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She stared at him, blinking slowly. “I didn’t surrender. I recognized.”

Kaos’s breath stilled.

“That’s what it felt like,” she continued. “Like... something inside me had been waiting. And when he touched me, it stopped waiting.” She reached for her cookie again but didn’t take a bite. She stared at the air between them with small nods. “No,” she confirmed lightly, locking her eyes on him. “Not surrendered. Remembered.”

Kaos leaned back slightly, jaw clenched. He needed to anchor himself in something neutral before he unraveled entirely.

“Maybe you can go to sleep now,” he said, quieter. “Go meet your devil-angel again while I go touch base with Kildare. Let him know your inspiration is still inspiring.” He stood, adjusting his coat. “And I’ll grab dinner. Maybe celery. Something bland after listening to your angel-demon bedtime erotica.”

She burst out laughing, her body folding sideways across the cushions. “Elegant,” she wheezed after a moment. “Bitter and nutritious.”

Her laugh bubbled in his blood and cock as he headed for the door.

“You know,” she called after him, voice still colored with amusement. “You could just say it.”

He turned at the door, powers sucking up everything she dangled between them. “Say what?”

Her one drawn up leg slowly wagged as she held him captive with her small smile. “That you wish I was dreaming of you.”

Another chunk of power bowed at her little feet. “Remember when I said I’d shove my fingers past your lips and drag them along your tongue like a promise?” He opened the door before he did something she’d never recover from. “You think I said that because I wanted to be in your dreams?”

His powers felt her breath hitch and it created a loop straight to his chest and cock. He hurried out the door and shut it, the quiet click resonating louder than a slam. He moved quickly when his Lust banged at the door of his control with hungry, cruel fists. He sharpened his thoughts into a blade, forcing clarity on the unexpected storm brewing inside him. Inside her. It was no longer a simple game of temptation and control. It had become something deeper, darker, and infinitely more dangerous. His appetite was now a vicious craving, daring anything or anyone to stand in its way. He didn’t need permission to sate it, nor did he intend to seek it from anyone. What he needed was more intuition than his pathetic human vessel was equipped with. Because he didn’t just want her at night. He wanted her in the day. And he didn’t just want her with his true form, he wanted her with his human one too. The two of them were snarling rivals that initially wanted to kill the other, but now a truce had been struck.

They would both have her.

****

Jaxi pressed her hands to her cheeks, warmth flooding through her face, down her neck, and straight into her heart. Shesank onto the couch, staring blankly at the spot where he’d stood moments before, her heart pounding fiercely in her chest.

“He likes me,” she whispered softly, barely daring to believe the words as they slipped past her lips. A smile bloomed, bright and ecstatic, before uncertainty flickered at the edges of her joy.

But did he really?

She replayed his words over and over. “Remember when I said I’d shove my fingers past your lips and drag them along your tongue like a promise?” Jaxi whispered, savoring each word as if they were precious, dangerous secrets. “Do you think I said that because I wanted to live in your dreams?”

His eyes. His voice. The careful intensity—every memory sent a delightful shiver down her spine. Yet doubt crept in, taunting her with ambiguity. Had he just confessed desire, or was he simply challenging her again?

She thought back to everything they’d shared that night.

The cookies, the chaos, the way he stirred the batter like it had personally offended him. She remembered the way he tasted it off her finger—slow, deliberate—and how her breath hitched like he’d just rewritten her pulse. He surely had. And he hadn’t smiled. Not once. But something in his eyes had burned, and it left a mark. That moment felt like a dare—and maybe an invitation. Or a silent pleading.

Then the playlist wall. Her scribbled names. The way she danced like no one was watching—even though she knew he was. He hadn’t joined in, but he hadn’t looked away. When he caught her mid-air and spun her like she weighed nothing, she’d felt it. The tension in his hands. The way he lingered just a second too long. And when she’d dared to hug him, it was like hugging a tree of life. Joy and elation surged through her, filling her blood and bones with secret colors and sounds and feels.

Oh my.

And the bath. She flushed just thinking about it. He’d sat outside the door like a guardian—and a storm. She’d told him too much. Or maybe just enough. His voice had reached through everything, and his answers… still haunted her. Redemption. Proof. Pain. And that one line… ‘Whoever made you think you had to shrink’…that had gutted her.

And then the couch and the milk and cookies. Her smile began to bloom again. Toes against his leg. Hard, muscular leg. And the dream she’d just told him. Why would she tell him that dream? She chewed on her lower lip, opening herself to the real answer. Oh yes, she wanted him to know. She wanted to force him to react. Even if it meant a bad reaction. But it hadn’t been bad. Not really. He hadn’t mocked her, he hadn’t flinched. But hisjealousyhad bled into the air, sharp and claiming. She had never felt anything more powerful and dangerous and… glorious. But he hadn’t taken. Not physically. He’d only watched her. And asked and listened. Like she was something rare. And maybe beautiful.

Jaxi pulled a pillow onto her lap, hugging it close as she stared thoughtfully at the closed door, anticipation battling with confusion. Either way, Kohl had just made their game infinitely more thrilling, and she couldn't wait to see what happened next.

****

Kaos crossed into his apartment and shut the door behind him with a low thud. The silence hit differently here—quieter, darker. He exhaled and dragged a hand through his hair, pulling his phone from his pocket and dialing Kildare.

He answered on the second ring. “There he is. How’s the upgrade?”

Kaos didn’t answer at first. He stared at the wall like a blockade. “It's not an upgrade, it’s a handicap with sharp teeth.”