<h4>Chapter 521: His Breaking Point</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    River took another step forward.


    Instinctively, I took one back.


    I wasn’t even sure <i>why</i>... only that every nerve in my body was screaming to keep whatever little space remained between us. My heartbeat was loud in my ears, my pulse skittering wildly as I retreated until my back hit something solid.


    Wood.


    A shelf.


    I was trapped.


    I looked up at him, my breath already uneven, and forced myself to speak before my brainpletely short-circuited.


    "If you are mad," I said, trying for calm and failing miserably, "you should go talk to your brother instead of-"


    River ced both his hands on the shelf, one on either side of my head.


    And then he leaned in just enough to steal the air from my lungs.


    "Who told you I’m mad?" he asked quietly.


    I blinked.


    "What?"


    His brows lifted slightly, his gaze sharp and unreadable. "You keep thinking that I’m mad about what you did in my office."


    His mouth curved, just barely. "I never said that."


    Confusion scrambled my thoughts.


    "Then why," I asked, genuinely lost now, "are you talking about... punishment?"


    This... <i>this</i>... was the moment my brain officially surrendered.


    In situations like these, when one of my mates decided to flirt or tease or assert dominance with terrifying confidence, my mind always gave up first, letting me know it’s not capable of keeping up with them.


    Just like right now.


    River watched my confusion with open amusement now, something soft and dangerous glinting in his dark green eyes.


    "Angel," he murmured, "you really think punishment onlyes from anger?"


    I swallowed.


    A small smile touched his lips as he stared down at me, and stars... his eyes were doing far more talking than his mouth ever could. There was warmth there. Hunger. Control held back by threads that were already fraying.


    He lifted one hand from the shelf and tilted my chin up with two fingers.


    The movement was slow. Deliberate.


    My breath hitched.


    He leaned down until his mouth hovered just a breath away from mine.


    I could feel him. The heat of his body. The faint brush of his breath against my lips, against my skin. When he spoke, his voice was low, intimate, his words wrapped in warmth.


    "If this was Kieran’s idea," he asked softly, "then why did you go along with it?"


    I barely heard the question.


    All I could see was his mouth.


    That mouth I hadn’t tasted all summer.


    That mouth I had been avoiding, teasing, denying myself with ridiculous stubbornness while pretending I didn’t crave him every second of every day.


    Stars, I had missed him.


    It didn’t make sense... because we had spent almost every day together for the past seventy-something days. Side by side. Laughing. Working. Arguing. Existing in the same spaces.


    And yet...


    I had missed him like madness.


    This stupid, infuriating, intoxicating cat-and-mouse game we had been ying had stretched the yearning into something unbearable. Every nce that lingered too long. Every brush of fingers that never turned into more. Every almost-kiss that ended in restraint.


    My body ached with it.


    With <i>him</i>.


    All I felt was his closeness now. His warmth. The tension coiled between us, tight and ready to snap. I needed him so badly it almost hurt. I wouldn’t have cared if he imed me right here, right now, in the middle of the living room with the whole world watching.


    I wanted him.


    Desperately.


    It would have been so easy.


    So easy to close the gap, to lift myself onto my toes and press my lips to his. To end this ridiculous game and finally have what I wanted.


    What we <i>both</i> wanted.


    But doing that would mean losing.


    It would mean surrendering.


    And as stupid as it was... call me petty, call me childish... I didn’t want to give River Thorne the satisfaction of winning.


    Not him.


    If it were Oscar or Kieran or even Draven, I might have given in without a second thought.


    But River?


    No.


    Not when he looked at me like this.


    Not when I knew exactly how much control he was exercising.


    So instead of closing the gap, instead of kissing him like every cell in my body was screaming for me to do, I forced my gaze away from his lips and met his eyes.


    And then I smiled.


    Slow.


    Tempting.


    Dangerous.


    "I might have gone along with it," I said softly, my voice steady despite the chaos inside me, "because I wanted to see if it would finally push you over your limit."


    I felt it.


    The subtle shift.


    The way his eyes sharpened just a fraction.


    Encouraged, I continued.


    "I wanted to see if it would finally make you snap."


    That alone surprised him... but not enough.


    I knew him better than that.


    So I added the final strike.


    "Also, if you want to watch next time," I murmured, my tone dripping with deliberate provocation, "you don’t need to do it through a screen."


    His jaw tightened.


    "You could juste to our bedrooms," I finished sweetly. "And watch from there."


    I hit the mark.


    His hand left my chin and wrapped around my throat.


    Not painfully.


    Not cruelly.


    But authoritatively.


    iming.


    My breath caught, my pulse exploding beneath his fingers as he leaned in closer, his body pressing into mine.


    His eyes were wild now.


    Not angry.


    Hungry.


    Desire burned there, raw and barely restrained. His gaze flicked from my eyes to my lips, and my heart nearly burst from my chest when he started to lean down.


    This was it.


    The breaking point.


    And then.


    His phone rang... again!


    The sound was loud.


    Jarring.


    Infuriating.


    River cursed under his breath, the word sharp and vicious as he pulled the phone from his pocket.


    I didn’t wait.


    I shoved against his chest, forcing space between us, my eyes zing as I red at him... and then at the offending device in his hand.


    "Unbelievable," I snapped.


    Before he could say a word, before he could even react, I turned on my heel and stormed away.


    Damn him.


    And damn his stupid phone.