Aria’s POV
The morning sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains, casting soft golden lines across the room. Warmth touched my bare skin, but it wasn’t the sun that woke me. It was the absence of pain, the soothing of the unbearable ache that had possessed me all night. My heat had finally passed.
But peace didn’t come with it.
I blinked, adjusting to the light, and realized I wasn’t alone. Klaus lay a few inches away, half on his side, watching me with a quiet intensity. His golden eyes were softer than I remembered—wary, reverent, like he was afraid to breathe too loudly and shatter whatever fragile connection remained between us.
I pulled the sheets higher over my chest and turned my face away.
Shame hit me like a punch to the chest. The memory of last night came in fragments: t
