The room still throbbed with the aftermath. Heat clung to her skin, dampness between her thighs a constant reminder of what they had done. The sheets beneath her were tangled and wet, holding the imprint of bodies that had burned too hot to hide. Every breath she drew carried the musk of it—raw, intimate, undeniable.
Kael was still beside her, chest rising and falling in sharp, measured beats, his arm heavy across her waist as if keeping her tethered to him. Riven lounged at the edge of the bed, shirt discarded, his smirk all sharp edges. His eyes lingered on her flushed skin, on the faint shimmer of silver still licking across her arms as the Veil responded to the storm inside her.
The knock cut through it all. Hard. Commanding.
“Lady Alina.” Serenya’s voice. Clear. Unyielding.
Alina’
