The walk from the café to the office was unbearable.
Selena wrapped her coat tighter around herself, trying to shield not only from the afternoon chill but from the storm brewing beside her. Jace walked a step ahead, his posture rigid, his hands deep in his pockets, as if trying to contain the wildfire inside him.
Every so often, Selena stole a glance at him, heart thudding in her chest. His expression was impossibly still—cold, controlled—but she could see it in the tight line of his jaw, the way his fingers twitched inside his coat pockets, and the shadow in his eyes.
He was furious. Furious in a way that terrified her, and yet… there was something else. Something else pulsing beneath the anger. Something that made the air between them burn.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the words faltered. How could she explain? How could she tell him that andrew had just invited her for lunch to catch up with her,talking about random things,that nothing else had happened? That her laughter, that smile… meant nothing?Although Andrew love her but she can't possibly tell him about that.
Jace's gaze was fixed straight ahead. He didn't glance at her, didn't acknowledge her presence. And yet, Selena could feel it—his eyes on her, even when he wasn't looking.
The silence was suffocating. It was heavy, thick, almost tangible, pressing against her like a physical weight. Every footstep they took sounded louder than it should have, echoing in the empty street. She could hear her own heartbeat, rapid and anxious, and it mirrored the rhythm of his anger.
She tried again, hesitantly. "Jace… I—"
He didn't answer. Not a word. Not even a glance.
The quiet wasn't empty. It was full of warning, full of unspoken thoughts, full of something neither of them dared to voice yet. Fire. Possessiveness. Desire. It radiated from him in waves, and Selena felt it like a heat on her skin, impossible to ignore.
Her mind raced. She wanted to speak, to explain, to soothe the storm, but the fear in her chest held her tongue captive. She had seen him furious before, but this… this was different. It wasn't just anger. It was a claiming. A marking. A possessive declaration without a single word.
She remembered Andrew's face in the café—the way he had stiffened, the subtle hesitation—but Jace's anger wasn't just about that. It was about her. Always about her. And in that realization, her pulse spiked.
Jace suddenly stopped. Selena almost collided with him. She looked up at his face, and the sight made her breath catch.
His eyes were sharp, dark, and dangerous. They burned—not with cold rage, not with simple jealousy—but with a fire that made her knees weak.
"You're mine," he said, low and controlled, but every syllable carried weight. "Do you understand?"
Selena swallowed. Her lips parted, but her voice failed. He didn't wait for her to respond. Instead, he turned his head slightly, scanning the street, ensuring no one was watching too closely, and then his gaze fell back on her. "Do you even realize what happens when someone else… gets close to you?"
"I… I—" she started, voice trembling.
"You don't get to start a sentence," he interrupted softly, dangerously. "Not here. Not now."
He took a step closer. The space between them shrank to nothing, the chill of the night doing nothing to quell the heat rising from the two of them. Selena could feel the energy pulsing from him—the anger, the jealousy, the possessive fire—and it ignited something inside her too, a mix of fear, fascination, and longing she could barely admit.
Her gaze dropped. She didn't know what to say. How could she explain that she hadn't even thought of Andrew that way? How could she make him understand that her heart belonged to him alone.Despite knowing that she can't possibly love him because everything will return back to normal after three months.
But he didn't wait for her explanation. He simply walked again, each step measured and deliberate, his presence pressing against her like a force she couldn't fight. The street was empty, the city lights casting long shadows, making them the only two people in the world.
Every step back to the office was a silent war. A war of pride, possession, and unspoken words. Selena could feel it in the stiff set of his shoulders, the controlled breathing, the tightness in his jaw. He was furious at the idea of anyone touching her heart—even a little. And she… she was trapped in the middle of it, unable to escape the fire he carried.
Finally, he stopped in front of the office. The building loomed above them, but it felt smaller than the space between them, smaller than the storm that crackled in the silence.
He turned to face her fully now, the cold mask slipping just slightly, revealing the depth beneath. "Do you understand?" he repeated, voice quieter this time, but no less intense. "No one… no one touches what belongs to me. Do you hear me, Selena?"
Her throat went dry. She nodded, though words failed her.
"Good," he said, stepping past her to open the office door. His hand brushed the small of her back as he guided her inside—a touch that was both command and claim. She felt heat spread through her body, her chest tightening with every step.
Inside, the office was quiet, sterile, and formal—but it did nothing to ease the tension that lingered between them. Jace closed the door behind them with a slow, controlled force, and for a moment, they stood there, mere inches apart.
Selena's heart raced. She wanted to look at him, to ask him what was wrong, to make him say the words she longed to hear. But something in his stance, in the rigid line of his shoulders and the storm in his eyes, told her to wait. To respect the fire he carried.
He took a step back, finally breaking the intense closeness, and straightened his jacket. "We'll talk later," he said, voice calm again—but the fire behind it was unmistakable.
Selena exhaled slowly, trying to regain control over her own trembling. She wanted to hate him for scaring her, for making her feel things she couldn't name, for the way he claimed her so effortlessly. But deep down, she knew… it was the same fire that drew her to him. The same fire that made her heart ache for him, even when he terrified her.
She followed him to his desk silently, every step a mixture of fear and anticipation. She didn't know how the next few hours would go, but one thing was certain—nothing between them would ever be the same.
And for the first time, she realized that the fire inside Jace Ariston was matched by a fire inside her own heart.
It was dangerous. It was consuming. And it was completely, utterly irresistible.