MALACHAI
I gazed into Ezra's deep blue eyes as his smile widened, crinkling the corners until they nearly disappeared in pure joy. It was the kind of smile that did things to a man, the kind that made my chest tighten and my breath hitch in a way that could only mean danger. And yet, I couldn't look away.
Lucius's prisoner. Lucius's property. That was what Ezra was.
And here I was, staring.
My body tensed, instinct warring with something far more reckless. I wasn't supposed to be here, not like this. I was his bodyguard, sworn to Lucius's command, a man meant to be nothing but a shadow in the background, unnoticed and unfeeling. But Ezra had seen me.
He had seen me, and now he was smiling at me.
"Malachai," he murmured, as if tasting the name on his tongue. His voice was softer than I expected, yet it settled over me like a whispered sin.
I should have ignored him. I should have stepped back, stayed silent, let the weight of my presence remind him of the line neither of us should cross. But instead, I found myself trapped in his gaze, my name still lingering between us, thickening the air like a secret.
A single moment. That's all it was. A moment where the world slowed, where his eyes traced over me as if he were memorizing every detail, as if I were something more than just a man sworn to keep him in line. As if I were worth looking at.
Dangerous. This was dangerous.
I clenched my fists at my sides, willing my body to listen to reason, but then Ezra tilted his head slightly, and a lock of his dark hair slipped over his forehead. Without thinking, my fingers twitched. I wanted to touch him. Just for a second. Just to see if he was real.
I didn't realize I was moving closer until my fingertips brushed against his ear. His skin was warm, burning beneath my touch, and I swore I felt the faintest shiver run through him. He didn't pull away. He just stood there, watching me with an expression I couldn't name, something soft, something that made my throat tighten.
I was supposed to be afraid. Lucius would kill me if he saw this. If he even suspected it. And yet, fear wasn't the thing making my pulse race.
It was Ezra.
It was the way his breath hitched, the way his lips parted ever so slightly, as if he were about to say something but forgot how. It was the warmth of his skin beneath my fingers, the softness of it, the way my own body betrayed me and leaned in just a fraction too close.
This wasn't just dangerous. This was reckless. Suicidal.
I should have stepped back. I should have forced the distance between us. But I couldn't. Not yet. Not when my mind was already consumed by the image of him~his delicate features, the curve of his lips, the way his lashes fluttered when he blinked, as if he was just as caught in this as I was.
Then he spoke again, and his voice was barely above a whisper.
"You're not supposed to talk to me, are you?.
My heart pounded against my ribs. No. I wasn't. I wasn't supposed to look at him, wasn't supposed to let him look at me like this, like he saw something more than just Lucius's right hand. But he did. I could feel it in the way his gaze lingered, in the way he didn't pull away when I touched him, in the way he smiled as if he hadn't been stolen away and caged in a world of violence and chains.
Ezra was forbidden.
Ezra was everything I couldn't have.
And yet, I couldn't bring myself to move away.
A footstep sounded in the hall, and the moment shattered like fragile glass. I jerked my hand back as if burned, every muscle in my body going rigid. Reality slammed into me all at once, the weight of what I'd just done, what I'd almost done, crashing down like a curse.
I forced my face into its usual cold mask, into the unreadable expression Lucius demanded of me. Because if Lucius saw the way I had looked at Ezra—if he even suspected what I felt in that single, stolen moment—he would tear me apart.
Ezra's smile faltered for just a second, but he said nothing. He only let his eyes linger on mine, a silent understanding passing between us, one I didn't dare acknowledge.
I had to stay away from him. For his sake. For mine.
But as I turned away, forcing myself to walk out of that room and back into the life I had chosen, I knew one thing for certain.
He is Lucius's.