He drew closer, impossibly close, his presence overwhelming.
"I do not share what belongs to me," he added, his voice dropping further. "Not with another man's memory. Not with another man's claim. Not even with the possibility of it."
His eyes darkened, the storm within them deepening into something far more dangerous.
"I do not want any man looking at you with desire," Valerian said slowly, each word deliberate, heavy with meaning. His voice deepened as he continued, gaining a dangerous intensity that seemed to coil around her like unseen chains
"I do not want any man allowing his thoughts to wander where they should not, imagining things that belong solely to me. And I certainly—" his jaw tightened, "—certainly do not want to think that someone has already taken what should have been given to me alone."
