CLARABEL'S POV

"Your office," Malakai said, his voice returning to the cold, distant tone he used for business. "Now."

I nodded, smoothing down my tunic and trying to regain my composure.

We walked in silence, keeping a deliberate distance between us—a three-foot gap of cold air that served as a buffer for the mate-bond that screamed for us to close the distance.

As we reached the heavy iron-bound doors of my office, we both moved at the same time to enter. In the narrow space of the doorway, my shoulder brushed against his chest.

It shouldn’t have happened.

The contact was brief, a mere fraction of a second, but it...