Caesar's POV
Jane barely flinched at the nickname, but I saw it. The slight pause. The sharp inhale she tried to hide. Her breath caught in her throat before she forced herself to meet my eyes again. That single word, "kitten," had always undone her in ways she refused to admit, and she knew I knew it.
"So you did all this to win over a dare?" she asked finally, her voice low, trembling just at the edges. There it was again, the push and pull, the fight she always started but never finished. I let out a slow, controlled sigh, letting the weight of it hang in the air before I began to move around her. My steps were deliberate and measured, silent against the marble floor and a subtle reminder of the control I held in the space between us.
When I stopped just behind her, I kept my hand fi
