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He withdraws slowly, his breath hot against my skin, trailing down my neck. As I turn to watch him fasten his pants, a quiet sadness creeps in.

“This is the last time,” I whisper as he adjusts his mask.

“Last time, huh?” His knuckles graze my cheek, the warmth of his touch seeping deep into my skin, sending a shiver that should be illegal.

“That’s right,” I manage, but my tone wavers, betraying me. My lashes flutter, helpless to the power he holds over me.

He draws closer, his breath warm against my lips. “If this is the last time…” His voice is thick with a longing that makes my pulse surge. “May I have a kiss goodbye?”

Every fiber of my being screams for him. His lips hover so close I can feel the heat between us, but I fight to stay still, to hold back, clinging to the fragile distance that remains.

“I don’t think you deserve it.” My mouth curls defiantly, even as my heart pounds violently, betraying the desperate longing I can’t escape.

“Maybe not.” His hand grasps my nape, sending an electric jolt through me. “But I’m asking anyway.”

The heat in his eyes sears through me and a nervous flutter stirs deep in my gut, leaving me momentarily speechless, caught in the intensity of his gaze.

“Beg.” The challenge leaves my lips before I can stop it. “Beg for a kiss.”

His laugh, low and rich, rumbles through me, sending shivers down my body. It’s like a magnet—impossible to resist and hard to walk away from.

Without warning, he grabs my throat, his thumb pressing against my pulse, and my lungs seize. Every time he touches me like this, it’s as if I’m sinking, drowning in him, unable to escape the flood of sensation.

“Please,” he breathes. “Let me kiss you just one more time before I let you go.”

The rawness in his tone, the way his eyes are locked on mine, makes it hard to say no.

But the truth is, I could never say it. Not to him. Not ever.

“I’ll do anything.” His words hit like a vow, and I almost want to crumble under the weight of it.

“Anything?” I scoff, though it’s hollow. “That’s not true, is it?”

You won’t be with me. Not like I need.

He exhales a rough sound. “You don’t get it, do you?” His voice cracks, raw and desperate. “I would if I could. I just can’t.”

His pain presses into me, and though anger and sadness churn inside me, I can’t shut him out. I can’t. Instead, I lean in, brushing my lips against his, just barely a touch—enough to feel the world crack open around us.

“Kiss me,” I whisper, though it comes out more like a plea, even as I try to hold on to what little remains of my resolve.

His hands cradle my face, his gaze so intense it feels like he's searching through every corner of my soul, and just like that, everything else fades.

He leans in, slamming his mouth against mine, and the world explodes into flames. His kiss is everything—yearning, wild, desperate. It’s the last of us, and we’re both starving for it, hands roaming, trying to fill the space between us.

I want it to last forever. I wish it didn’t have to be this way. I wish we didn’t have to be this: two halves that can’t fit anymore, no matter how much we want it. And as tears threaten behind my eyes for what could’ve been, I let go, losing myself in him one last time.

For one moment, in this kiss, we are us again. Dinara and Cillian, before everything shattered. Before the world tore us apart.

I wish it could be enough. But it isn’t.

CHAPTER20

CILLIAN

ONE WEEK LATER

“Where are you?”Tynan’s voice slices through the phone as I step out of my car, tugging my black hoodie tighter around my face.