Our lips were flames under silk shadows, burning wildly but with restraint. His hand—warm, strong—pressed against my back, pulling me in closer. My entire body trembled, alive and trembling with a need I had tried so hard to hide.

Carl’s mouth moved against mine, slow, almost reverent at first—but his urgency grew. It was a man rediscovering me as more than a wife, more than a trophy; as someone he wanted. Something in his eyes flickered with confusion, longing, and a shadow of ...