My Crazy Adventurer

FANFICTION: Gehrman Sparrow X Fors Wall

One step.

Then another.

The space collapsed until the door pressed firm against her back, her body sealed tight between the unyielding wood and his tall, dark figure. He smelled faintly of metal, oil, and sea air.

His hand rose and pressed against the door just beside her head. The sound of gloved leather on wood struck like a verdict. She stiffened, caught entirely within the cage of his nearness.

Her tongue stilled, but her eyes widened, heart pounding, refusing to yield completely.

Gehrman's voice came low, not raised, but edged with dangerous restraint that cut sharper than a shout, "You speak too much when you're afraid."

Fors felt her spine lock. Her lips parted in instinct to protest but his other hand moved, quick as if anticipating her. Fingers caught her wrist, not cruelly tight, but firm, pinning it to the door between them.

Her pulse leapt violently under his gloved grip. "I...I'm not afraid," she lied, her voice breaking on the last word.

The pale intensity of his eyes bore straight through her, closer now, impossibly close, so near she couldn't breathe without drawing in the faint warmth that clung to him.

"Liar," he murmured. The word grazed her skin like a touch.

Fors trembled, heat crawling up her throat, cheeks aflame. She pulled at her wrist, at the air, at anything but he held her still, unyielding. It wasn't brute force. It was worse - quiet, calculated control, as if he knew exactly how much strength to apply, how much presence to suffocate her with and exactly when to stop.