Dare to Love: 12. The Unraveling

Julian’s private space was not one he opened to anyone. It wasn’t his lecture hall, where words carried authority; nor his office, where every book on the shelf was meant to impress. This was tucked away, hidden behind the faculty housing wing — a sanctuary layered with dark wood, low amber lamps, and the faint trace of leather and tobacco smoke that clung to his skin.

When Amelia stepped inside, her breath hitched, not just at the room’s intimacy but at the fact that she was here. Invited. Chosen. Her pulse raced like it had before every exam, only this wasn’t about grades, rules, or lines on paper. It was about the line they were crossing now, alone in the quiet of a man’s world.

Julian closed the door behind them with a soft click. That sound made her spine straighten, as though some invisible lock had turned inside her too. His gaze swept her — not the sharp, analytical glance of her professor, but slower, heavier, the way a starving man looked at food he’d denied himself t