AURORA POV
*one month later*
A month had passed since we marked each other.
A month in which my mate had made love to me every night before sleep, every morning when I woke—sometimes gentle, sometimes urgent, always leaving me trembling, always leaving me wanting more. A month of breakfasts in bed, laughter spilling like sunlight across the sheets, teasing that made my cheeks burn and my heart swell in equal measure. (I’d discovered more of his smut books hidden here and there, wedged between the most boring political manuals Stan thought would camouflage them, as if I wouldn’t notice. As if my heart wouldn’t recognize every stolen, wicked word as a love note meant only for me.)
And a month of talks—late-night whispers and early-morning confessions. Raw, unguarded conversations that le
