Chapter 70

VALERIA

He inched closer, his breath warm against my face. Every instinct screamed at me to back away, to regain control, but his nearness was magnetic, pulling me into the gravity of his presence. Before I could think any further, his lips claimed mine, and it was like a switch was flipped.

I lost myself in the kiss, melting into the heat that surged between us. The frustration, the doubt—all of it—evaporated in the face of this undeniable connection. It was terrifying how easily he still affected me and how quickly I fell apart when he touched me like this.

The tension that had been simmering between us for so long finally erupted, and all the words we had left unsaid spilled out in the way our bodies moved together.

His hands slid down my back, gripping my waist with a possessiveness that sent a shiver through me. Damn, I should pull away and tell him to stop, but instead, I let him deepen the kiss and let myself get lost in the way his lips moved against mine.

Before I knew it, we