The door gave way with the faintest whisper, a sound swallowed instantly by the room beyond.
James slipped through the gap, his pulse roaring a frantic counterpoint to the silence. The air was thick, heavy with the amber light of scattered candles and the hazy, intoxicating scent of frankincense, wine, and sweat.
His eyes adjusted, and what he saw hollowed the breath from his chest.
Mariam.
What he saw wasn’t chaos; it was absolute control. Hers.
The same woman who had once trembled under his authority now ruled the space like a queen on her throne. Her chin was tilted, her voice a low whisper that still carried through the room like smoke rising to a vaulted ceiling. She touched Darius, not with affection, but with a claim that left no doubt who held the leash between them.
J
