Naked. Shackled. Kneeling in the dark.
Sera was sweating.
Not from heat..there was none.
The sweat came from fear. From confusion. From the way her body had started to hum low in her belly, that terrible ache growing every time she remembered the way his eyes had looked at her. The way his voice curled around words like mine.
And now, she was alone.
Except… she wasn’t.
Not anymore.
She felt him enter before she heard him.
Her spine stiffened, her lungs clenched, her pulse stuttered in her throat.
He’s here.
She didn’t dare lift her head.
The sound came next.
Boots.
She squeezed her thighs together instinctively.
It didn’t help.
“Look at you.”
Her breath hitched.
Lucien stepped into view, finally, like a god descending through smoke.
He wore black.
Nothing ceremonial. Not
