Joanne’s POV
The slam of the door rattled the chamber long after Alexander had gone. I sat frozen on the edge of the bed, my hands still trembling from shoving him away. My lips tingled from his bruising kiss, my chest still heaved from the storm of it, and yet the hollow silence that followed was worse than any heat he’d lit in me.
He didn’t come back.
Not when the candles sputtered low. Not when the coals in the hearth died to ash. Not when I curled beneath the sheets, shivering with anger and shame, replaying every word he’s said in that cool, commanding voice.
“You were disobedient.”
“Say my name.”
“You’re out of line.”
I wanted to scream into the dark, to tear the sheets with my fists, to do anything but lie awake, wondering if he had gone back to Eloise after leaving me.
