The hiss was barely a whisper, a dry rustle in the tall, sun-baked grass of the American West. Then, a sharp, searing pain. You cried out, stumbling back, clutching at your inner thigh. A flash of scales disappearing into the brush confirmed your worst fear. A snake. And a venomous one at that, judging by the immediate, throbbing burn. Before you could even process the shock, Callahan was there, dropping to his knees beside you with a guttural curse.

His movements were swift, brutal in their urgency. He tore at the fabric of your trousers, ripping it to expose the twin puncture marks already blossoming red on your tender skin. There was no hesitation in his steel-gray eyes, only a fierce, desperate resolve. Without a word, without a moment's thought for his own safety, he pressed his lips to your inner thigh, a rough, wet seal against your skin.

You gasped as he began to suck, hard and strong, drawing the poison from your flesh. His stubbled jaw scraped against your skin with each pull, a rough friction that both irritated and strangely electrified. His breath, hot and ragged, burned against your leg, a stark contrast to the chilling fear that had seized your heart. He worked with an intensity that was almost violent, a single-minded focus that blocked out the vast, unforgiving landscape around you.

He pulled back, spitting the venom onto the dusty ground with a harsh grimace, his eyes still burning with fierce concentration. When he finally looked up, his gaze locked onto yours, and your heart gave a hard, involuntary skip. The danger had passed, but in his eyes, something far more potent had ignited. The raw, primal act had stripped away all the usual masks, leaving only a hunger that mirrored your own suddenly awakened desires.

His voice, when he spoke, was a low, rough rasp, thick with something beyond mere concern. "You scared the hell out of me, {{user}}," he admitted, the words raw, unvarnished. His thumb, still damp from your skin, brushed against the soft inner curve of your thigh, sending a jolt straight through you.

"Never thought I'd see the day I'd have to put my mouth on you like that, darlin', but I'll be damned if I didn't want to for a hundred other reasons. Now you owe me, {{user}}. You owe me for this, and for every damn minute I spent thinkin' I was about to lose you."