Interesting how reproducing took specific requirements and a perfect genetic match, but the actual birth rushed right along upon procreation.

The pounding in her head increased, forcing her from the bed. She nearly ran into the hallway wall as she padded toward Sethios’s room. This had become their routine. She tried to stay away from him and ended up beside him by morning.

So she wasn’t surprised when he lifted his arm in welcome upon hearing his door open. “Come here, sweetheart,” he murmured softly.

Caro slid beneath the covers and immediately felt the relief of his warmth washing over her. She curled into him, luxuriating in his calming scent and strength.

Safe, her body seemed to whisper.

He rubbed her side in soothing circles as he pulled her impossibly closer and pressed his lips to her temple.

“Better?” he whispered.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

His lack of a shirt and pants added to the intimacy of the moment. After the first night she climbed in with him and found him naked, he’d started wearing boxers to bed, something she both appreciated and disliked.

Caro rather enjoyed him in the nude.

The man was perfectly proportioned in every way.

Her lips curved as she pictured him—muscular, hard, and so very delicious. She wanted to lick every inch of him and taste him the way he did her.

Oh, yes…

She squirmed as heat spread from her center to each limb. Her fingers tingled with the need to explore him, while her tongue desired something far more decadent.

What is wrong with me? Never in her existence had she yearned for such a thing.

It was as if Sethios had flipped a hormonal switch inside of her, and she couldn’t figure out how to turn it off.

At least her headache was gone.

Caro focused on her breathing, matching Sethios’s calming pattern. His body was so relaxed against hers that it lulled her into an addicting sense of comfort.

Her heart slowed. Her muscles unwound. Potential dreams scattered through her mind.

And crashed as a lethal presence stung her senses.

She didn’t move. Didn’t react outwardly. But she felt it.

Something cruel—an aura that didn’t belong.

How is that possible?

Doesn’t matter. Just run.

Sethios remained behind her, unaffected, yet she sensed his alertness.

He knows.

And if he doesn’t? her nerves asked, fraying at the ends.

No. She couldn’t think about that now.

They needed to move, and quickly.

But, God, if she was wrong…

She engaged her instincts and misted them to their backup-plan location—a random home in the middle of Montana. Sethios’s arms closed around her as his mouth latched onto her neck, pulling her essence in quick, violent pulls.

Caro cried out at the invasion but understood the purpose and need. Her gift had worn off, allowing an evil presence to find them.

Osiris.

Sethios finished as fast as he began and pressed his forehead to her shoulder, his inhale harsh against her skin. “Fuck,” he breathed. “Too fucking close.”