CHAPTER 142
The air in the kitchen, once smelling of sweet butter and domestic promise, had curdled into something thick and toxic.
Isabella hadn't even realized her eyes had slipped shut, her mind drifting into a dangerous, hypnotic haze fueled by the overwhelming proximity of Lucian's heat and the terrifying vibration of his groans against her skin.
She was floating in a sea of gray and crimson, her logic failing her, her body surrendering to the primal pull of her mate.
Then, a sharp, acidic sting pierced through the trance. It wasn't a soft scent. It was a chemical intrusion—the heavy, choking smell of scorched protein and melting non-stick coating.
The smoke bloomed from the forgotten pan on the stove in a dense, charcoal-colored cloud that clawed at the back of Isabella's throat.
