Lilian’s POV
The heat was suffocating.
It wasn’t the comfortable warmth of a down comforter or the pleasant humidity of a summer night. Instead, it was a heavy, oppressive furnace that pressed against my back and soaked into my skin, trying to boil the blood in my veins. I gasped, waking with a start as my lungs seized, feeling as though I’d just surfaced from deep water.
The room was pitch black, the heavy velvet curtains drawn tight to block out the moon, the stars, and the world outside. The only reality was the bed, the tangle of sheets, and the man wrapped around me like a vice.
Alexander was burning. His arm, draped heavy and possessive over my waist, felt like a brand, while his chest pressed against my back with a feverish intensity that should have been impossible for a human
