Memory Lane

He wasn't just looking at her; he was devouring her, his eyes tracing every one of her curves with a hunger that both terrified and exhilarated her. The heat of his gaze was branding her skin even more intensely than his hand had moments ago.

Get a grip, River; she reprimanded herself.

“Clumsy, maybe," she finally blurted out, her voice reeking of anger and something else. Something hot and unwelcome that boiled inside of her. "But not useless."

She needed to show him that she was growing. That this wasn't the submissive Omega girl he picked up from the woods. That she was learning to not become the one who cowered at every harsh word. This was a mother– a woman who had faced fear and pain and emerged stronger.

That– was who she’d become from now on.

A slow smile spread across Lord Draven's face. It was a smile that sent shivers of a different kind down her spine. It wasn't cruel, not entirely. It was intimidating, yes, but there was a hint of something else in his red eyes, a touch o