When Keira awoke, she didn’t open her eyes straight away. She registered the warmth enveloping her. Alexei was still with her.

She enjoyed the steady rise and fall of a chest beneath her cheek, the rhythm that was comforting. She loved the scent of him…

Her eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the soft morning light filtering through the balcony doors that he must have left open. She was sprawled across Alexei's chest, her leg hitched over his, their bodies entwined in an intimate embrace. ...