Elena’s POV

“Careful.”

The word was low.

Calm.

Spoken close enough that I felt the faint warmth of it against the side of my face.

I stayed frozen for a single, stretched second, the rain still hammering the pavement beyond the canopy, the hand around my waist still holding me upright with effortless strength. My pulse hadn’t slowed. It thudded hard against my throat, against the place where his fingers pressed through the thin fabric of my blouse.

I shifted carefully, testing the ground beneath my heels, and turned my head.

I expected a security guard.

A stranger who had happened to be walking past.

Anyone else.

Instead I looked...