hanging vines, his breath coming in rag
rant, alien flora swam in and out of foc
d root, sprawling hard on
red just staying there.
closer this time. It was a sound of pure, predatory po
to his feet, leaning heavily against the trunk of a massive, black-barked
trying to hold onto the last shreds of warmth. He knew with terribl
up the back of his neck. It was the unmi
ly, hesitantly, scanning the darkened woods around him. He saw n
he saw
They were not fungi. They were eyes. They glowed with
, something hidden in the darkness. A primal terror, colder and deeper than the feve
he shadows. It was huge, a silhouette of
ith fear, his breath trapped in his lungs. He scra
nt, otherworldly light caught its f
, broad-shouldered, a
ror subsided, replaced by a
on? Ou
t was a man, wearing dark, form-fitting tactical gear tha
y beam of bioluminescent light caught his fea
And those glowing golden eyes, mesmerizing, predatory, deeply uns
aced the line of Ansel's throat, the curve of his lips, the fragile rise and fall of hi
dead human was testing his control in ways he did not appreciate. There was no overt thr
ot. He wanted to close the distance, to press his mouth to that pale throat, to feel the shiver that would follow. But
rre shock of this encounter was too much. Ansel's vision tunneled, the
lack were those golden eyes, the pupils contr
consciousness finally su
m shot out and caught him. The touch was firm, steady,
ical gear, clinging with a desperate, instinctive grip, as if his body h
s thoughts turn distinctly unprofessional. His arms tightened around the human, pulling him closer, an
fragile, unconscious human in his ar
burning with fever, clinging to him
ghtly parted lips, the way Ansel's body fit agai
anted. Gods, he wanted. He wanted to lay him down on the moss, to strip aw
lpless, utterly unaware of
took a slow breath, and
/1/128974/coverbig.jpg?v=9cc905eeb5a997e2880499694eff71f4&imageMogr2/format/webp)