The massive bed in the suite was the obvious focal point. Anya pointed to the floor. "I'll take the couch in the office."
"Negative," Kaelan replied, already stripping down to a pair of low-slung sweats. He looked like carved granite, making Anya quickly avert her gaze. "The 100-meter rule is non-negotiable, and the doctor recommended stability. We share the bed."
"Never."
"Alpha Command: You will sleep in the bed, Mate."
Anya fought the immediate urge, but fatigue and the heavy tug of the bond made resistance agonizing. She stalked to the far side of the king bed and scrambled in, pulling the duvet up to her chin.
Kaelan lay down on his side, his back to her, leaving a football field of space between them. Yet, the moment he settled, the bond pulsed with a heavy, protective warmth.
Lying in the dark, next to the man who claimed her, Anya realized something terrifying. The protective feeling of the bond was strongest when Kaelan was asleep and his conscious Alpha Command was down.
It wasn't his rule she was fighting in the dark; it was his primal, unguarded instinct that was terrifyingly possessive and, against all reason, physically comforting.