The complete physical exhaustion that Demetrius had so thoroughly coaxed out of my body left me entirely defenseless against sleep. I didn't just drift off; I sank like a stone into a deep, dreamless abyss, completely wrapped in the lingering scent of cedar and warm rain that clung to our sheets.
When my eyes finally fluttered open a second time, the sunlight was no longer a pale pre-dawn twilight. Bright, brilliant morning sun streamed through the velvet curtains, painting warm golden stripes across the empty mattress beside me.
I stretched lazily, a soft groan escaping my throat as my muscles remembered every single second of Demetrius's ruthless devotion. Reaching across the bed, my hand met only cold, smoothed-over linen.
He was gone.
I rolled onto my back, staring up at the carved
