Chapter 49

• Chapter 49: The Web Tightens
• Elena woke to the soft light of dawn filtering through the curtains. Her body felt alive in ways she had never known. Her skin still tingled where Gabriel’s hands had claimed her. Her heart pounded with memory and desire. She lay still, listening to the quiet house. Every creak in the floor, every distant breath was a reminder that she had no escape.
• She rose on trembling arms. The silk cloth lay in a heap on the floor. She wrapped it around her and walked to the bathroom. Steam rose from the bathtub. Candles flickered on the ledge. Her breathing hitched as she remembered how it had felt. The tension. The heat. The endless pull between want and fear.