18
~Darlon's POV
The evening air in the lounge was warm and quiet, the kind of quiet that hummed in my chest. The curtains were half-drawn, and the sunset spilled through the window like melted gold, brushing over the wine glasses on the table. I had been sitting there for the past thirty minutes, pretending that the view mattered more than the woman sitting a few feet away from me.
But it was useless.
Elara was impossible not to look at.
She sat on the couch across from me, her back half-slouched, her cheeks flushed from the wine. Her hair fell around her face like soft threads of night. The red on her lips matched the drink in her hand, and when she lifted the glass, the light caught on her skin. There was something about her, maybe it was the way she tried to stay small, to shrink into herself like she didn't deserve space, that twisted something deep inside me.
