Her pale eyes flicked upward instantly.
Soft moonlight eyes.
Fuck.
I was gone for this female.
Completely and irrevocably.
“I can stand here all night, you know,” I murmured, forcing some humor into my voice before the growling got out of hand. “Like a statue. We’ll both be trapped in this exact position until you tell me.”
Her lips twitched.
A flicker of movement.
Tiny.
Barely there.
But enough.
Relief struck me so hard it bordered on embarrassing.
Gods.
I liked making her smile.
Wanted it with a hunger that felt unsettlingly close to addiction.
“Fine,” she sighed at last, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.
I instantly disliked that posture.
Defensive.
Closed off.
Like she expected judgment.
I wanted her relaxed around me.
Safe around me.
And wasn’t that a terrifying thought?
Because I was likely the single most unstable graduate student at the entire Asgarheim Runevald Institute.
Perhaps the most dangerous.
And yet here she stood confiding in me like she trusted I wouldn’t hurt her.
That realization landed heavily.
Warmly.
Precious.
A gift.
