Amelia's eyes fluttered open, registering only the crushing, absolute pitch black of the room. It was a suffocating darkness, so profound it felt less like an absence of light and more like a heavy, velvet shroud pulled over her head. Her heart, a frightened bird, began a frantic tattoo against her ribs.
Where was she?
A cold wave of panic washed over her until a sensation, intimate and utterly chilling, registered. A slow, rhythmic inhale and exhale was feathering the sensitive skin of her neck, the warmth stark against the cool night air. A heavy, possessive weight rested across her waist—a strong forearm. Her legs were tangled, not by choice, but by the careless, deep slumber of another body beside her.
Her mind, still thick and sluggish from whatever had happened, began the agon
