I heard him take a step toward me, forcing myself to look at the ground and not at him closing the small distance between us. His hand tucked my hair behind my ear, his breath on my shoulder. He’s so close to me that my heart is beating out of my chest. All of my sparring training had disappeared from my memory. Xade would be disappointed; I should be able to hit this male and knock him off his feet but I was paralyzed by the gentleness of his touch.

