Anabeth had never been this confused in her life.
Rafael had insisted on walking her back to her dorm after the terrifying moment near the library. She didn't argue. Something about him felt safe, even when everything else about him spelled danger.
By the time they reached her door, night had settled over the campus. A warm breeze drifted in through the hallway windows, carrying the scent of rain. The lights above them flickered softly, casting shadows that danced across Rafael's face.
She didn't want him to leave.
"Do you want to… come in for a minute?" she asked quietly, surprising even herself.
Rafael exhaled slowly, as if he'd been holding his breath this whole time.
"That's not a good idea," he said, eyes lowering to her lips before he looked away again.
She stepped closer. "Why?"
"Because I don't trust myself around you," he murmured.
The words hit her like a spark.
She felt warm all over — not embarrassed, not afraid — wanted.
"Maybe I don't want you to trust yourself," she whispered.
Rafael looked down at her with an expression she had never seen on him before. Something unguarded. Something hungry and soft at the same time.
He reached up and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering against her skin. She shivered. He felt it. His jaw tightened.
"Anabeth," he breathed, "you have no idea how hard it is to stay away from you."
"Then don't," she replied.
He closed the distance.
The moment his hand cupped her face, her heart jumped. His thumb grazed her cheek, slow and gentle, while his other hand pulled her waist closer. Their bodies almost touched — almost — and the heat between them felt like lightning trapped in the air.
She leaned into him, and Rafael dipped his forehead against hers, eyes closing as if fighting something inside himself.
"You're dangerous," he whispered.
"To you?" she asked, her lips inches from his.
"Yes."
That was all she needed.
She lifted on her toes and kissed him.
It wasn't soft.
It wasn't careful.
It was desperate — the kind of kiss that steals breath and gives it back all at once.
Rafael responded immediately, pulling her against him, deepening the kiss as if he'd been waiting for this from the moment he saw her. His hands fit around her waist, her shoulders, her back — holding her carefully, yet with unmistakable desire.
She felt his restraint slipping.
She felt her own slipping too.
He pressed her gently against the wall beside her door, their breaths tangled, his forehead dropping to the side of her jaw as he whispered her name like it meant something more than sound.
"Anabeth… if we keep going, I won't stop."
Her fingers slid up his chest, tracing the lines of his muscles beneath his shirt. She felt him shiver under her touch.
"Maybe I don't want you to stop."
He drew in a sharp breath.
His hands tightened at her waist.
For a moment — a long, burning moment — it felt like the world had disappeared. Just him. Just her. Just their hearts beating far too loudly.
He leaned in again, lips brushing her neck, but just before the last inch closed—
He stopped.
His breath trembled against her skin.
Then he pulled back slowly, his eyes dark with a war between wanting her and protecting her from something she didn't yet understand.
"Not tonight," he whispered, voice rough. "Not when danger is this close. You deserve more than a moment stolen between shadows."
She searched his face — not angry, not disappointed — just full of a longing she didn't know how to handle.
Rafael lifted her chin gently with two fingers.
"When the time is right," he said softly, "I'll give you everything. But not like this."
And even though they had stopped, the air between them still burned with the heat of what almost happened.