River sat still for several minutes after Heiko’s intense declaration, her heartbeat slowing only by a fraction, her nerves frayed but barely holding together. The way his voice dropped, the commanding edge that threaded through his tone like steel through silk, it both anchored her and unsettled her, a reminder that this man who claimed her so possessively was far more than just the protective figure she had known in private.
Her thoughts were scattered, her chest still rising and falling with a tremor, when his voice cut through the silence again, crisp and devoid of softness.
“Put yourself together and change your dress. You have fifteen minutes.”
She blinked at him, startled, like a deer caught in the path of a hunter, wide-eyed and frozen in place as if she hadn’t quite understood
