The silence inside the Sovereign's private chambers dissolved into a suffocating, hyper-charged heat the moment Hebner Grand closed the distance between them. There was no gentle prelude, no soft transition from the cold, clinical authority he usually wielded to the raw, predatory intensity that now rolled off his towering frame.
"You have become entirely too stubborn, Hannah," Hebner murmured, his voice a low, gravelly vibration that resonated deep within his broad chest. He leaned down, his massive form completely blocking out the ambient light of the chamber, pinning her beneath the absolute weight of his presence. "You claim you want me. You claim you are ready to do whatever it takes to break my resolve. Let us see if your fragile human body can actually back up that desperate, reckless tongue."
