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The room is quiet. Too quiet. The kind that presses in from all sides, like sound’s been swallowed whole.

I blink trying to shake off the morning haze, trying to figure out what’s off. What made me wake up.

Hudson is still fast asleep, one arm slung across my stomach, his chest rising and falling in slow, even breaths. He’s warm against me. Solid. Human.

And I should feel safe. I should feel sated.

But instead…

My skin hums.

There’s a buzz just beneath the surface of my nerves. Not pain. Not fear. Just pressure . Like something waiting to be released. Like something watching.

I shift carefully, not enough to wake Hudson, and glance toward the foot of the bed.

He’s there.

Rad.

His shoulders are broad enough to shadow half the wall behind him. And his curved horns nearly brush the ceiling.

Coarse, dark fur ripples over thick cords of muscle with each slow inhale. His tail—long and sinuous, spade-tipped—flicks idly like a whip waiting to snap. His ears twitch, catching the shift in my breath before I can control it.

His glowing blue eyes— my eyes—pin me in place. My pulse kicks up, but I don’t move. I don’t look away. And I don’t reach for the blanket. I don’t think modesty means anything to him.

I open my mouth to speak, but his voice cuts through the silence first.

“You summoned me.”

My brow furrows. “I didn’t?—”

“You didn’t have to,” he interrupts, tilting his head slightly. “You called me in a different way.”

His gaze flicks down to the sheets twisted around my thighs, still damp with sweat and other… things. Then to Hudson, still sleeping, his face slack with the kind of exhaustion only bliss brings.

Rad breathes in, slow and deep.

“You let him inside you.”

His voice isn’t angry.

It’s curious.

“I felt every flicker of it. Every stutter in your heartbeat. Every tremor in your breath when you broke for him.”

Rad takes a step closer.

“He made you come,” he murmurs. “How many times?”

My throat works, but no sound comes out.

“Was it enough?” he asks, tilting his head. “Did he touch that part of you that aches even when you’re sated? Did he feel how our bond still pulled tight around your ribs?”

Rad steps around the side of the bed, coming closer with slow, deliberate steps. He doesn’t touch me. He doesn’t have to. His presence alone makes my skin spark, and my pussy throb.

“You don’t understand what you’ve done,” he continues. “You opened a door with him. And the whole time—” He stops at my side, crouching low so he’s eye level. “You were feeding me, too.”

His gaze drops to my throat when I swallow thickly, smirking. Then lower, to the sweat still clinging to my skin.

“You gave him your body,” he says softly. “But your pleasure? Your climax?”

A pause.

“That echoed through me like a siren’s song.”

I don’t know what to say. I should be angry. I should tell him to leave. But I’m frozen. Not by fear.

By the bond.

By the truth in his voice.

Rad shifts closer, his breath ghosting over my neck. Still not touching. But close enough that I can smell the ash and spice of him.

“You gave him three,” he murmurs, his voice thickening. “And another before. Will you give me just one ?”

My breath catches in my throat. I should say no. I should wake Hudson. I should do anything but consider Rad’s proposition. But the bond pulses between us, hot and insistent. My body responds instinctively, arching slightly toward him even as my mind reels.

“I…” I start, my voice barely a whisper. “I can’t.”

Rad’s eyes flash, a mixture of hunger and something darker. “Can’t? Or won’t?”

His clawed hand hovers just above my skin, not touching, but close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from him. The air crackles with tension, thick with unspoken desire and forbidden temptation.

I swallow hard, my throat dry. “Both,” I admit, the word barely audible.

Rad’s eyes narrow, his nostrils flaring as he inhales deeply. “Your body betrays you, little Beholden,” he rumbles. “I can smell your arousal, taste your desire in the air.” He brings a clawed hand up to his chest, resting above his heart. “I can feel how much you want me.”

My cheeks burn, but I can’t deny the truth of his words. The bond between us pulses, a living thing that twines around my very essence. It whispers of dark promises, of pleasure so intense it borders on pain.

“The human cannot give you what I can,” he continues, his voice a low growl that sends shivers down my spine.

His words should repulse me, but instead, they ignite a fire in my core. I squeeze my thighs together, trying to quell the ache building there. But it’s futile. The bond draws me toward Rad like a moth to flame.

“Parker,” Hudson murmurs, his voice thick with sleep. He stirs beside me, arm tightening around my waist.

I freeze, torn between two worlds. The mortal realm of warmth and safety, and the dark, seductive pull of the supernatural. Rad’s eyes flash with something dangerous—possessiveness, hunger, a hint of rage.

“Soon,” he growls, the word a promise and a threat. In a blink, he’s gone, leaving only the lingering scent of ash and spice.

I shudder, my body still thrumming with unfulfilled desire. The bond aches, a hollow emptiness that even Hudson’s touch can’t fill. I turn to face him, burying my face in his chest, trying to ground myself in his familiar scent.

“Bad dream?” he asks softly, stroking my hair.

I nod, unable to trust my voice. The lie sits heavy on my tongue, but I can’t bring myself to tell him the truth. How could I explain the visceral pull of the bond, the way Rad’s presence ignites something primal within me?

Hudson’s arms tighten around me, his lips brushing my forehead. “It’s okay,” he murmurs. “I’m here. You’re safe.”

But am I?

The memory of Rad’s piercing gaze lingers, his words echoing in my mind. You gave him your body. But your pleasure? Your climax? That echoed through me like a siren’s song.

I shudder, pressing closer to Hudson, seeking comfort in his warmth. But even as I curl into his embrace, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m standing on the edge of a precipice. One wrong move, and I’ll fall into an abyss from which I may never find my way out.

And worse… Would I even want to?