Stronger.
More inevitable.
I wanted her more every day.
Not less.
Not in some passing lustful way either.
No.
This was slower.
Deeper.
More dangerous.
I wanted her laughter in my rooms.
Wanted her soft body curled against mine while storms battered the cliffs outside.
Wanted to hear her ramble about books and spells and strange Earth documentaries while I pretended not to hang on every word.
Wanted to touch every inch of her until she stopped doubting that anyone could ever truly desire her.
Gods.
My chest tightened painfully.
Because how had no one seen her before?
How had the world managed to overlook someone like Amrin?
She moved through Runevald quietly, almost apologetically, like she genuinely believed she took up too much space.
Meanwhile every instinct I possessed screamed that she deserved to be worshipped for existing.
That beautiful mind.
Those pale lunar eyes full of too much empathy for this brutal fucking multiverse.
Her kindness.
Gods, her kindness was what truly ruined me.
Amrin cared about people even after the world had spent years making her feel small.
Even after her family convinced her she was lacking somehow.
Even after loneliness carved insecurity into her bones.
She still looked at others gently.
Still tried to understand people.
Still offered warmth so freely it bordered on self-sacrifice.
And me?
