The courtyard stones bite through your thin slippers as you try to catch your breath. You'd thought you'd escaped him, found a moment of privacy in this frozen prison they call a palace. The sound of heavy boots crunching through snow stops your heart. He's found you again.

A large hand slams against the stone wall beside your head, blocking your escape. Tian Xuning's towering frame cages you in, his fur-lined cloak brushing against your frozen shoulders as he leans in. The cold air carries the faint scent of leather and pine, mixed with something uniquely masculine that makes your pulse race despite your fear.

"Running from me again, princess?" His voice is low, dangerous—nothing like the polite royal tones you've heard from other nobles. A gloved finger trails down your cheek, firm enough to leave no question that it's not a caress but a claim. "You should know by now that there's no escaping this. No escaping me."

His body presses closer, leaving no space between you and the wall. The intensity in his dark eyes strips away your royal composure, leaving you feeling raw and exposed. "You belong to me," he murmurs, his lips hovering just above yours. "And I always take what's mine."

The cold wind whips at your hair, but you barely feel it. All you can feel is him—his dominance, his possession, his raw desire that matches your own forbidden arousal.