Chapter three

POV: Adams

 

The sheets clung to my hips like they knew what was coming. Moonlight poured through the window in thick ribbons, painting his bare chest in molten silver. The silence in the room had weight - like the air was holding its breath.

 

And when fingers trailed down my spine, I didn’t jump, I wasn’t startled.

 

I probably should have. But the touch was steady, confident. Familiar. As if the touch had always been there, like muscle memory my body remembered but my mind was yet to catch up to. Like someone who knew the shape of me, the tension in my shoulders, the way I breathed when anticipation curled in my belly.

 

I turned my head slowly.

 

A figure stood beside the bed, caught half in shadow. Tall. Bare. The shape of a man, but somehow more. Eyes glowing softly in the dark, not human, not quite. Something ancient stared back at him, something untamed, unbridled.

 

“You”, I whispered, though I didn’t know why when I could just speak out. But the word seemed to come with reverence like I’ve waited all my life to say it.

My heart slammed against my ribs in excitement for the first time in a long time. Fear buzzed just beneath the surface - but above it, heat bloomed faster. Deeper.

 

I didn’t speak again. Neither did the lover.

 

Instead, he moved with the quiet, slipping into the space beside me. A hand cupped my face, his. Thumb brushed across my cheek like a promise. Then came the kiss—deep, possessive, anchoring.

Then commanding.

I arched into him, gasping when warm skin met mine. The scent of earth and rain filled his lungs. I didn’t know this man, but somehow… I just do. Every part of me responded like I’d been waiting, craving, starving for this.

 

Our bodies tangled. Hands mapped territory over ribs, over thighs. My teeth grazed my neck. A mouth worshipped the space beneath my jaw, then lowered it it gently covered my nipple. My thoughts scattered. Pleasure burned through me - raw and wild - until I couldn’t tell where I ended and my lover began.

 

It was too much. Too perfect. Too

 

And then his body shifted just as I arched and surrendered to the peak of his touch.

 

He shivered but not the human kind.

A ripple, bones cracking, muscles snapping and twisting beneath the skin like smoke bending. Flesh rippled. Hands shrank. Nails thickened into claws. He jerked forward and the thickest fur started to spread over flesh.

 

I just... Froze.

He looked like something let loose from hell.

“What in the..!” I gasped, choking on my own breath. I closed and opened my eyes - and found himself looking into the amber gaze of a dog.

 

I jolted upright in bed, heart in my throat.

 

Breathing hard, I scanned the room. No moonlight. Just the dull grey haze of early dawn pressing at the window. Sweat clung to my skin. The sheets, twisted around my legs.

 

At the foot of the bed, Alex – my new dog - was sitting perfectly still, eyeing me.

 

The Shiba Inu stared up at me, head tilted. Quiet. Watching.

Deja vu. Or overthinking.

 

My pulse skidded sideways. The dream clung to me like wet silk.

 

I rubbed my face. “Jesus.”

 

Alex didn’t move.

 

**

Later that morning, I pulled on jeans, still shaken from the dream. The air felt off-charged like the world was still humming with something I  couldn’t name.

 

Alex trotted behind me, tail swaying like nothing had happened. Like he hadn’t just starred in the most erotic, confusing dream of my life.

 

“You’re giving weird,” I said as I clamped the leash on. “Weirder than normal. Disturbing”

 

Alex just wagged his tail and nudged my hand with his snout, before rubbing up against my leg twice and strutting ass I walked him.

 

The park was quiet, mostly empty save for a few joggers. Mist still clung to the grass. Then I let Alex off the leash and watched him bound ahead, golden fur catching the morning light. He seemed fine - normal, even. Just a dog.

 

So why did I feel like I was being watched the entire time? Like I’d burst if I stayed in alone with Alex for another minute.

 

Why did my skin still burn where the dream man touched me?

 

Alex circled back and pressed against my leg like he knew something. His eyes - always too soulful - felt even more so today. Deep. Aware.

 

“You aren’t secretly some cursed prince or something  waiting for true love’s kiss, right?” I muttered, ruffling his ears.

 

Alex licked my hand.

He didn’t chase squirrels as is usual for dogs. He just circled the bench slowly, then curled at my feet.

 

Staring again.

 

“Okay, seriously,” I said, glancing down. “What is your deal?”

 

The dog tilted his head.

 

Adam laughed softly, brushing his hair back. “What, you got something to say?”

 

Alex blinked.

 

Then - no bark, no growl - he stood up, padded a few feet away, and howled.

 

I sat bolt upright. “Okay. That’s not creepy at all.”

I shook his head, laughing it off. The dream was just that—a dream. My imagination running wild. Nothing more.

 

**

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

 

I tossed. Turned. The sheets felt wrong. The air felt heavy again. Like the moon was watching through the glass. Like someone was still waiting, watching.

 

Eventually, I drifted off, and the image of golden eyes burned into the back of my skull.

 

The sound of birds pulled him awake.

 

I groaned, rubbing my eyes. My back ached. Sunlight painted long stripes across the floor. It was late - later than he meant to sleep in.

 

Yawning, I padded out of the bedroom, barefooted.

 

And stopped.

 

There, curled up on the couch - Alex’s couch, the one he insisted on having all to himself - was a man.

 

Naked. Asleep. Curled exactly like a dog might, arms tucked close, legs pulled in.

 

I stared, throat tightening.

 

The man was beautiful. Hair the same soft gold as Alex’s fur. Skin tanned, marked with faint scars like shadows of past lives. He looked peaceful. Human. But most of all, like the lover from my dream!

 

I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.

 

Because something in me already knew what I didn’t want to accept

 

My dream had followed me into the waking world.

 

And now it was sitting naked on my damn dog’s couch.