The morning after the chamber, Liora could still feel him inside her. Not just his body, but the echo of his heat, the invisible weight of the bond crawling beneath her skin like it lived there. Every inch of her ached, not in pain, but in memory. Her thighs were still weak, her heartbeat quickened for no reason, and when she pressed her fingers to the glowing collar, it throbbed against her touch like a living thing.
She sat on the edge of the soft bed, clutching the silk sheet to her chest, staring at the curved walls that had no seams or corners. This place was too smooth, too quiet, too alive. She didn’t know how she got back to this room after he took her in the chamber. The last thing she remembered was his hand on her throat and the world splitting open in light.
Her chest rose an
