Stephen sat up, his gaze locking onto Aurora's, dark and filled with promise.
"I want our first to be like no other," he murmured. "Once you are my queen, I will claim you as mine, take you so thoroughly you'll forget where you end and I begin. But not yet."
Aurora swallowed, his words igniting a fire deep within her. She understood. She had known the touch of men before, countless times, yet this was different. He wanted her as his wife first, wanted her in a way no man ever had.
It left her breathless. It left her unworthy.
She felt the weight of it settle in her chest—this feeling that she did not deserve him. That all of this was a fleeting dream, something too precious to be real. No, she would not cry.
"Aurora?" His voice pulled her back, gentle but firm. "Are you all right?"
