The heavy door to Darian's private room closed behind Callie with a sound like a breath held too long. Candlelight cast long, wavering shadows across the dark velvet curtains and the wide bed draped in midnight silk. The air was heavy with sandalwood, amber, and the faint metallic tinge of anticipation. Her skin still bore the faint red marks of the morning's silk strings; her body still vibrated with the day's denials, every nerve raw and hypersensitive.

Darian stood by the fireplace, his shi