I was nestled comfortably in the arms of the millennia-old vampire, my cheek pressed against the cool silk of his sleeping robe, when a sudden, violent knocking shattered the peaceful morning. The sound echoed through the bedchamber like gunfire, making my pulse jump. Only then did I remember—I had been whisked away from my own coronation ceremony to this secluded room! My eyes snapped open to find my face buried in his icy chest, his slow, steady heartbeat thudding against my ear like a distant drum. Morning light seeped through the heavy velvet curtains, painting slender golden beams across the marble floor where our discarded robes lay tangled.