When I didn’t move, he took control and swayed us both with his enormous frame around me in slow moves. The heady combination of his exotic cologne tangled with smoke filled my senses.

Still the same.

My brain stopped working.

Hot breath tickled my neck, making my knees weak. An uncouth swarm of emotions crashed over me. Something clenched in my chest as a shaky breath left my lips.

We stayed silent as we swayed under the music. All I could hear was the music, my deep breathing, and the pounding of my heart in my ears. My hands trembled under his.

I couldn’t do this. I needed to go away.

Moving his arms, when I tried to pull away, he grasped my hand and swirled me around, pulling me in. My chest collided against him. Gasping, when I looked up at him...

My breath caught in my throat.

Those stormy gray eyes...

After seven years, I was looking into them. And it was what I feared. They held me captive, just as they used to do years ago. Those gray pools peered into my soul, compelling me. His face was inches away from mine.

Breathless, I took in his other features. And I was lost for words.

Strong chiseled jaw, prominent chin, beautiful sharp nose, firm desirable lips, and a wide forehead. Not even a strand of his jet-black hair was out of place. He wore it long, the ends touching his neck. Just like a Greek god.

Gone was that charming boyish look. Everything about him now screamed man. A powerful, rough man.

I was breathless. My gaze couldn’t move from his face. I didn’t know age made people that much beautiful. No, beautiful wasn’t the word. Words couldn’t describe Achilles Valencian.

He was… out of this world.

Raising a hand, he brushed a single strand away from my face, and I didn’t feel the shiver when Warner had done it earlier. His eyes roamed every inch of my face, as if memorizing them. They seemed in some kind of trance. As if he couldn’t help it, he brushed his knuckles against my cheek. A breathy murmur left his lips, which I couldn’t decipher.

Subconsciously, I leaned into his touch, eyes not leaving his face. Skin eager for more, only those strong arms around me didn’t suffice. My heart longed for something as it basked under his scorching gaze. The gaze I used to die for wishing it on me even for a second.

My vision burned at the soaring emotions slamming in my chest.

My Ace…

But then his voice broke my trance, bringing me back to the present, the reality.

“Still won’t talk to me, Rosebud?” Gray eyes locked with my turquoise ones.

Rosebud? So, he still remembered someone of that name existed in his life?

THREE: HIS ROSEBUD?