Elara's POV
I slept through the afternoon and evening. Hunger finally dragged me back to consciousness.
My body ached everywhere—a thoroughness that would have been impressive if it weren't so mortifying. Nyx's voice came, hushed and strange, not entirely complaining.
'That man... was really something.'
Heat rushed to my face before I could stop it. Memory crashed back with vicious clarity—his hands, his mouth, the impossible control unraveling into raw hunger. The way he'd looked at me like I was the only thing in the world that mattered.
I shoved the entire memory down so hard it made me dizzy.
Ryan had always been gentle. Careful. For years, I had translated that gentleness into love, had told myself his restraint meant he was being considerate. Now, in the brutal light of everyth
