The morning came with a different kind of energy. Valentina stirred awake still caught between the disbelief and the warmth of last night’s reveal. She could almost hear the silky cloth sliding off again, almost see the deep obsidian shine of the Droptail catching the faint drizzle of dawn. It wasn’t a dream.

Thankfully.

When she turned her head toward the window, she could already imagine the driveway glistening with yesterday’s rain, and right there under a discreet ...