The air in the boutique was thick with the scent of lavender and expensive fabric, a hushed sanctuary of silks and satins. For Elara, standing in the center of the soft pink curtained alcove, it felt less like a changing room and more like a confessional. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the sudden, terrifying silence that had fallen between them.
Liam's fingers were a brand against her skin, a gentle but unyielding pressure on her chin as he tilted her face toward the diffused, buttery light. The warmth from the hidden lamps bathed them in a golden glow, making the pearl at her throat gleam like a captured moonbeam. His wavy brown hair, slightly tousled, fell across his forehead, and his eyes—those intense, hazel depths—were locked on hers, stripping away every coherent thought.
"Hold still," he murmured, his voice a low, resonant vibration that seemed to travel straight from his chest to hers.
He lifted his other hand, and the world narrowed to the space between them. His thumb brushed the delicate frame of her tortoise-shell glasses, sliding them from the bridge of her nose with a reverence usually reserved for priceless artifacts. Elara's breath hitched. Her lashes fluttered, a soft, involuntary tremor, before she let her eyes drift shut. The absence of the lenses made the world a soft, blurry dream, but his presence was devastatingly clear.
When she dared to open them again, the first thing she saw was the curve of his smile, holding her glasses as if they held some secret only he understood. The camera, if it were a silent observer, would zoom in on her face then—her cheeks flushed a rosy pink, her lips slightly parted in a silent gasp.
"Liam," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the rustle of fabric.
He leaned in, the distance between them evaporating until she could count the flecks of gold in his irises. The scent of his cologne—sandalwood and something darkly, intriguingly spicy—wrapped around her, dizzying and intoxicating.
"Kiss me now," he breathed, the words a warm caress against her lips, so close she could almost taste them.
A jolt of electricity, sharp and sweet, shot through her. Her eyes widened, the spell