Page 114 of Celestial Combat

That made her flinch. Her lips parted, then closed again, like the words stuck somewhere between her lungs and her pride.

When she finally spoke, her voice was smaller. “I don’t want you to die for me.”

I flicked on the blinker, easing into the next lane, then met her eyes again in the mirror.

“That’s not up to you.”

She shifted slightly in her seat, tugging the hem of her tiny dress down her thighs as if that might anchor her. Her voice was softer when it came again.

“You don’t have to look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

Her eyes lifted – met mine dead on in the mirror. “Like I broke something.”

My hands tightened around the steering wheel, leather groaning under the strain.

“You did,” I said, voice rough. “My focus. My patience. Everything. I can’t stop thinking about you. It’s making me goddamn crazy.”

A beat passed.

The only sound was the low hum of the engine, the gentle purr of the tires against the asphalt. And her breath. Uneven. Quiet. Like a heartbeat in the dark.

The low hum of R&B from the radio filled the silence, its melodies weaving around us. The air was thick with tension, a palpable energy that clung to the leather seats and the space between us.

I glanced in the rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of movement in the backseat. Kali was shifting, her silhouette graceful yet deliberate. In one fluid motion, she pulled her dress over her head, tossing it onto the seat beside her. In only her white lingerie, with her curly hair messy, cascading over her shoulders. She didn’t look at me, lost in her own world.

“Kali,” I said, my voice low and steady, masking the storm brewing inside me. “What are you doing?”

She lifted her hair off her neck, exposing the delicate curve. “It's too hot,” She murmured, her tone distant, almost dreamy.

I gripped the steering wheel tighter, the leather creaking under my fingers. “Put your dress back on. I’ll turn the AC on.”

She leaned back, her bare shoulders pressing against the seat, a faint smile playing on her lips. “No. I think I’ll stay like this.”

My patience was wearing thin, the line between control and desire blurring with each passing second. “Kali–”

I glanced back at her in the mirror, words failing me as I took in the sight.

Kali’s hands flowed over her neck, slowly descending to her cleavage.Her skin glowed under the city lights, a canvas of temptation and defiance. She met my gaze, her gorgeous eyes smoldering with challenge, daring me to react.

The traffic moved slowly, the world outside oblivious to the battle waging within me. The R&B kept on, a soundtrack to thetension that crackled in the air. I exhaled, trying to steady my thoughts, to anchor myself in the reality of the moment.

But with Kali, reality was a shifting landscape, and I was already lost in its depths.

Arching her back off the leather seat, her hands moved over her flat, toned stomach – a little too dangerously low – then back up, flowing over smooth, dark skin.

I grounded my molars together, hating what she was doing to me but not able to look away. My blood ran hotter than fire, roaring in my ears,urgingme to pull over and get in the backseat with her.

Kali groaned, almost in discomfort, like she needed something desperately. Like she might lose her mind if she didn’t get it.

Her hands flowed over her body, rounding the sides of her breasts – her eyes burning into mine as she pushed her cleavage up. My cock jumped.

I knew I should’ve looked away. Said something.

But I didn’t.

Couldn’t.