The air in the study was suffocatingly hot.

For several long seconds, neither of them moved. Aurora's hands were still locked around Adrian’s wrists, her fingers digging in with a strength she didn't know she possessed. She could feel the hard bone of his arms, the steady, heavy pulse under his skin. She was glaring at him with a raw, unyielding fury, waiting for him to back down.

But Adrian didn't pull away.

Instead, a slow, dark, and utterly terrifying look of admiration filled his eyes. The shocked expression on his face warped into something much deeper, much more dangerous. He looked at her flushed cheeks, her parted lips, and...