Guest mansion
"Hey, little rabbit… here we meet again," Zain drawled as he followed her silently from the main hall of the guest house down the corridor.
Lara spun around. "You! There are people here, Zain. If they see us together at this hour, the whole 'couple' thing will explode again."
Zain leaned against the wall, smile lazy and infuriating.
"Sweetheart, I enjoy spreading rumors. Just like you. If you'd like, I can scream my love for you right now so everyone inside their rooms knows how hopelessly obsessed I am."
Her eyes widened.
Knowing him, he just might.
Before he could make good on his threat, she grabbed his wrist, dragged him inside her room, and shut the door and locking it.
Zain clutched his chest dramatically. "Hey! I'm a good boy. Please be gentle with me, okay?"
"You!—" she snapped, heat flushing her cheeks.
He moved before she could finish, twisting her wrist behind her back and pulling her close, not painfully but just firmly, just enough to make her breath catch. Their faces were a breath apart.
"What about me?" he whispered.
His cologne hit her first—warm, clean, dangerously distracting. For a second she forgot what she was going to say. Then she tried to pull away, only for Zain to catch her other hand mid-motion and pin it behind her too, trapping both wrists with one hand.
With a smirk, he pulled her closer until there was hardly any space left between them.
"Sweetheart," Zain murmured, eyes locked on hers, "you start a storm… and then act surprised when I answer it."
Her pulse pounded.
"Let go of me," she said, breath unsteady.
"Not yet, sweetheart," he replied, voice too calm to be safe.
"You're pushing your limits now, Zain," she warned, twisting to escape, but he didn't let her go.
He moved faster than she expected, pinning her gently yet unbreakably to the wall, both her hands captured above her head in one of his.
His eyes sparkled with mischief and something deeper.
"You're quite strong. If we ever have a child, they'll be terrifying. Just like you."
"And a flirt like you?" she shot back, furious and flustered.
His grin sharpened. "Two kids, then? I adore where this is going."
"Zain!" she snapped.
Her voice echoed, sharp and furious, but he only smirked as if he owned the air between them. In one swift motion, his free hand snaked around her waist and dragged her closer, slamming her against the heat of his body.
The distance disappeared.
Too close.
Too dangerous.
"Little rabbit…" he murmured, eyes not on hers but on her lips. His breath fanned her cheek, warm and intoxicating. Lara felt the pull before she even realized it. His cologne fogged her thoughts. It was her weakness.
Her mind screamed push him away. But her treacherous body leaned in, caught in the gravity of him.
For a moment, the world went still—fire and ice tangled, the atmosphere prickling with heat that neither of them wanted to acknowledge.