Rowan went perfectly still.
For a second, the only sound in the dimly lit corridor was the frantic, hammering rhythm of Aria’s own heart. Rowan stared at her, his broad shoulders rising and falling with a sharp, ragged intake of breath. The feral gold that had just begun to fade from his eyes flared back to life, bright and consuming in the shadows.
He could have misunderstood. Another Alpha—Aiden—would have taken those words as an invitation to claim, to conquer, to push her down onto the mattress and take what was offered.
But Rowan didn't move toward her. He stayed exactly where he was, his gaze searching her face, reading the slight tremble in her hands, the wide, vulnerable look in her eyes. He saw exactly what this was. It wasn't a seduction. It was a test. It was her, standing on
