Chapter 112 Heat

Chapter 112 Heat
The rooftop door was shut behind them.

Mara did not remember moving.
She only remembered the moment her breath got caught and the moment Daniel’s hand finally touched hers.

Just a slow, deliberate slide of his fingers along her jaw.

“Mara,” he whispered, his voice was rougher now, “you have no idea how long I’ve wanted this.”

She did.
She had felt it in every lingering glance, every distance he tried to keep, and every moment he looked away from her because looking too much would mean admitting everything.

But hearing it—hearing him say it felt like he’d been starving, sent a shiver rolling down her spine.

Her hand was pressed lightly against his chest, and he closed his eyes as if feeling the warmth of that simple touch unraveled something inside of him.

“You shouldn’t…” she breathed.

“I know.”

His forehead rested against hers, their breaths were tangled, and their lips were a bit apart.

“And I’m done pretending.”

The city noise below them was blurred into nothing, and buried under the weight of their silence.

A silence thick with wanting.

A silence that lingers in the moment before they kiss, when neither of them knows how to stop.

He held her face with both hands—gentle, tender, and yet trembling with a desire that could barely be contained inside of him anymore.

Her pulse was hammering against her throat.

“You’re shaking,” she whispered.

“So are you.”

He was right.
Her entire body felt tense, and suspended between fear and need.

There was something so intoxicating about the closeness—not just the touch, but the promise of what would happen if she didn’t step away.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she lifted her chin slightly, enough that their lips could touch.

Daniel exhaled sharply, as if that tiny touch unraveled his composure.

“You’re going to make me lose control,” he murmured against her mouth.

She replied in a breathless whisper.
“Maybe I want you to.”

The way he looked at her was dark, hungry, and disarmed–which made her knees weaken.

He leaned in again, slower this time, savoring the tension as the desire tightened between them.

His nose grazed against her cheek and his lips brushed the edge of her jaw.

It was intimate enough.

Her fingers curled into his shirt, and pulled him closer.

He let out a low sound—half restraint, half surrender—and the warmth of his breath slid down the curve of her neck.

“Daniel…” Her whisper trembled in the air.

He answered by lowering his mouth on the spot where her pulse trembled fast and unsteady.

His lips didn’t touch, they hovered. Which drove her mad with anticipation.

“You want this,” he said softly.

“Tell me.”

Her eyes were closed but she could feel the heat radiating off him, the tension tightening through his muscles, and the raw desire coming off him like a storm that was about to break.

“I want…”

She swallowed hard, and her voice was breaking under the weight of honesty.
“I want you.”

Those words—those quiet, trembling words—broke the fragile control he had left.

Then, he kissed her.

The way he kissed her was the kiss of a man who had waited for too long, wanted for too long, and was finally allowed to feel all of it at once.

Her back hit the rooftop wall, and his hands slid to her waist, pulling her closer.

She gasped against his mouth, and he swallowed the sound like it awakened something inside of him.

Their kiss deepened—slow at first, then hungry, desperate, and filled with months of desire erupting.

Her fingers slid into his hair, his hands tightened around her hips and every movement was bold, claiming, and unfiltered.

Then, he pressed his forehead to hers, breathing hard.

“This… isn’t just attraction,” he said, his voice shaken.

“This is something I can’t walk away from anymore.”

Mara’s lips parted, breathless.

“Then don’t.”

He kissed her again—hotter, deeper, and with an urgency that made the world tilt.

The night blurred and the heat rose up between them.

Their bodies were pressed against each other, and their breaths were catching in the same rhythm.

And when his mouth travelled lower—along her jaw, down the delicate line of her throat—she arched into him without thinking.

Her whispered plea trembled against the dark.

“Don’t stop.”

And, he didn’t.

The desire between them wasn't just dangerous—it was unstoppable.

And this time, neither of them tried to fight it.