~Aria ~
The morning light spills into the chamber like molten gold, warm yet suffocating. I curl deeper into the furs, trying to shield myself, but the heavy doors groan open and I know peace was never meant for me here.
“Up.” Kael’s voice cuts through the stillness, low, absolute.
I stay where I am, muscles aching, heart still bruised from the night before. Not from tenderness, not from love—but from the weight of his hands pinning me to the bedpost, from his mouth stealing pieces of me until I hardly recognized myself. His whispers linger against my skin even now, a brand I can’t scrub away.
“Aria.” His tone sharpens, steel threaded through it.
I force myself upright, spine stiff, glare locked on him as he strides inside. He’s already cloaked in black leather laced with silver, ever
