Lillith glanced back. “What’s that?”
“Something my mother taught me. A glamour sigil. Temporary. Fades after a few days unless renewed.”
Her brows drew together. “You want to glamor me?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I want to mark you. With this. Not to hide you. To protect you.”
She stilled. “Dominic?—”
“It doesn’t bind you to me, not magically. It’s more like… a signal flare. If anything comes near you with ill intent, I’ll feel it. Even in my dreams. Especially in my dreams.”
She stared at him. “Why?”
He swallowed. “Because last night I watched you run toward me in a storm. I watched you patch me up with shaking hands and then sleep beside me like we’ve done it a hundred times. And I need—just need—to know I can reach you, even if I can’t say what this is yet.”
She didn’t speak, just watched him. So he reached for her slowly, holding the charm between two fingers. “May I?”
She nodded once.
He leaned forward, and brushed the disc gently across her collarbone. It glowed warm, briefly, before the light sank into her skin. The sigil shimmered faintly, then vanished like it had never been there.
But he could feel it.
Her heart. Her tether. Humming in time with his.
Lillith let out a shaky breath. “You’re dangerous, Dominic Kane.”
“I’ve been told.”
Her fingers lifted, brushing his jaw with the barest ghost of a touch. It was instinctive. Like reaching for fire and being surprised it didn’t burn.
He tilted forward.
So did she.
Their mouths hovered inches apart, the bond a live wire between them, thrumming like the earth had pulled taut and was waiting to snap. When their lips finally touched, it wasn’t tentative—it was inevitable.
Dominic kissed her like a man finally giving in to gravity. Deep, slow, full of heat that smoldered instead of sparked. Lillith pressed closer, her fingers slipping into the thick, tawny mess of his hair. His golden eyes flickered shut, and he groaned low when she bit his lower lip.
“Fuck,” he whispered against her mouth. “You taste like moonlight and trouble.”
She laughed, breathless, the sound melting into a gasp as he dragged his mouth down her throat, pausing where her pulse beat frantic and wild. “Dominic…”
“Say it again,” he murmured, his voice a growl now, rough around the edges.
“Dominic.”
The way she said his name went straight to his cock. Hard and aching, pressing tight against the confines of his sweats. She was magic and shadow and sunlight wrapped in one, and he wanted her—all of her.
Her hands slid beneath his shirt, nails grazing the ridges of his stomach. Scars marked his golden-brown skin, each a storyshe hadn’t yet heard, but she kissed every one she found as she pushed the shirt up and over his head.
“You’re beautiful,” she said, eyes glowing now.
He didn’t answer with words. He kissed her again, this time walking her backward until the back of her knees hit the chair and he gently pulled her to the floor. He lowered her gently, pulling the blanket over them for warmth, but he didn’t plan to keep either of them clothed much longer.
“Tell me if you want me to stop,” he whispered, already slipping a hand under her sleep shirt.
“Don’t you dare,” she said, eyes daring him to even think it.
