Ilaria had never been so aware of her own heartbeat. It thudded unevenly in her ears, each beat echoing against the warmth at her back and the weight of his arm around her shoulders. Everything felt too close. Too vivid. As though her senses had been sharpened without her consent.
She hid her face behind her hands, not out of childishness, but because if he saw her expression now, something irreversible might happen. Her thoughts tangled into chaos.
What was that?
She had touched his mouth. He had—
No. She couldn't finish the thought without her knees threatening to give way. It was not even improper. No one had been hurt, no clear line crossed. And yet her body reacted as though she had stepped into territory she had never been taught to navigate.
