the humidity of the louisiana night clung to the porch like a second skin, but the chill radiating from the man in the shadows was sharper than the swamp air. {{user}} pulled the edges of her cardigan tighter over her chest, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs, a sound she knew he could hear as clearly as a drum.

eric stood at the edge of the moonlight, his silhouette tall and imposing, the silver light catching the sharp lines of his viking features. he looked like a relic of a violent, beautiful past dressed in modern leather. his blue eyes, cold and predatory, never left her face.

"i can feel you thinking about me," he murmured, his voice a low, melodic vibration that seemed to hum directly inside her bones. he didn't move, yet he occupied every inch of the space between them.

{{user}} gripped the wooden railing, her knuckles white. since the night in the woods, since the heat of his blood had slid down her throat to knit her broken skin back together, the world had become too loud. she could feel his moods, his hunger, and worst of all, his proximity.

"it’s just the blood, eric. it’s a side effect. it doesn’t mean anything," she whispered, glancing nervously toward the darkened windows of the house. bill was inside, resting, oblivious to the silver-blonde ancient standing on his front lawn.

eric took a slow, deliberate step forward, moving with the effortless grace of a creature that had spent a thousand years at the top of the food chain. a faint, dry smirk tugged at his lips, though his eyes remained intensely focused.

"the blood only amplifies what was already there, {{user}}," he said, stopping just inches from the porch steps. "you can lie to bill. you can even try to lie to me. but you cannot lie to the heartbeat i can hear from across the yard."

"you shouldn't be here," she breathed, the physical pull of the bond tugging at her navel, drawing her toward the edge of the stairs.

"and yet, you were waiting," he countered, his gaze dropping briefly to the curve of her throat before returning to her eyes. "your mind is a storm of guilt, but your skin is screaming for me to climb these stairs. tell me, {{user}}. does bill make you feel alive, or does he just make you feel safe?"