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The realization struck deep within my chest—no matter what it cost me. No matter how much danger lay ahead or how many walls I'd built to protect myself, they crumbled beneath the weight of this connection.

I took a shaky breath and glanced around the empty rink—my sanctuary—and knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

Chapter 16

Knox

Igripped the steering wheel so hard it felt like it might snap beneath my fingers. My knuckles blanched, the leather creaking under the pressure. My pulse pounded in my ears, a relentless, thunderous beat that drowned out the world outside. I tipped my head back against the headrest, inhaling sharply, but it did nothing to steady me.

Because all I could fucking taste was her.

Sweet. Addictive. Still lingering on my lips like she’d branded herself into me.

I could feel her, too—everywhere. The warmth of her skin burned into my palms, seared into my memory like a scar I never wanted to fade. She hadmeltedagainst me, breathless, pliant. Not pulling away. Not resisting.Wanting.

My cock throbbed at the memory, the way her breath hitched, the way her fingers curled into me like she wasn’t sure whether to push me away or pull me closer.

But beneath that sharp hunger, cold dread coiled tight in my gut.

What thefuckdid I just do?

I kissed her. I touched her. Icrossed the fucking line.

The weight of it slammed into me like a freight train, knocking the breath from my lungs. I wasn’t supposed to want her. I wasn’t supposed to take. I was supposed to push her—force her to be better,protect her. Instead, I’d let my control snap for a single moment, and now?

Now there was no undoing it.

I let out a slow, ragged exhale, forehead pressing against the steering wheel. My skin still burned where she had been, my chest still heaved like I had just fought my way through a game that had no clear winner. Guilt twisted inside me, but it wasn’t enough to smother the truth clawing at my insides.

I wasn’t sorry.Not even a little.

Ishouldbe. I should feel regret sinking its teeth into me, should be convincing myself that this was a mistake.

But I wasn’t.

Because I had seen it in her eyes, too—that flicker of somethingundeniable, something just as reckless as the fire consuming me from the inside out.

Shewantedme.

Maybe she wanted more than she even realized. More than the fight. More than the game.More than she should.

And fuck if that didn’t make me want to claim her even harder.

But what if that desire destroyed her? What if it ruinedbothof us?

I tightened my grip, head still bowed, every muscle coiled tight with restraint.

Because now that I’d had a taste?

I didn’t know if I could stop.

I told myself I’d stop. That this was a mistake, just a moment of weakness. But I knew it was a fucking lie.

There was no stopping now.

Not after the way she melted against me. Not after the fire in her eyes, the way she clung to me like she was already mine. Because she was.

The drive home felt like a slow, agonizing crawl, my mind looping through every second of our collision. Her breathless gasps. Her body pressed into mine. That split second where she didn’t pull away—where she wanted it.