Kade watched the entire retreat without a word. He didn't stop her. Didn't call her back. A subtle shift passed across his expression—not displeasure, not quite, but something closer to quiet understanding, as though her defiance only sharpened his interest.
"You're avoiding me," he observed after a moment, tone even, almost conversational.
Dakota leaned back against the cushions, one arm resting along the edge of the couch, her gaze steady on his. "I'm being smart you know." She still haven't healed her sore inner core, why go and provoke him?
That earned a quiet exhale from him—almost a laugh, but deeper, rougher, the sound of an alpha who found her resistance more enticing than surrender. "Am I that dangerous?"
She held his gaze without flinching. "You already know the answer to that."
Another pause stretched between them, rich with everything unsaid.
