When they finally reached the estate, Tess found herself speaking before she could think better of it.
“Can I stay with you tonight?”
The words hung in the air as Korran cut the engine. His dark eyes searched her face, and she saw surprise flicker across his strong features before something deeper took its place—a mixture of protectiveness and possessiveness that made her pulse quicken.
“Of course,” he said, his deep voice rougher than usual.
Once inside, they shed their coats in the grand foyer, the warmth of the estate wrapping around them like an embrace. Tess knew she was probably sending mixed signals after their attempt to maintain professional distance, but the attack had shattered her illusion of safety.
I need him. Not just for protection, but for... something else. Something I’m not ready to name.
Korran’s large hand found her back again as he guided her toward the grand staircase. “My chambers are in the east wing.”
The realization that she was becoming emotionally dependent on him in such a short time should have sent her running. Instead, as they climbed the elegant stairs together, all she felt was rightness.
When Korran opened the door to his private chambers, Tess stepped into a space that reflected the man himself—everything orderly and purposeful, stripped of the ornate excess that dominated the rest of the estate. The sitting area stretched before her with clean lines and functional furniture arranged around a stone fireplace, while through an archway in the back, she glimpsed the corner of a massive four-poster bed that made her heart race.
This is his sanctuary. The place where he doesn’t have to be the perfect prince.
The door closed behind them with a soft click that seemed to seal them away from the outside world and its complications. Korran moved past her with that predatory grace she’d come to associate with him, taking the vials from her trembling fingers and crossing to a mini-bar tucked into an alcove near the fireplace.
“They’ll be safe in here until morning,” he said, placing them carefully in the small refrigerator.
Tess stood frozen in the center of the room, her rational mind finally catching up with her impulsive request.
What am I doing here? I should go back to my guest suite, maintain some professional distance after last night’s mistake.
But her feet refused to move toward the door. The attack in the parking lot had shattered something inside her—that illusion of control she’d wrapped around herself like armor. Here, surrounded by Korran’s pine and spice scent and the solid warmth of his presence, the terror finally began to recede.
Just for tonight. Tomorrow everything goes back to normal.
She moved toward the sitting area, her legs still unsteady from the adrenaline crash. “I can sleep on the couch. I don’t want to impose?—“
“No.” His voice carried that alpha authority that brooked no argument. “You’ll take my bed. I’ll sleep out here.”
The protective instinct in his tone made something flutter dangerously in her chest, but she found herself shaking her head before she could think better of it.
“I don’t want to kick you out of your own bed.” The words tumbled out. “We can share.”
His dark eyes flared with heat, his pupils dilating as that electric tension snapped taut between them. For a heartbeat, she saw hunger and possessiveness war with restraint across his strong features.
“Alright,” he said finally, his voice roughened.
Mixed messages much?Her scientific mind cataloged the contradiction even as her body hummed with anticipation.Last night you told him it was a mistake, and tonight you’re climbing into his bed.
But as he headed toward the bedroom and she followed, breathing in his intoxicating scent with every step, she couldn’t bring herself to care about the consequences. The attack hadstripped away her pretenses, left her raw and honest about what she wanted—and what she wanted was him.
Korran began stripping off his tattered clothes without ceremony, his movements efficient and unselfconscious. Tess tried to look away as his shirt came off, revealing the powerful expanse of his chest and shoulders, but her gaze kept drifting back.
God, he’s gorgeous.
When he stripped down to his boxers and climbed into the massive bed, she couldn’t help but stare at his powerful frame—the same body that had moved against hers with such devastating effect just twenty-four hours ago. Heat pooled low in her belly as unwanted memories flooded back.
She stripped down to her lace bra and panties, hyperaware of his heated gaze tracking her movements as she settled onto the mattress beside him. The bed was large enough that she could maintain distance, but every nerve ending in her body seemed attuned to his presence just inches away.
“How are we going to stop Varix from giving your father the booster tomorrow?” she asked, desperate to focus on something other than the way the moonlight played across his chest. “Before we can test its composition?”
Korran’s jaw tightened. “We wake up at dawn and convince my father to demand a delay. Tell Varix he doesn’t want it for a few more days.”
