<b>Chapter </b><b>164 </b>


    Nivera’s eyes fluttered open to darkness.


    :


    <b>52 </b>


    55 vouchers


    For a heartbeat, she thought she would see Alejandro–his bruised but steady form beside her, the reassurance of his presence grounding her.


    Instead, her surroundings were foreign. Cold stone walls stretched around her, shadows dancing menacingly across the dimly lit space.


    Confusion wed at her chest. She tried to stand, but her body resisted. Panic sliced through her when she looked down and saw ropes binding her wrists to the chair.


    “What-?” Her voice cracked, strangled by terror. She tugged violently, the scrape of rope against her skin raw and painful. Her breath quickened until it was little more than frantic


    gasps.


    How had she ended up in this ce when she had slept in Alejandro’s room?


    Had the stranger managed to break into his mansion and take her away?


    A sound froze her blood. Footsteps–slow and deliberate.


    Her head jerked up, eyes straining to prate the shadows. A figure loomed just beyond the faint glow, his face obscured but his presence suffocating.


    “Struggling won’t help you,” the man’s voice echoed, low and rough,ced with cruel amusement.


    “So, this is the famous Nivera Elton,” the man drawled, his tone mocking. “Doesn’t look like much when she’s trembling in her chair, does she?”


    Nivera’s pulse spiked, her whole body trembling as she shook her head. “Who are you? What do you want?”


    A dark chuckle echoed back. “What do I want? I want to show you how fragile your little world is. How easily it can be destroyed. You think anyone can save you? That man you cling to?” Hisugh deepened, bitter and sharp. “He can’t protect you. Not from me.”


    He stepped forward, just enough for the gleam of metal in his hand to catch the light. A gun. He raised it with ease, as though it were an extension of himself. “What I want… is to end this little game.”


    Her heart stuttered, eyes locked on the barrel aimed directly at her.


    “No… no, please-”


    He tilted his head, unconcerned by her pleading. His finger flexed over the trigger. “Goodbye, Nivera.”


    The shot rang out.


    “Ah!” Her scream tore her throat raw as she jolted upright, heart racing violently against her ribs.


    Sweat drenched her temples, her chest rising and falling in uneven gasps when something suddenly touched


    her arm.


    :


    <b>51 </b>


    55 vouchers


    She flinched violently, whipping around–only to find Alejandro beside her. Relief crashed into her bones; the trembling in her limbs slowly reduced as she clutched at her chest.


    “It’s me,” Alejandro murmured, his voice husky from sleep but steady and anchoring. His hand lingered on her arm, warm, grounding her in the present.


    She sagged forward, breathless, her body still shaking from the remnants of terror.


    “Nightmare?” he asked softly.


    She nodded, unable to find her voice yet. Adjusting her position, she turned fully toward him.


    The light from the sun crept faintly through the curtains, outlining his features. Shirtless, bruises painted his chest and ribs, yet his touch was impossibly gentle when he lifted a hand to her cheek.


    His palm was warm, his touch startlingly tender as he stroked her skin with his thumb.


    The intimacy of the gesture melted the tension from her body.


    Instinctively, she leaned into his touch, closing her eyes briefly as though he were the only thing keeping her upright.


    “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, tone low, coaxing but patient.


    Her throat tightened. She didn’t want to, but then again, she needed someone to share it with.


    Words tumbled before she could stop them. “I was tied up… in some ce I didn’t recognize. And then… someone stepped out of the shadows. He had a gun. He–he shot me.” Her voice cracked at thest part, trembling.


    Alejandro’s jaw flexed, the storm in his eyes darkening over her words. Even though it was just a nightmare, he hated the fact that Nivera was in danger, but when he spoke, his tone was calm and steady. “That won’t happen. I won’t let it.”


    The way he said it–not boastful, not exaggerated, but with a certainty that was rooted deep–made her heart skip a beat.


    Her trembling eased, though another awareness quickly crept in. Their closeness. His bare chest only inches from her, the curve of muscle catching the dim light. The warmth of his hand still cupping her face.


    She became acutely aware of herself–of the thin nightgown she wore, of how intimate their position was, of how their breaths mingled in the quiet room. They were far too close.


    The tension thickened, no longer heavy with fear but with something far more dangerous.


    Nivera’s heart hammered as a war broke out inside her. She was supposed to stay away from him. Every warning voice in her head screamed it.


    But how was she supposed to resist when he was her rock in moments like these? When he was the one


    16:00 Sun<b>, </b>Sep 7 9.


    …


    grounding her against the chaos in her head?


    :


    Before she could think better of it, her lips brushed his.


    51


    55 vouchers


    It was fleeting, less than two seconds, and when realization struck her, she pulled back with wide eyes. “I—I didn’t-”


    Alejandro however didn’t give her the chance to regret it.


    His hand slid from her cheek to the back of her neck, pulling her toward him with a hunger that left no room for hesitation.


    His mouth crashed onto hers, urgent, iming. The kiss was mad, intense, toe–curling–his lips demanding, hers trembling but yielding as the heat of it consumed them both.


    She melted into his arms, every wall she had so carefully constructed trembling under the assault of sensation.


    The taste of him, the press of his body, the desperate way he kissed her as though he’d been starving–her fragile resolve crumbled.


    Her fingers fisted weakly into the sheets, torn between pushing him away and pulling him closer. His hand syed against her back, anchoring her as his mouth moved with devastating skill, coaxing her lips open, deepening the kiss until she had no choice but to surrender.


    His breath, his heat, the faint copper tang of blood still lingering at the corner of his mouth–it was intoxicating.


    Her heart pounded so hard it hurt. Every nerve in her body screamed at the closeness, the fire, and the undeniable pull that had been simmering between them for weeks, finally exploding.


    And then-


    RING! RING! RING!


    The sharp shrill of her phone split the air; she jolted as though she had been burnt.


    AD


    Comment