𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐄
"Do you not see the cruel irony of it, Selene?" His voice broke, a ragged whisper that grazed my skin like frostbite. "I have spent years building an empire of ice, freezing my own blood just to keep the rot at bay. I survived by becoming numb. I content myself with winter because winter doesn't feel pain. It doesn't bleed. It doesn't yearn."
He leaned down, his forehead resting against mine, his breath shaking as his eyes locked onto mine with a burning, unholy intensity.
"And then you stepped into my court, radiating a heat that threatens to melt everything I am. By all accounts of logic, I should have extinguished you. I should have locked you away or fled your presence to preserve my own fragile life. But I am a man starving in a blizzard, and you are the sun."
He closed his eyes, his grip on my hand tightening until it was almost bruising, though his touch remained as cold as stone.
