Sera's Pov
When I stirred awake, warmth was the first thing I registered—not the cold stone floor of a dungeon I was expecting to wake up in this time—but warmth. Gentle and steady. A heartbeat thrummed beneath my cheek, strong and measured like the rhythm of a war drum heard from a safe distance. I breathed it in instinctively, and for a fleeting second, I thought—
Lucian.
But no. The scent was all wrong. Not cedar smoke and moonlit steel. This was something else—earthy, clean, tinged with something wild and fresh like pine after a storm. Familiar, but not his.
My eyes shot open.
I found myself lying on someone's chest. My hand rested just over his heart, my legs tangled with his like we'd done this a hundred times before. My entire body froze, but the person beneath me remained completely still, like he was waiting for me to wake up.
"Good morning to you too," Kael's voice murmured, low and amused. "Nice to see you're a cuddler."
