Chapter 12

Her breath hitched. His voice was deep, the bass notes rich and gravelly, shivering up her spine like distant thunder. Livia wanted to hear him speak again just to soak in the resonate sound once more.

Dancing with this man, who should feel like a stranger, yet didn’t, was exhilarating, a breath of fresh air in lungs that had been starved for far too long. She was alive. She was thriving.

The desire to know his name, to see his face, became an aching need, but she refused to break the trance into which they’d fallen. Instead, Livia kept her eyes tightly shut and immersed herself in the moment, knowing somewhere in the back of her mind it would need to last her for when she was inevitably alone again.

The song changed, becoming something dark and primal. Their bodies moved together faster, harder, following the beat.

He bent over her until his nose hovered a bare inch above the column of her neck, his beard just tickling her skin, and inhaled deeply. He exhaled a low