Chapter 6

The heavy velvet curtains of the private viewing suite were drawn tight, sealing us away from the rest of the gala, but the stars outside were still visible through the massive, curved glass dome above us. The air in the observatory was cool, smelling faintly of polished brass, old paper, and the sharp, metallic tang of ozone that always seems to linger in high places. I lay on my stomach on the plush, deep-pile carpet that covered the floor, my cheek pressed against the fabric, watching the dust motes dance in the single beam of light that cut through the darkness. My heart was hammering against my ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage, because *he* was hovering over me, his silhouette a towering shadow against the starlight. I could feel his eyes on the back of my neck, hot and heavy, before he even touched me. It was the silence that did it first. The low hum of the telescope’s motor had stopped, and the chatter of the crowd downstairs had faded into a distant murmur. It was just us in this cathedral of the night. He knelt beside me, the sound of his jeans shifting against the