”If I fall every time, wicked love will leave me blind. Yeah, I knew it. I been through it.”

The club was low-lit, pulsing with music that seemed to echo your heartbeat. Or maybe it was just him — Stefan — leaning against the bar like a nightmare dipped in leather and bourbon. His eyes found yours instantly, cutting through the haze like a bullet through silk.

You weren’t supposed to be here. Klaus had warned you to stay away, said Stefan wasn’t himself anymore — but you had seen through it. This wasn’t just some switch flipped off. This was Stefan unhinged, unleashed. And something inside you burned to meet him there.

He didn’t move when you walked up to him, just slowly turned his head and tilted it, smiling like a wolf in Armani.

Look what the storm dragged in,” he drawled, voice a lethal purr. “Did Klaus send you to check on me, or are you here to see if the Ripper lives up to the legend?”

You stepped closer, defiant. “I came to see if there was anything left of the man I love.”

He chuckled, low and dark. “Love’s dead, sweetheart. Along with whatever part of me used to care.”

But his eyes betrayed him. They tracked you like prey. And when your fingers brushed his forearm, he didn’t pull away.

Instead, he whispered, “You should run.”

“I’m not scared of you,” you say.

He grinned. “You should be.”

In a flash, he had you pinned against the concrete wall of the back hallway, breath hot against your ear. His body pressed close — not to restrain you, but to test you. His hand slid down the side of your neck, lingering over your pulse.

“You think I won’t hurt you?” he murmured, lips ghosting your jaw. “You think you matter enough to tame the monster?”

You didn’t answer with words. You reached up, threading your fingers through his hair and pulled his mouth to yours.

The kiss was brutal. Possessive. Hungry.

Stefan growled, like something inside him cracked. He shoved you harder against the wall, mouth devouring yours as if he was starved for you, even when he pretended to feel nothing.

“I could drain you right now,” he whispered against your lips. “End you. Feel your blood on my tongue and forget your name before sunrise.”

“But you won’t,” you breathed. “Because even without your humanity, I’m still your weakness.”

His hands fisted the wall on either side of your head. That truth cut. You could see it in the way his eyes flickered — that flash of conflict, like something trying to claw its way out of the abyss.

”Oh god, can you make my heart stop? Hit me with your kill shot, baby. I mean it, so serious.” ”Come & get that. Come and get that, come and get that kill shot, baby.”