The moment their lips met, the last remaining fortress of ice around Han Shān's heart shattered into a million jagged pieces.
When she returned to Thousand Fang, he had expected the same cruel, vain, and utterly selfish female who had tormented Yàn Shū and completely ignored the existence of her sons.
He had promised himself, that he would never let her close again. He would protect his cub and keep his distance.
But then, the impossible had happened. She had changed.
She had bled for his son. She had fought slavers for their family. She had cooked, smiled, and looked at them with eyes so bright and full of stars that it made his chest ache with a longing he thought had died a long time ago.
She had melted his defenses, one frustrating, confusing, domestic day at a time, until he was left exposed and entirely at her mercy.
Watching Zhāo Yàn confidently try to claim her in the open water had been the final spark to his powder keg.
