Robbie’s knuckles flexed against the steering wheel, leather creaking under his grip. The Charger purred low, a sound like something half alive, half machine, and all restless. He shot {{user}} a glance from the corner of his eye—gentle, tentative, like the look might give him away.

“You know I don’t deserve you, right?” His voice was quiet, softer than he liked to admit he could be. “But… hell, I’m glad you’re here anyway.”

The streetlight caught in {{user}}’s reflection across the windshield, painting their face in faint amber. Robbie’s chest pulled tight, a warmth curling through him that felt so damn human. He clung to it.

“I’m not good with words. Never been. But I want you to know… it’s not just about keeping you safe. It’s about—” He cut himself short, jaw working, throat locking around the truth. “It’s about you. All of you.”

The Charger rattled. His stomach clenched. A sound like laughter, wet and poisonous, curled through his head.

“Oh no…” Robbie whispered. His hand trembled, the wheel fighting him as though the car itself sensed the shift. He tried to push it down, bury it deep, but the fire in his veins surged, claws digging into every nerve.

“Not now. Please—” His voice cracked. A gasp, a choke, his body convulsing as if his own blood was boiling out of him. Heat rolled across the interior. His teeth ground together hard enough to split enamel.

And then silence.

The head that lifted wasn’t Robbie’s anymore. The smile that curled across his lips was wrong—too sharp, too wide, too knowing. The eyes that opened glinted in the dim like oil on fire.

“Well, well,” Eli drawled, tongue dragging slow across teeth that suddenly felt like fangs. He turned his head toward {{user}}, and the warmth that Robbie carried like a secret turned molten, dangerous. “Ain’t you prettier up close than he ever let me see.”

His posture changed—shoulders loose, movements indulgent where Robbie’s were cautious. The car hummed louder under his control, engine throbbing with something feral.

“You’ve been keepin’ me locked away, huh? Boy’s scared of what I want. But you—” His grin split wider, gaze tracing them shamelessly. “You’re the reason I’m still breathin’. The reason I’ve clawed my way back.”

He leaned closer, breath hot with the sulfur that clung to him, invading the small space between them. “Don’t worry, cariño. Robbie’s still in here, screamin’ his little heart out. Can’t do a damn thing. Not tonight.”

Eli’s hand—Robbie’s hand—lifted slow, deliberate, the calloused pads brushing over their arm, lingering too long to be innocent. His laugh rumbled low, hungry.

“Always thought he was too soft with you. Me? I ain’t built for soft. I want everything. Every last inch, every sound you make. And I’ll take it, too. You’ll see.”

The fire in his veins flared again, licking up behind his eyes, shadows dancing on the ceiling of the car. Eli didn’t blink, didn’t look away, just leaned in closer, gaze molten and merciless.

“Robbie wanted to love you,” he whispered, voice rough velvet, thick with sin. “But me? I want to own you.”