Page 17 of Found

As if I was the most precious thing in the entire galaxy.

As if he would tear apart stars with his bare hands if they threatened me.

I opened my mouth to argue, to demand a more scientific explanation, to insist that shared dreams were a neurological impossibility.

He pulled me close and kissed me instead.

It was slow, careful, his tongue tentatively brushing against my lips, waiting.

I opened for him.

Because hot damn, he felt good.

Because his taste—wild spice and something primal—made everything else seem inconsequential.

He rumbled in approval, deepening the kiss, his hand cupping my jaw, his thumb stroking my cheek.

And every nerve ending lit up.

I moaned, throwing my arms around him, sinking into the heat and hunger and need. My logical brain surrendered to the reality my body already accepted—whatever this was, it felt right.

Then—

He stiffened.

The air shifted.

His ears flicked, his nose twitching.

His entire body went rigid beneath me, transforming from my passionate lover to a predator in an instant.

Danger.

I had seen enough thriller movies to know not to make a sound when the big bad was lurking nearby.

Except—

I looked at Zehn.

At the way his body flexed, at the way he shifted into something bigger, sharper, deadlier. His muscles bulged, fur bristling, claws extending from his fingertips. His eyes narrowed to predatory slits, scanning the darkness around us.

And I realized?—

It was a good thing I had my own big bad.

Whatever lurked out there in the darkness, Zehn was more terrifying.

His nose skimmed my cheek, his tongue flicking out to taste my skin. A silent promise—I will come back for you.

Then—

He slapped a kiss to my forehead and melted into the night.

Not a sound. Not even the rustling of fabric. One moment he was there, solid and real beneath me, and the next gone—leavingonly the lingering warmth of his body and the scent of wild spice on my skin.

I held my breath, waiting, listening, every nerve ending suddenly attuned to the darkness around me.

And I hoped—with every cell in my body—that whatever had caught Zehn’s attention would never know what hit it.

---