve alive with echoes of his touch. Yet beneath the glow of satisfaction, unease stirred.
She tilted her head, studying the sharp line of his jaw in the dim light. He looked peaceful, but there was always something unreadable in those eyes when he opened them, something that whispered of danger and secrets.
"Why do I feel like I'm drowning in you?" she whispered, almost to herself.
Damien's eyes flicked open, their stormy gray locking onto hers. His hand slid up her back, slow and deliberate. "Because you keep fighting the current, Aria. Stop resisting, and you'll see it's not drowning—it's surrender."
The words sent a shiver through her. Surrender. That's what it always felt like with him—her body giving in, her heart following dangerously close behind.
"But what if I lose myself?" she murmured, voice fragile.
His fingers tilted her chin until her eyes couldn't escape his. "Then I'll find you. Always." He kissed her, slow, tender, a contradiction to the roughness of earlier. His lips promised devotion even as his hold warned of possession.
Aria's heart ached. She wanted to believe him. She wanted this fire, this intoxicating pull, to be real and not just lust wrapped in pretty words.
But before she could answer, her phone buzzed on the nightstand.
With a sigh, she reached for it. The screen lit up with a new message from her best friend, Lila:
"Be careful with him. He's dangerous."
Aria froze. Her pulse raced as her eyes lingered on the words. Dangerous. The warning burned like ice through her veins.
She felt Damien's gaze on her, sharp and unyielding. "Who was that?"
Aria locked the phone quickly, forcing a small smile. "No one important."
But inside, her heart whispered the question she was too afraid to voice—
What if Lila was right?