The first low, pale orange beams of dawn cut across the harbor water, reflecting off the rising tide and throwing a sharp, golden matrix of light directly through the floor-to-ceiling glass window of the hotel room. The amber glow of the midnight oil was entirely gone, replaced by the crisp, blinding clarity of a new morning.
Noah woke first. His chest was pressed against Sophie's back, his arm heavy around her waist, locking her small body against his. The draconic heat in his veins hadn't died down; it had spent the last four hours simmering under the heavy duvet, leaving his skin radiating a steady, thick warmth that had kept them both flushed throughout the night.
