The night was heavy with storm clouds, rain lashing against the windows of the safehouse. The city outside roared, but inside, the tension was sharper than thunder.
A loud crash shattered the fragile calm. The security team's alarms blared, lights flashing red.
"They're inside," Adrian said, voice low but taut with controlled fury.
I froze, heart pounding. "How—how did they get through?"
"Doesn't matter," he snapped. "We survive. Together."
He grabbed my hand, leading me through hidden corridors I didn't even know existed. Every shadow could be an enemy. Every sound a threat. My pulse raced as adrenaline made the world hyper-real—louder, sharper, more dangerous.
Adrian stopped suddenly, pressing me against the wall. His face was inches from mine, eyes dark, fierce. "Listen to me," he whispered. "Every step. Every move. Follow me. No hesitation."
I nodded, unable to form words. His closeness steadied me, even as danger clawed at the edges of my mind.
Gunshots echoed somewhere nearby. Shouts. Chaos. And still, Adrian's hand never left mine.
When we reached the inner safe room, he locked the door, securing it with a strength that felt like a promise. He turned toward me, chest heaving, eyes searching mine like he was reading my soul.
"You're alive," he murmured, voice rough. "I won't let them take you. Not ever."
I reached for him instinctively. "Adrian…"
He captured my lips in a kiss—urgent, fierce, full of relief and raw emotion. This wasn't about rules, contracts, or restraint. It was about survival. About fear turned to need. About the certainty that neither of us could bear another second apart.
When he pulled back, his forehead rested against mine, breath mingling, heartbeat echoing mine. "If anything happens to you," he whispered, voice hoarse, "I will burn everything down."
"I know," I replied, gripping his shoulders. "And I'd do the same for you."
Outside, the storm raged. Inside, we clung to each other, defying the danger, the threats, and the world that wanted to pull us apart.
Adrian Blackwood had chosen—again—not power, not control, but me.
And now, under fire and in chaos, we knew something irreversible had begun.
We weren't just surviving together.
We were claiming each other.