Chapter 3: The Dream.

Lila POV

After Darian left, I sat at the table and finished everything he’d cooked. It was better than anything I’d made for myself in months. I ate fast, then went straight to the bathroom.

The shower was hot enough to turn my skin pink. I stood under it longer than I needed to, letting the water run over the marks on my neck. They still ached, but the sting had dulled. When I stepped out I dried off, pulled on clean scrubs, and wrapped the scarf around my throat. It matched the dark blue of my uniform almost perfectly. The crystal necklace sat heavy against my collarbone. I tucked it under the scrub top so no one would ask questions.

I grabbed my bag and left.

Clara was already at the front desk when I walked in.

I stopped. “What are you doing here?”

She looked up from the computer and shrugged. “Dean called me this afternoon. Said I’d be working nights with you from now on.”

“He told me I’d be alone.”

“Guess he changed his mind.”

I pulled out my phone right there and called him. He answered on the second ring.

“Lila.”

“Is Clara working with me going to cut my pay?”

He actually laughed. “No. Your pay stays the same. I just want someone else here in case anything comes up. You’ll still run the shift. She’s there to assist.”

I hung up, not fully satisfied but out of arguments.

The night dragged. I kept checking my phone even though I knew Darian hadn’t texted. I couldn’t believe I actually missed him.

Clara brought coffee around one. We drank it slowly and talked about nothing important. A few regulars came in with the usual complaints. Then Mrs. Vera showed up with her husband, both of them looking exhausted.

“He still can’t sleep,” she said. “It’s been days.”

We gave them the medication the doctor had authorized last time. They thanked us and left.

By four in the morning the place was quiet again. Clara stretched and looked at me.

“Need a lift home?”

“I’m good. A friend’s picking me up.”

She raised an eyebrow. “A friend? Since you moved here you’ve turned down every invitation. Now you suddenly have a friend?”

I shrugged. “I met someone recently.”

She smiled like she didn’t fully believe me and waved as I grabbed my things.

My phone lit up the second I stepped into the hallway.

**I’m outside.**

I typed back without thinking.

**I know.**

He was leaning against his car when I walked out, cigarette between his fingers, looking completely at ease. He straightened when he saw me and smiled, small and sharp.

“How’d you know I was here?”

“This is going to sound weird,” I said, “but I felt it.”

“Good. You’re catching on fast.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I hate the smell of smoke.”

He put it out immediately and tossed it away like it had never mattered. Then he opened the passenger door for me.

We didn’t talk much on the drive. When we got to my apartment I went straight to the bathroom to freshen up. By the time I came out he had set a small plate of food on the table.

I sat and started eating. He watched me for a while, then spoke.

“Say what’s on your mind. I can feel it.”

I set the fork down. “This morning you mentioned the Council. What is that?”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Not something I can explain properly right now. I’ll tell you later.”

He stood and walked around the table. The air between us changed. He stopped right in front of me, close enough that I had to tip my head back. His hand came up and rested against the side of my neck, thumb brushing the edge of the scarf.

“I’ve been thinking about you all night,” he said quietly. “Every time your mind drifted, I felt it.”

I didn’t get the chance to answer. His mouth was on mine, slow at first, then deeper, hungrier. My hands fisted in his shirt as he backed me toward the bedroom without breaking the kiss.

Clothes came off fast. He stripped me like he already knew every button and zipper, then pushed me down onto the bed and settled between my thighs. He looked at me for a long second before he lowered his head. His tongue was thorough, deliberate, licking through my folds like he had all the time in the world. He kept me right there on the edge, sucking my clit until my legs were shaking and I was gasping his name. Only then did he let me come, mouth still sealed against me, tongue working me through it until I was trembling and oversensitive.

I was still twitching when he moved up my body and pushed inside in one hard thrust. The stretch forced a broken sound out of my throat. He held still, buried deep, eyes locked on mine.

“You’re mine,” he said. Not a question.

“Yes.”

He started moving—deep, controlled strokes that made it impossible to think about anything else. One of his hands pinned both my wrists above my head. The other gripped my hip hard enough to leave bruises. Every time I got close he slowed down, grinding against me just enough to keep me desperate.

“Please.”

“Please what?”

“Let me come.”

He gave it to me. The orgasm hit hard, ripping through me while he fucked me through it. He followed right after, face buried against my neck, body locked tight against mine as he came deep inside me with a low, rough sound.

We stayed like that for a while, breathing hard.

Sleep came eventually.

The dream started with cold stone under my back. Chains around my wrists and ankles. A circle of people standing over me. A woman with dark eyes leaned close and whispered, “You should have stayed human. You never should have let him mark you.”

Then she drove a blade straight into my chest.

I jerked awake with a sharp gasp.

Darian was already holding me, arms tight, mouth against my temple.

“It’s just a dream,” he murmured. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. I’ve got you.”

My heart was still racing. I pressed my face against his chest and felt the raised lines of a tattoo under my cheek. I pulled back enough to look.

The design was dark and intricate, sitting right over his heart. It looked exactly like the one on the man who had been holding me down in the dream.

Would he really hurt me.?