The word no left Arkin's lips before the sentence even finished forming in the air.
He didn't yell. He didn't growl. It was a flat, absolute refusal delivered with the unyielding weight of a bank vault slamming shut. His hands, which had been resting possessively over her stomach, tightened their grip, anchoring her flush against his chest.
"You are not leaving the estate," Arkin stated, the feral ruby-red bleeding back into his dying-star eyes.
"I am requesting a temporary leave of absence, Arkin, not a permanent relocation," Lexianna countered, refusing to shrink back from the sudden spike in his body temperature. "I have been confined to these walls since the carriage dropped me at your gates. I need to clear my head."
