326 Strength Meets Force

If you like music while you read, try "Back to You" by Nation Haven.

*****

~ ZARA ~

I sat in the chair in that cottage, half-amused, and half-terrified. Stark, more emotional and flustered than I'd ever seen him, had rushed out, swinging wildly between apologizing to Hildie, reassuring me, begging me not to leave again, and shooting pleading looks at his… fiancé?

Meanwhile, her features only softened when he looked at her. Every other moment, she was a predator on prey.

It was adorable. Where Stark was a rock—massive, immovable, a force that could not be denied, Hildie appeared to be fire—heat, strength, and would burn you a crisp the moment you got in her way.

When Stark raced out of the cottage, babbling about the time, they had a brief, fierce, whispered conversation before he ran, then she took position near the door, watching me.