Fiery Cloud Series 1: Awakened Feelings

I should have never come here.

The icy wind whipped around me, stinging my cheeks, but the chill was nothing compared to the icy anger burning in his eyes.

A storm raged within those usually serene depths, but beneath the fury, a flicker of something else-something akin to sorrow-caught my attention.

It was a fleeting glimpse, quickly masked again, but it was enough to plant a seed of unease in my heart.

Why had I come here?

What foolish, naive hope had propelled me towards this man's merciless power?

I should've known better. I'd seen the darkness within him, felt the terrifying power he wielded, yet still... I'd come.

"I won't kill you," he whispered, his finger tracing the delicate curve of my neck, tilting my chin upward, his gaze burning into mine with a possessive intensity that both terrified and enthralled me. "And I won't allow anyone else to hurt you. If they dare, I'll flay their skin and make a human lantern out of their filthy hides."

The threat hung heavy in the air, a stark contrast to the tenderness of his touch. "From this moment forward," he continued, his voice a low rumble that vibrated against my skin, "you are mine. Body, soul, breath, heartbeat-every pulse of blood in your veins belongs to me. You will never leave my sight without my permission. No one-and I mean no one-is allowed to touch you, to even come near you, except me. Only me. Do you understand?"

My heart pounded a frantic rhythm against my ribs, a desperate counterpoint to the suffocating weight of his words.

His possessiveness was all-encompassing, terrifying in its intensity, yet... strangely alluring.

It was a frightening dance between control and... a distorted form of care.

This wasn't the man I knew, the man I loved.

This was something... else.

Something darker, more dangerous, more frightening.