I woke to the weight of him.
Still wrapped around me. Still inside me.
His knot had finally shrunk, but his presence lingered like smoke in my lungs—thick, heavy, impossible to escape.
Kael’s hand rested over my belly.
That same spot again.
He touched it constantly now, like my womb belonged to him before it had even decided whether to bloom.
His voice was a low murmur against my shoulder. “You’re still here.”
I didn’t answer.
My thighs ached. My throat was raw from biting back screams. There were bruises blooming like violets along my hips where his fingers had clutched me too tightly.
But worse than the marks was the heat curling in my chest.
I wanted him again.
And I hated that I did.
“I dreamt of your scent,” he whispered. “When I was banished, when I was bleeding in the wo
