Chapter 13 Aurora
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Aurora
It’s early.
So early the sun hasn’t even made much of an appearance, so it makes sense the house is quiet, the kind of still that makes my heartbeat feel too loud, too present.
Maybe it’s because everything has been in motion, tumbling too fast for me to catch up. Maybe it's because I’m alone, and the quiet is giving me too much space to think.
I stand in the kitchen, staring at the coffee machine, trying to figure out how to make the air not feel so stifling. I’ve been running on adrenaline and distractions, but now, in the calm of the morning, the silence is suffocating. I’m almost waiting for something to happen.
I rub my temples, trying to shake off last night. The way Zane held me. The way Finn kissed me. The look in Ryder’s eyes when he caught Finn and me. It’s a knot I can’t untangle, and every time I think I have it figured out, it tightens again.
I push those thoughts away. I’m here to figure things out, not get swept up in whatever the hell this town is doing to me.
The door behind me creaks, the sound too loud in the stillness.
I spin to see those intense eyes staring at me once more.
“I need to talk to you,” Ryder’s voice rumbles from the doorway.
I freeze, my pulse spiking before I even acknowledge what he just said. “Huh? Isn’t it a bit early for that?”
He’s already standing too close behind me before I even have a chance to process the movement.
“Now,” he says sharply, slicing through the air between us.
“We need to talk now while we have the chance. You’re not safe here, Aurora.
I don’t know what Finn has told you, about himself, about us…
and I’ve tried to warn him about this, but…
” He clucks his tongue in irritation. “You’re acting like this is some kind of vacation romance. ”
I meet his gaze with an incredulous laugh, a short burst of sound that escapes me before I can stop it.
“A vacation romance?” I repeat, raising an eyebrow. “That’s what you think this is?”
His jaw tightens, a muscle working beneath his skin. “I don’t care what you think. I care about you not getting killed, which is exactly what’s going to happen if you keep acting like everything’s fine.”
“Killed?”
I swallow hard.
I kinda assumed these men had dangerous pasts, which is why I’m stuck in the middle of this right now, but Ryder’s words totally unnerve me.
“What are you talking about?” I continue. “Ryder, what are you saying?”
His eyes narrow as he steps closer, his body towering over me. There’s almost no room between us now, and every inch of me screams to push him away, to distance myself from the tension, but I can’t move.
“You think you can just walk into this world without understanding the danger?” His voice lowers, quieter now, but the venom in it cuts through the air. “You think this is some game, some joke? You’re playing with things you don’t even understand, and you have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
He reaches for me, his hand coming out as if to grab my wrist, but I flinch back before he can make contact. Everything crackles between us, overwhelming with everything unsaid. Every harsh word, every unshed emotion.
“I didn’t ask for this,” I snap, my frustration spilling out. “But I’m here, and I’m trying to deal with it… however I can.”
Ryder’s eyes narrow further, his jaw clenched. He’s so close I can feel the heat of his body radiating off him, and my heart starts to pound in my chest.
“Are you serious?” I snap, my chest heaving with anger. “I’m here because you brought me here, and I’ll be gone before you know it.”
Ryder doesn’t flinch. In fact, he steps closer, his presence looming like a storm ready to break. “You’re not ready for this world. It’s going to hit you hard, Aurora. And you’ll get burned. When the time is right, you go.”
The words hit hard as a slap to the face, and they rattle everything inside me. I don’t know what to do with the hurt that surges in my chest. But I don’t back down. I never do.
“You don’t get to decide what I’m built for,” I fire back, loud, raw, and unfiltered. “I didn’t ask for any of this, but I’m here, and I’m not running away just because you think I’m too fragile for your world.”
I expect him to back off. I expect him to say something, anything, that could diffuse the tension crackling between us. But he doesn’t.
Instead, Ryder crowds me against the wall, his presence overwhelming. His gaze locks onto mine, unyielding. The room is shrinking, the walls are pressing in, and all I can focus on is him.
His breath is rhythmic, but there’s emotion in his eyes that I can’t place. It’s dangerous and dark.
I swallow, my pulse hammering in my throat. “Ryder,” I say. “What are you…?”
Before I can finish the sentence, his hand slams against the wall beside me, the movement so close it steals my breath.
The seconds stretch out, taut with unspoken words.
His arm is a mere inch from my face, his body nearly touching mine, and I can feel the heat radiating off him.
It’s overwhelming, suffocating, and I can’t seem to move, can’t seem to breathe.
I stare up at him, trapped in this unbearable moment, waiting for something to break between us.
His eyes flick to my lips. Just for a split second, he’s overcome by a dangerous flicker of desire, and the world stops.
Every breath halts in my chest.
His proximity, the atmosphere pulsing with our closeness, sends a wave of need washing over me. It’s primal, urgent, and I feel my body respond against my will, leaning closer to him, even though I know I shouldn’t.
I close my eyes, and everything is dizzying. Every inch of my skin is alight with an unbearable longing, and I can’t stop myself from curling my fists into the fabric of my clothes, desperate to ground myself in anything.
His breath ghosts against my ear as his face moves closer. Just a millimeter away from mine, and I swear the space between us is humming with anticipation, every part of me begging for the kiss I know is coming…
But then, just when I think he’s going to kiss me, when I’m teetering on the edge of emotions I can’t control, he pulls away.
Not just an inch.
He steps back completely, the space between us becoming an unbearable chasm.
My body fights the absence of him like someone drowning reaches for air.
He doesn’t kiss me. He doesn’t touch me. He steps away, and I’m left reeling, standing still as everything inside me crashes to a halt. My pulse is thundering in my ears. My chest is tight, and my breath is ragged as I struggle to find my footing in this new, impossible silence.
“You don’t get it, do you?” he says, as dark as the storm in his eyes. “This isn’t a game. This isn’t a challenge. I won’t watch you get hurt because you think you can handle it.”
I stand there, frozen, caught between anger and the overwhelming desire to close the distance between us once more. My hands tremble at my sides, my heart pounding harder than it should. My body wants him again, needs him, even as the frustration burns in my veins.
“Then stop pushing me away,” I hear myself say. The words spill out before I can stop them, and they hit the air like a confession. “Stop acting like I’m an issue for you.”
Ryder’s gaze hardens, his jaw clenched so tight I’m afraid it might break. But there’s something behind his eyes, a flicker of rawness that I don’t quite understand. His body is wound tight, his posture steel, holding back danger.
“I’m not pushing you away,” he says quietly. “And you aren’t an issue. But I do need to protect you.”
His words are a blow to my chest, and I fight the instinct to flinch.
I want to tell him I don’t need his protection.
I want to scream that I’m not some fragile thing to be shielded.
But I can’t. I can’t fight the heat that coils in my stomach, the ache that floods my chest when he speaks like that.
I’m not sure if it’s his words or the way his body moves, but everything in me burns for him.
My voice catches in my throat as I try to speak, but it feels like a lie I can’t manage.
“Then let me decide what’s best for me,” I finally say. “I’m not made of glass, Ryder. And I don’t need you to decide what I’m capable of.”
He steps closer again, so close his breath mingles with mine, sending a shiver down my spine. The air between us crackles with tension, and I’m sure he’s holding back. I can feel it in the very marrow of my bones.
Ryder’s eyes darken, the intensity in them almost unbearable.
“You don’t get it,” he whispers. “I’m trying to protect you, even if it means you hate me for it.”
I want to step away, to scream, but I don’t move. My pulse spikes as his presence surrounds me, making everything in me tighten with the need for him. But then, without warning, he pulls back again.
“I’m not pushing you away,” he says softly, but it feels like he’s breaking inside of me. “And you aren’t an issue.”
He turns, his footsteps heavy against the floor, and my heart cracks at the thought of him walking away, leaving me like this.
The door slams behind him, and I’m left standing there, breathless, aching, and uncertain. My skin is on fire, and I’m not sure if it’s the anger or the desire that has me feeling like I’m drowning.
I don’t know what’s happening between us. I don’t know if I want it to continue.
But one thing is certain: I’m left with an emptiness I can’t seem to fill.