The fog clung to the stable like a lover's embrace, but Zi Yu's presence turned the air electric with tension. I moved along the aisle, pretending to check the horses, but I could feel his gaze burning into my back like a physical touch. He had no right to look at me that way—as if I belonged to him.

"You're avoiding me." His voice was low, velvet-wrapped steel that sent shivers down my spine. I didn't turn. The lantern in my hand trembled slightly.

"I'm working," I replied, keeping my voice steady despite the way my heart raced.

A soft laugh, dangerous and intimate. "You were working when you snuck out of my bed at dawn too." My blood ran cold. So he knew. I finally turned to face him, and instantly regretted it.

He stood at the end of the aisle, arms crossed, amber eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. His lean frame seemed to fill the space, dominating it. "Did I not satisfy you?" He took a step closer, and I instinctively stepped back. Another step, another retreat. This dance was becoming familiar.

"We shouldn't have..." My words trailed off as my back hit the stable wall. Trapped. He crowded close, one hand slamming into the wood beside my head, the other tangling in my hair and yanking my head back.

"Tell me to stop." His breath was hot against my neck, his body pressed intimately against mine. I could feel every hard line of him, the power coiled beneath his delicate exterior. "Tell me you don't want this, and I'll walk away."

But we both knew I wouldn't. Not when his fingers were already slipping beneath my tunic, his mouth brushing my pulse point. Not when his power swirled around us, the air crackling with electricity and the scent of rain—his elemental magic responding to his desire.

"You're playing with fire," I whispered, though my body betrayed me, arching into his touch.

He laughed, the sound a low purr against my skin. "Fire doesn't burn when you're the one who controls it." His lips crashed against mine, demanding, possessive, and I melted into him despite myself.

Outside, the fog thickened, as if nature itself wanted to hide what was happening within these walls. His hands were everywhere, claiming, marking, taking. And beneath it all, I could feel his magic stirring—earth trembling faintly beneath our feet, air heating around us—responding to his hunger.

"Mine," he growled against my lips, and in that moment, trapped between his body and the wall, with his power thrumming around us, I knew he was right. I was his, whether I wanted to be or not.