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The lab was silent except for the hum of Wakanda’s advanced machinery. Riri’s fingers hovered over a console, but her eyes weren’t on the data—they were on Shuri.
The princess was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, chin tilted just slightly, eyes sharp yet playful. “You’re late,” Shuri said, but the smirk tugging at her lips betrayed her annoyance as curiosity.
Riri didn’t look up, but the slight tilt of her head was enough to let Shuri know she’d been noticed. “I wasn’t late,” Riri replied, voice low and deliberate. “You just arrived early.”
Shuri stepped closer, heels clicking softly on the polished floor. “Do you always have to be right?”
Riri’s hand finally brushed the console as her gaze lifted. “You know I like to win.”
Shuri’s pulse skipped. She shouldn’t feel this flutter under Riri’s calm, precise demeanor—but she did. Every measured movement, every carefully controlled breath was magnetic. Forbidden. Dangerous.
“I shouldn’t be here,” Shuri said, more to herself than Riri, but the words hung heavy between them.
“Why not?” Riri asked, still not looking at her. Her voice was soft, teasing—but the underlying command made Shuri’s stomach tighten.
Shuri’s eyes darted around. This was Riri’s domain, and Shuri knew stepping too far across the line would be reckless. But recklessness was intoxicating tonight. “Because… I’m the soon to be queen,” she said, voice low, almost fragile, and then stronger: “And you’re… you.”
Riri finally looked up, gaze locking onto Shuri’s. Her eyes held warmth, but also an edge, a promise, a warning. “And you want me,” she said. Not a question. A statement. And it made Shuri’s heartbeat stutter.
“I… don’t—” Shuri began, but the words faltered.
“You do,” Riri said, stepping closer, the distance between them electric. “Every time you pretend not to, your lips twitch. Every time you glance at me when you think I’m not looking…”
Shuri swallowed hard. Her pulse pounded in her ears, her mind screaming at her to step back—but her body… her body was leaning in, drawn to Riri like gravity itself had changed direction.
“You’re reckless,” she whispered.
“And you,” Riri countered, tilting her head, “are dangerously curious.”
Shuri’s hands clenched the edge of the console as Riri’s fingers brushed against hers—not touching fully, just enough to set her nerves on fire. The spark was instantaneous, a current that made Shuri’s knees feel weak.
“I shouldn’t feel this,” Shuri breathed. “This… want.”
Riri leaned in slightly, so close Shuri could feel the warmth radiating from her, so close she could see the faintest shimmer in her eyes. “I’ve wanted this… you… since the moment you walked in here. Every time you give me that look, every time you test me, every rule you dare to bend behind closed doors…”
Shuri’s breath hitched. She should pull away. She had to pull away. This was forbidden. Dangerous. A scandal waiting to happen. But the pull, the hunger, was unbearable.
“And yet,” Riri continued, voice dropping lower, velvet dark and thrilling, “you’re here. You’ve crossed the line. You want it as badly as I do.”
Shuri’s lips parted, and she felt heat bloom in her chest. Her fingers brushed Riri’s again, this time on purpose, tracing the line of tension she had been denying herself.
“I… can’t,” she whispered, even as her body betrayed her.
Riri’s lips curled in a slow, knowing smile. “You can,” she murmured. “You just won’t admit it yet. That’s fine. I’ll wait. But don’t pretend you don’t feel it.”
Shuri’s hands trembled slightly. The weight of duty pressed against the surge of desire. The crown, the nation, the expectation—all demanding restraint. But the quiet, dangerous magnetism of Riri was a force all on its own.
The lab was silent again, save for their shallow breaths and the hush of machinery communicating. Eyes locked, breaths mingling, the tension taut like a wire stretched too far.
“You’re a criminal,” Shuri said finally, voice low, teasing, and vulnerable all at once.
Riri tilted her head, gaze sharp, lips just inches from Shuri’s ear. “Criminal enough to get what I want?”
Shuri’s pulse raced, heart hammering, and she knew—everything they were holding back, everything they were denying themselves, was about to explode.
And maybe… just maybe… they wouldn’t stop it anymore.