His gaze pinned me in place before his hands ever touched me.

"Do you have any idea," he murmured, his voice deep and velvet-dark, "what it’s like to crave something so badly you’d burn the world for a taste?"

I tried to speak, but the words caught in my throat as he stepped closer, the cold stone wall at my back. He moved like shadow and moonlight, every inch of him dangerous, perfect… royal.

"Say it," he commanded, his breath ghosting over my lips. "Tell me you feel it too."

"I—" My voice trembled. "You’re dangerous."

A wicked smile curved his mouth, and in the space of a heartbeat, he...