"Bringing another woman into my life is pointless," Valerian said slowly, each word deliberate, weighted with something far deeper than anger. "Because I will never want her."
Aurelia stilled completely. The air shifted.
"Not when…" he exhaled, his voice tightening as though the words themselves demanded effort, "not when you are already there… consuming my thoughts in ways I can neither control nor ignore."
Her breath caught sharply. For a moment, she could only stare at him, her heart beginning to pound erratically against her chest.
"What do you mean?" she asked softly, though the question trembled at its edges. "Valerian… what do you mean when you say I consume your thoughts?"
Valerian stepped closer to her. Slowly. Deliberately.
Close enough that the space between them began to dissolve, until she could feel the warmth of him, the uneven rhythm of his breathing, the quiet tension coiling in his body.
