The forest was a labyrinth of shadows and secrets, where the full moon reigned like an indifferent goddess. Eliza moved forward with uncertain steps, her white dress torn by branches that seemed to want to trap her. The air was heavy with humidity and danger, and the sound of her ragged breathing was the only echo amidst the darkness. But she wasn't alone. She knew it.

Lucian followed her, his steps as silent as a predator stalking its prey. His presence was an invisible weight looming over her, a bond she couldn't break no matter how hard she tried. When she finally stopped beside a clearing illuminated by the silver moonlight, he appeared from the shadows, his tall, dark figure projecting a threat impossible to ignore.

"You always run," Lucian murmured, his voice low and dangerous, like the purr of a contained beast. "But I always find you."

Eliza turned abruptly to face him, her blue eyes shining with a mixture of defiance and fear. Her heart was beating with uncontrolled force, but it wasn't only because of the danger he represented; it was because of the undeniable attraction burning between them, like a fire that couldn't be extinguished.

"You can't keep doing this to me," she snapped, although her voice trembled. "You can't control me."

Lucian smiled, that crooked smile that seemed to promise chaos and pleasure in equal measure. He took a step toward her, closing the distance between them with an ease that took her breath away.

"Control you?" he asked softly, leaning toward her until his warm breath brushed her skin. "I don't need to control you, Eliza. You already belong to me."

Eliza wanted to protest, but the words died in her throat when he raised a hand and stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. His touch was soft, almost reverent, but there was something dark behind that gesture, something that made every fiber of her being tense.

"You are mine," Lucian whispered. "Even if you fight against it, even if you deny what you feel, you can't escape from me."

Eliza closed her eyes, trying to block him out, but her body betrayed her mind. The connection between them was an invisible bond pulling her toward him, a bond so deep it seemed impossible to resist. When she opened her eyes again, she found him looking at her with an intensity that completely disarmed her.

"This is wrong," she murmured, though her voice lacked strength.

Lucian tilted his head toward her, his lips brushing hers in a gesture as tempting as it was dangerous.

"The forbidden is always the sweetest," he whispered before capturing her lips in a fierce, claiming kiss.

Eliza felt the world disappear around her. Only the two of them existed under the crimson moon, trapped in a dark and seductive game from which neither could escape.

Lucian didn't know if it was her scent, her broken voice, or the desperate way her fingers clutched at his shirt... but something inside him simply gave way. Eliza hugged him with the need of someone who had been holding back tears for hours, as if he were her only refuge in a world that was tearing her apart. And that destroyed him inside, because he shouldn't be that, he couldn't be that. He had come loaded with rage, with jealousy, with the decision to drag her away from the castle, away from Damian, away from any threat that claimed her that wasn't himself. But Eliza, being Eliza... only knew how to disarm him every time she breathed near him.


Chapter 160 - A Breath Away from Disaster