Elena slipped through the heavy oak door of her bedroom, her heart pounding in her chest as the latch clicked shut behind her. The dim light from the antique lamp on her nightstand cast long shadows across the room, illuminating the rumpled sheets of her bed where she had tossed and turned earlier, thoughts of Damian consuming her. She leaned back against the door, her breath coming in shallow bursts, the fabric of her silk nightgown clinging to her skin with a faint sheen of sweat. The air was thick with the scent of jasmine from the garden below, mingling with the lingering trace of his cologne that seemed to follow her everywhere now, a reminder of their stolen moments in the shadows of the estate. Her fingers trembled as they brushed against the cool wood, her mind replaying the intens
