She braced herself without knowing why, something in the air shifting again.
“Going forward,” he continued, his voice deepening just slightly, “you will sleep in the same bed with me. As you did last night.”
The words hit her like a bucket of ice water, and for a moment she thought she hadn’t heard correctly. Her face flushed violently, a hot wave of mortification rising from her chest to her temples as her breath caught in her throat.
“But… we’re not yet bound,” she whispered, disbelief coating her words, barely able to look at him. “It’s not—”
He cut her off sharply, voice firm, no longer leaving space for argument. “This is non-negotiable.”
She stared at him, wide-eyed and stunned, her thoughts tripping over themselves as panic and confusion warred within her.
Was this about appe
