Chapter 47
Vanya
For a second, I didn’t say anything.
I couldn’t.
Not with the way his breath ghosted over my lips. Not with how his hands held me like I might vanish if he let go. The heat rolling off his body, the intensity in his eyes—it was too much. Too overwhelming.
And yet… not enough.
I nodded before I could think. Before I could stop myself.
“Words, Vanya,” he whispered, his voice rough and low like a growl laced in velvet. “Say it.”
“Ye—” My voice broke, but that one syllable was all he needed.
Kross didn’t waste another second.
He took my hand and gently tugged me toward the darker corner of the aquarium, one where the glowing blue tunnel curved into shadow. We moved past the tank of glowing jellyfish and flickering fish until we were nearly invisible—except for the so
