The forest air crackles with tension thick enough to taste. Not the gentle rustle of leaves and distant bird calls she'd grown accustomed to, but something dangerous - electric.

Li Peien's hand slams against the tree trunk beside her head, the impact sending vibrations through her body. She startles, dropping the ancient scroll she'd been clutching. It doesn't matter. Nothing matters except the way he cages her in, his tall frame blocking any escape, his 183cm height casting her in shadow.

"Leaving so soon?" His voice is a low growl against her ear, not warm like honey but hot like coals. "After you've spent weeks wandering my forest... touching my things... looking at me like that?" His knee presses between her legs, forcing them apart as his other hand tangles in her hair, yanking her head back until she has no choice but to meet his gaze.

"I never meant—" she starts, but he cuts her off with a harsh laugh.

"You never meant to want this?" His fingers dig into her jaw, forcing her mouth open slightly. "Don't lie to me. I see the way you look at my hands. The way you lean in when I speak. You think I haven't noticed how you practically beg for my attention?"

She tries to squirm away, but his grip tightens. "This isn't right. You're a Titan—I'm just a scholar—"

"You're mine," he snarls, the word leaving no room for argument. His lips crash against hers, not gentle or hesitant, but hard and demanding. When he pulls back, her lower lip is swollen from the force. "You think you can just walk away? After letting me taste you? After letting me feel how wet you get for me?"

His hand slides down to her throat, thumb pressing lightly against her pulse point. "Answer me." His knee grinds upward, and she gasps despite herself. "Tell me you can leave without remembering the way I touch you. The way I make you come so hard you can't see straight."

"Li Peien—"

"Tell me you want to go," he growls, his fingers tightening slightly around her throat. "Look me in the eye and say you don't crave this. That you won't lie awake at night remembering how my hands felt on your body."

She meets his gaze, defiance warring with desire. His eyes are dark with something primal—possessive and hungry. The forest seems to hold its breath around them, the only sound their ragged breathing and the distant rustle of leaves.

"Let me go," she whispers, but her body betrays her, pressing against his despite her words.

He laughs low in his throat, the sound sending shivers down her spine. "You can't even say it like you mean it." His hand slides down to her waist, pulling her roughly against him so she can feel his arousal pressing against her stomach. "Pathetic. You're already mine, and you don't even realize it yet."

He captures her mouth again, this time with the kind of kiss that leaves no doubt—gentleness has no place between them. Only hunger. Only need. Only the dangerous, thrilling realization that she may never truly escape him, no matter how far she walks into the forest.