Chapter 5

The air in the secluded alcove behind the giant ferris wheel was thick, heavy with the scent of roasted peanuts, stale popcorn, and the electric tang of impending rain. We had escaped the crushing mass of bodies that filled the main thoroughfare, slipping away into the shadows where the carnival workers rarely ventured. It was a small, concrete storage nook, barely lit by a single flickering bulb that buzzed like an angry insect, casting long, dancing shadows against the stacked crates of candy floss. My heart was hammering against my ribs, not from the roller coaster ride we’d just conquered, but from the predatory grace with which *he* had pulled me into this darkness. He stood close, towering over me, his silhouette framed by the chaotic glow of the spinning lights filtering in from the open doorway. The noise of the park—the shrieks of children, the thumping bass of the DJ booth, the mechanical clatter of the coaster loops—faded into a distant hum, irrelevant to the heat radiating between us. He looked down at me, his eyes dark, hungry, and utterly possessive. He hadn’t said a word since we arrived, but his gaze was a physical weight, tracing the line