Verena's POV

He cupped the back of my head. "That is the very last thing I want," he said, and I started to smile. "Don’t do that."

"Do what?"

"Smile at me,” he murmured, the silver in his eyes swirling.

"Why?”

"Because when you do that, there’s utterly nothing I would not allow you to do to me.”

I smiled fully then.

“Fuck.” He groaned. A laugh left me—a light and airy sound that felt good even as his eyes narrowed on me. "Don’t do that either."

I bit my lip as I looked down at him, where even in the shadows, I saw him straining against the fabric of...