Page 25

His mouth hovered just above hers, breath aligned, pressure building. He traced her shoulder, the edge of her neck. Every point of contact widened the current. Her body gave him more than her words ever had.

A sound escaped her throat. Soft. Shattered.

Then he remembered the hallway camera. The listening devices shaped like art.

His body tensed. Hands pulled back. His chest stayed close, but the connection broke. “This isn’t the place.” He stepped away fully, the air between them buzzing, charged with everything that needed finishing.

Human etiquette offered one word. “Sorry.”

She blinked, fire still rising in her eyes. Her mouth opened, then shut again. “No need for divine escort.” She shoved past him. “I’ll scream if I need soul surgery.”

She vanished around the corner.

Kaos followed, yanking down the wall between them. His power flooded in and formed anchor points in every molecule she possessed. It wasn’t protection protocol, it was something deeper. Something wired through power and obsession.

She entered the bathroom. He stopped just outside. Posted. Present.

He drew a breath through his teeth. Jealousy shaped every step she took, every word she threw, every glance she refused to give. She carried it sharp. Raw. Complete. Now he had proof. And it plugged directly into his Lust and Rage in a way he hadn’t expected. It hit him like sustenance—clean, high-voltage, poured straight into the core of him. The emotion moved through him like fuel, like a current he was built to run on.

Rage responded first—tight, coiled, territorial. Lust followed close behind, slower but heavier, dragging need through every inch of his skin. The combination didn’t spread. It locked.

She hadn’t touched him. Hadn’t offered anything. But her jealousy had. And the purity of it—undiluted by shame, unspoken but violent—fed something in him he hadn’t realized was starving.

He reached inward and opened the battlefield. His power traced along the edges, searching for an entry, a door that allowed him to see every inch of her without her seeing him.

His Lust and Rage deposited the answer like a war hammer in his blood.In her dreams. In your true form. Her instinct rendered in motion, her spirit without human filters. Nothing impure, nothing touched by defense or misdirection. She will speak through sensation, and you will learn every inch of her without interference.

The bathroom door opened hard, striking the stopper with a metallic thud. Jaxi stepped out fast, hair pushed behind her ears, mouth tight.

“I’m ready to go.”

Kaos straightened from the wall, falling into step beside her before she could say anything else.

“I’m no longer hungry,” she added, voice clipped.

He didn’t press. “Good. You need a proper night’s rest.”

She stopped short and turned to him. “Did you just say that to me like I’m a cranky child?”

He stared at her. “Yes.”

She slapped him. Quick. Sharp. Right on his jaw.

His power surged.

She breathed harder.

His Lust flared and he caught her wrist before she could step away, grip firm enough to lock her pulse under his fingers.

Her eyes widened for a half-second.

Kaos leaned in. The growl rolled up his throat, low and slow. His breath shook in the space between them. “Do that again.”

Her expression didn’t falter. “I’m not afraid of you.”

He waited.

She stepped closer. “I’ve had blank canvases more intimidating.”