Aurora couldn't move.
She lay crumpled against Rafael's chest, every muscle trembling from the intensity of what had just happened. Her body was marked—by his hands, his mouth, his anger. She could still feel the press of the wall against her back, the grip of his fingers on her thighs, the sting where he'd spanked her before taking her again and again until she couldn't speak, only moan.
But what stunned her more than the sex… was what he'd whispered at the end.
"You'll never leave me. Not alive."
He hadn't meant it as a threat.
It had sounded like a vow.
Rafael lay behind her now, one arm beneath her neck, the other across her stomach, holding her like a man guarding his most dangerous secret. His body was warm, hard, and still slick with the heat of violence. His breathing was steady. Calm.
He was a storm pretending to sleep.
She stared into the darkness of the room, unable to close her eyes. Her mind spun with questions, but one clawed louder than the rest.
