The thought came calmly now. Not violent. Not frantic. Simply settled.
Kade walked toward the windows first. With a single touch against the sleek control panel, the blinds slid shut automatically—smooth, silent—sealing the suite away from prying eyes below. Sunlight vanished gradually, replaced by muted darkness and soft ambient shadows pooling like ink.
Then he dimmed the remaining lights completely.
The suite fell quiet. Dark. Private. Safe.
Kade turned back toward the bed.
Dakota shifted faintly in her sleep the moment he approached—body arching subtly, breath catching—as though some unconscious part of her already sensed him nearby through the blood oath, skin prickling with instinctive awareness.
His eyes softened slightly at that—rare, unguarded warmth flickering in the molten depths.
Carefully—far more carefully than anyone would ever expect from a man like him—Kade slid into the bed behind her. The mattress dipped beneath his weight, silk whispering against bare skin.
