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“It’s nothing,” I rasp, heart thumping in my throat. “I hit—”

The sharp snap of his tail slashes through the air and coils around my middle. The raised ridges dig into the soft flesh of my belly. The sting is fleeting when I’m jerked straight into his chest, into the waiting claw he closes into my jaw. His extended talons graze my cheek but he’s so careful not to hurt me.

“Don’t,” he warns low in his throat, low near my face. So close the heat of his breath burns my parted lips. “You will not protect them from me. They forfeited their life the moment they touched you.”

The hand I had braced against the steady wall of his chest flies up to grip his wrist. Not to push him away. Not to detach myself from his hold. But to somehow stop him from killing Mama.

“Warrick...”

The cavity of his chest rumbles with the growl clawing up his throat. The razor-sharp points of his fangs flash in the shifting light all the way to his molars. It’s easy to imagine them stained red with blood.

Mama’s. I should be upset by the idea, but my thoughts have already drifted to the feel of those teeth on my skin. On my neck as he splays his long fingers across my skin, curves them around my waist. Digs his claws into my warm flesh. I’m lost in the feel of his breath ghosting my lips but never touching. His tongue teasing the hollow of my throat. Sometimes, his tongue separates down the center and my brain gets messy with thoughts of him doing that to other parts of my body.

I shiver unconsciously and feel his hold tighten.

“My sweet, little human.” His thumb skims my cheek. “You fight me like you don’t already belong to me. Like I wouldn’t tear through Heaven and Hell to keep you. You resist me because you know how I would ruin you and how much you’d love it.”

A shower of tingles explodes down my spine and collects between my thighs with a delicious pulse that has me fighting not to shift. Still a shaky exhale escapes me, and I’m rewarded by the dip of his head. By the nudge of his nose to mine. The gesture upends a basket of butterflies in my belly.

I know it’s wrong. I know I shouldn’t be so hopelessly gone over a monster who has threatened to consume my brother into nonexistence if I don’t feed him every night. He’s never given me any other choice but to submit and bend to his demands.

My body for my brother. It’s a good choice. I would make it again without hesitation. Aiden means everything to me. He’s my world. Despite the four years between us, he’s always been my light. My protector. I could never have survived Mama without him. Giving myself to Warrick is a small price to pay, even if Warrick is possessing my brother’s body.

When the sun rises, Warrick will be gone, and Aiden will return. He’ll wake up in my bed, curled around me, even though Mama has threatened to kick him out of the trailer if he doesn’t stop.

We can’t tell her it’s Warrick’s arms I fall asleep in and it’s Aiden who I wake up to. She would want to know why. She would ask questions, and I can’t tell her Warrick will hurt Aiden if I don’t. I can’t explain what it felt like watching Aiden scream as his body was torn apart and reformed into Warrick’s. She has never seen him fall to his knees, blood running from his eyes, nose, and ears. She hasn’t seen him in so much pain he throws up. Watching the person you love get gutted right in front of you is enough to promise anything to save them.

Warrick knows that.

He knows I would give my life for Aiden.

Warrick is a beautiful nightmare that I can’t wake from. The ocean I’m already drowning in, and Warrick ... Warrick is the one holding me under.

“I don’t want this,” I whisper, though I don’t know if I’m telling him or myself.

Maybe part of me thinks if I say it, it’ll feel less like a betrayal when I submit under his touch.

His chuckle is harsh, his breath warm against my ear as he leans in, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin of my neck.

“You think you have a choice, my little human? You are already mine. Everything else is just formality.” His voice is low and full of savage promise. “You have always belonged to me. From the very moment you were brought into this world, I felt you. I felt you take your first breath. Felt every heartbeat after. You belonged to me before your parents even met. You think I’m a monster now? Wait until you see what I’ll do to anyone who tries to take you from me. You will never escape me.”

The words hit like a physical blow, the weight of them pressing down on me. My heart skips a beat — I tell myself it’s panic and hatred — and I shove him. I try. I plant my hand against his chest and push with all my strength, but he doesn’t budge.

“No,” I force out, shaking my head, but the fire in his eyes only intensifies. “I won’t. You can’t keep me forever.”

“Not forever. Longer,” he growls, the words thick with something dangerous and primal. “When the sun sets, I will take what is mine, Seraphine. I will have you. I will claim and ruin you in ways you will beg me to do again. I will burn this carnival to the ground if it means keeping you.” The hard weight of his body settles over my softness. His tail tightens until it’s cutting into my waist and my traitorous body trembles at the thought of it wrapping like that around my throat while he bends me over ... I shake the thought away, but he’s smirking like he knows exactly what he’s doing to me. “You can cry and beg, but I will never let you go. Not because I enjoy your suffering, but because I know you don’t want me to.”

His words ensnare me, tightening until I can’t breathe. He’s right, of course. I don’t want him to let me go. I can’t imagine a world where he’s not part of it with me, but I know I should push him away, to scream, to fight, to demand that he let me go. But instead, I find myself unwilling to leave his hold when standing in his arms feels like the first time I’ve taken a breath all day.

But reality doesn’t change just because I want it to. I swallow hard, forcing the words through uncertainty and doubt.

“You know this is wrong. Aiden is my brother and you’re wearing his body.”

His face moves closer, his breath warm against my skin as he drags his nose along my cheek. His fingers slip from my jaw to the back of my neck, holding me there gently, but unyielding.

“Then stop trembling for me. Stop your pussy from getting wet for me. I don’t care about right or wrong. I only care that you’re mine.”