Rosalia — POV
I shot up from the bed like I'd been electrocuted.
For a moment, I genuinely thought lightning had struck me—my entire body jolted upright, tense, breathless, overwhelmed. My lungs burned as if the very air had turned into molten fire.
"Oh dear God—I nearly stopped breathing," I whispered, clutching my wildly beating heart, feeling it hammer against my ribs like a frantic creature trying to escape.
My chest rose and fell in sharp, uneven movements. I placed a trembling hand where his fingers had brushed earlier. Even now, long after the moment had passed, the warmth lingered there—soft, haunting, impossible to forget.
Still warm.
Still tingling.
Still so unreal that my brain refused to accept it.
And then—remembering Cassel's warm, confident, unbearably gentle touch—my mind exploded in a silent, emotional supernova. The memory hit me like a tidal wave, drowning me instantly.
