Shit, I forgot to lock the damn thing.

I looked up, expecting to see Kes, my father, or even Daniel popping in for a three a.m. chat. Instead…Nila fucking Weaver stood frozen on the threshold.

I dropped the tube of cream.

She brandished her stolen dirk and a brass candlestick from one of the tables lining the halls. Her hair was untethered—a curtain of midnight—and her black camisole and shorts made my mouth instantly dry up.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

What the hell?

I stood up instantly.

The first aid kit slammed to the floor, spewing its gauze and bandages to all corners of the room.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” I stormed forward, ready to slam the door in her face. She couldn’t be here. Not with my appearance or condition.

“Oh, my God. I found you.”

I grabbed the doorknob. “Go back to your room, Ms. Weaver.”

“No, wait!” She darted inside before I could block her. Dashing to my bed, she ran around the large mattress, placing it between us and brandishing her weapons. “I’ve been looking for hours. I’ve tried every room on the ground floor. I almost gave up when I found a secret door in the parlour.”

She’d been running around all night? Alone? Shit, didn’t she know how fucking dangerous that was?

Daniel wouldn’t hesitate. My father wouldn’t, either.

“You’re a reckless, naïve little girl.” Slamming the door, I stalked toward her. “Do you have any idea what might’ve happened if you’d been seen?”

Her eyes skittered around my space, taking in the soaring high ceilings, old-fashioned priceless toys and artifacts, and Chinese woven carpets. “I have an idea.” She raised her chin. “But it was a risk I was prepared to take. After all, what else could I do?”

Tossing the candlestick onto the bed, she rolled her wrist from the weight. “You avoid me for days after telling me something cryptic about black diamonds and absorbing light. You tell me to stop feeling around you. You shut me out all while swallowing a drug you never took before. All of that brings me to one conclusion, Mr. Hawk.”

“Oh? And what conclusion is that?”

So, she did understand my half-assed attempt to make her understand.

Why couldn’t I just come out and tell her?

Why did I have to continue to hide?

“A conclusion that needs testing.” She sighed softly, “I have a theory, you see. And if I’m right…well, it means things are going to change between you and me.”

My heart tap-danced a crazy step.

You have no idea how much I want that.

“That will never happen.”

“You don’t even know my theory.”

“I know enough to ask you to leave.”

Before you destroy your own life and get me fucking killed in the process.

Having her here, in my space, with no fog to protect me, I tasted everything she felt like fine wine, expensive truffles, rich desserts. Anger, desire, fear…and most of all, love. Beneath her temper, she glowed with it. Vibrated with it.

It was all I could do to remain standing and not buckle under the waves of unconditional acceptance.

I groaned, “Nila, you have to leave.”

“No. Not until I find out what you are.”

I shivered, forgetting my bodily aches and pains and suffering emotional ones instead. She was breaking me—smashing the rules Cut had fashioned. If she could be so strong, why couldn’t I?

Couldn’t I indulge for just one night?

“You don’t understand.” I moved forward. “You can’t be here.”

“Tell me, then.” Placing the dirk on my bedside table, she dropped her hands. In a single move, she went from warrior to sacrifice, inviting me to take her. “Make me understand, Jethro.”

My head swam. I needed time to decide if I was stupid enough to put us both in danger. If I was going to give into her, it could only be for one night.

Inching closer, I murmured, “To find my room, you must’ve gone through my entire quarters.”

Her eyes narrowed at my subject change, but she nodded. “I did. Your room is the last one along the corridor.” Her body softened. “You have so many spaces. Game grottos, offices, a gym. I must’ve peeked into a dozen rooms after slipping through that secret door.”

A lot of space for a man who needed a lot of distance.

It looked like luxury; in reality, it was a gilded cage.

“And doesn’t that tell you something?”

She frowned. “Tell me what?”

“That this part of the Hall is private. I don’t want guests. I don’t want company. I keep my life removed from my family, even though we live in the same house.”

She trembled as I continued to close the distance between us. Each step I took, I fought to be strong enough to send her away. She would remain unhurt as long as I could fake the perfect heir.

The longer she stood in my quarters, the more I struggled to deny her.

Almost as if she followed my thoughts, she whispered, “It doesn’t matter. I’ve found you. Now I know where to come when you disappear and avoid me.”

My hands fisted as delectable thoughts filled my head: sneaking her into my quarters, sleeping beside her, fucking her without cameras reporting to Cut just how disobedient I was.

My jaw clenched. “There won’t be a next time, Nila.” Pointing at the door, I growled, “You have to leave.”