WHISPERS OF THE FORGOTTEN HEART

Ella had never seen him like this before raw, vulnerable and desperate.

It was late when she found him, standing at the edge of the village by the river. The sky above had grown heavy with the weight of another storm, the air thick with anticipation. The trees swayed restlessly, the wind brushing against her cheeks as she approached him quietly. He didn't notice her at first. His broad back was turned to her, his face shadowed by the weight of the night.

For a brief fleeting moment, Ella thought about turning back. It was not the time. Not now. She had enough of her own burdens to bear, enough of her own ghosts chasing her. Yet, something tugged at her, something stronger than reason.

As she stepped closer, she heard him.

"Why did you come?" His voice was rough, strained. The wind seemed to carry his words away before she could fully hear them, but they sliced through her just the same.

Ella hesitated, unsure how to respond. She didn't have an answer for him—not one that made sense. She had wanted to see him, to check on him, to know the truth behind the cold distance in his eyes.

But as she stood there, watching him, something shifted in her. There was an urgency in his presence, a pull she couldn't explain.

"I was worried," she said softly, stepping closer.

He turned then, and in that moment, the storm seemed to break inside him. His eyes, those dark, haunted eyes found hers with such intensity that it almost took her breath away.

"Don't," he said, his voice a plea. "You don't know anything about me. I'm not someone you should be worried about."

The pain in his words struck her like a physical blow. It was the kind of pain that echoed through the bones, the kind that no amount of time could heal. And in that moment, Ella realized something.

He wasn't running from the past. He was drowning in it.

Without thinking, she reached out to him, her hand trembling as it brushed against his arm.

"Xander," she whispered, the name falling from her lips with a naturalness that startled them both.

He flinched at the sound of his true name, his breath catching in his throat. But he didn't pull away. He stood frozen, as if the mere touch of her hand had unlocked something deep inside him.

She saw the conflict in his face, the war between the man he was and the man he had tried so hard to bury. His eyes flickered to her lips, then back to her eyes, a struggle for control warring within him.

"I don't know what you want from me, Ella," he said, his voice thick, a mixture of frustration and something darker, something that made her pulse race. "But I am not the man you think I am."

A soft laugh, almost bitter, escaped him.

Ella's hand slid from his arm to his chest, her fingers brushing the fabric of his shirt. His heart was pounding beneath her touch.

"I know exactly who you are," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "I know more than you think."

He closed his eyes, his jaw tightening. And then, before either of them could stop it, he kissed her.

It was a kiss that began gently, with the trembling hesitation of two people who knew they should not, but could not stay away. It deepened quickly, a fierce hunger rising between them, fueled by months of unspoken words, by the magnetic pull that had drawn them together since the first moment their paths crossed.

His hands tangled in her hair, pulling her closer as if to erase the distance between them. She responded eagerly, her hands sliding over his chest, feeling the heat of his body through the fabric of his coat.

Everything that had been left unsaid between them, the secrets, the sorrow, the longing came pouring out in that one desperate, burning kiss. It was as if the universe had conspired to bring them together only to test them, to break them wide open.

When they finally pulled away, both of them gasping for breath, their foreheads rested against each other, their bodies still trembling with the intensity of what had just happened..

"I shouldn't have done that," he whispered, his voice rough, laced with regret and desire.

Ella's fingers grazed his cheek, feeling the roughness of his stubble. "But you did," she replied, her voice thick with emotion. "And now… now we have to face it."

Xander closed his eyes, his heart still racing, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts.

"Ella" His voice cracked. "You don't understand. I am dangerous. Iam not the man you think I am."

She shook her head, pressing a finger to his lips. "I don't need you to be perfect. I don't need you to be anything but real."

And in that moment, as the storm raged above them, Ella knew the truth: She was already too far gone.

Her heart had been stolen by the man who was as broken as she was. And no matter the cost, she couldn't walk away now.